New Zealand Royal Commission: the Anglican Church acknowledged abuse in its care, that members covered it up, and that abuse by one minister was recorded as 'an affair'

Proceedings

1. 2024-07-24 · final report presented to Parliament

   Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care (Aotearoa New Zealand). The Anglican Church acknowledged to the Inquiry that children and young people were abused in its care. The Most Reverend Donald Tamihere apologised unequivocally, said the Church remained 'horrified and ashamed', and described the abuse as 'sexual, physical, verbal and emotional' and 'indefensible and completely antithetical to the gospel' (¶706–707). The Church further acknowledged 'the additional harm caused by attempting to hide or cover up the abuse', stating it was 'particularly ashamed by the evidence before the Royal Commission that members of our church covered up instances of abuse' (¶708). The Right Reverend Ross Bay, Bishop of Auckland, apologised to survivors abused at Dilworth School — where 'among those who abused students were two Anglican chaplains' — and acknowledged 'the Anglican Church's lack of responsiveness over the years to people who came forward to report abuse and to seek redress' (¶709–710). On mechanism, Archbishop Philip Richardson told the Inquiry that ordination is believed to cause a change in the nature or essence of the person being ordained — 'your being is changed' (¶609). The Inquiry recorded that abuse carried out by one Anglican minister was described within the church as 'an affair' (¶653), and that in some cases faiths were 'primarily concerned with repairing the marriage of the alleged abuser, rather than preventing or responding to the abuse' (¶654). Māori survivor Reverend Dinah Lambert, abused by the man in charge of Abbotsford Home in the 1960s, described the 'utter helplessness' of not being believed (¶613).

Documented coercion mechanisms

• the teaching that ordination changes the nature or essence of the person — 'your being is changed'
• abuse reframed within the institution as 'an affair'
• forgiveness doctrine invoked in response to reports of abuse
• the standing of staff publicly praised as good people doing charitable work