No answer on forced adoption: 'There must be some compassion somewhere'

Women who lost children to adoption during the so-called "baby scoop" era fear their stories will be left out of an inquiry into state and church abuse. It's been seven months since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed she was considering options to examine New Zealand's forced adoption history, including a select committee inquiry.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12171821

My Book: They Promised Heaven But Led Me To Hell

My crime, in the eyes of the catholic church nuns, was that I was born ‘a bastard and a daughter of the devil. The punishments for my sins started when I was 18months old in the nursery by three ladies workers for the nuns which were repeated most nights up to the age of 5years old. My childhood was a life of abuse by nuns, the workers, older girls and a priest, the only way I could get through this was to be by myself or run away and hide, go and stay in the church and also climb as high as I could in the trees or jump the fences and hide in long grass. I also went to the police but that did me no good I was thrashed by the nuns when the police took me back to the orphanage...

 

https://www.amazon.com/They-Promised-Heaven-But-Hell/dp/1543941540/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1534984007&sr=1-1

Renewed calls for church to be part of Royal Commission

A paedophile priest who left a trail of victims in his wake was allowed to continue as a man of the cloth for nearly two decades after his offending was revealed to the Bishop of Dunedin. Survivors say it shows why the Catholic Church should be part of a Royal Commission into historic abuse. Chris Morris investigates. Victims of a paedophile priest in Dunedin are renewing calls for a Royal Commission into historic abuse to include churches, amid suggestions their abuser's eventual prosecution revealed only the tip of an iceberg.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/renewed-calls-church-be-part-royal-commission 

Theology can’t be same after sex abuse crisis

Given the sexual abuse crisis in which the Church is embroiled, theologians need to rethink a faith-based response to sexual violence. Systematic theology lecturer at Good Shepherd College Dr Rocio Figueroa said theologians “are conscious that theology cannot be the same following the severe crisis of sexual abuse that has happened in our Church”. “We must rethink a lot of topics. We must rethink our Christology. We must rethink how we see power and many other issues, pastoral topics,” she said.

https://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/2018/07/12/theology-cant-be-same-after-sex-abuse-crisis/ 

Deadline for input into abuse inquiry scope ends tonight 30.4.2018

I am a broken women and this has torn me apart... we have no justice for the rape and abuse... which was done to us men and women... of the churches in New Zealand... we are just walked all over... as if we are the dirt they walk upon... 
it is the getting up which is so hard... the fall is so easy... you just let go and yet knowing that... you don't only see yourself fall... you see your friends holding on to that last thread... you then feel that it is you... who is about to brake that thread... you say to yourself... you must not let go Ann... just a little while longer then we will be free... but it doesn't work that way... you hear the word sorry so often... knowing that it does not mean anything... to the church nuns and priest... to them it is just another meaningless word... to use when or where ever they feel... that people will believe that they just might... have a a bit of heart or feelings in them... but they have always missed out... what we are shouting to them to hear... ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO THE ABUSE... that is what we want most of all... then that will resort some faith back into our souls... 
Why do they NOT take any notice when we tell them... about the lost of our faith in god... that is what we have lost... and they do not answer that question... they turn the other way... and do not hear or see us... we are the lost children of god... not from our own doing... it has being caused by the servants and brides of Jesus Christ... nuns and priest... and that they will have to answer to gods for... Why do they not hear us?... as a child we would of given our lives to Jesus... and some of us now still would... but they do not see our hearts weeping for that lost... which we held so dear to our hearts... the pain of the rape and the abuse as children... by these men and women of god... was like to us... the devil with his pitchfork... just like they thrashed into us every day and night... pushing us into the fires of hell... and that is where we are today... living a life in hell on earth...   Ann

============================= 

The deadline for public input about the Terms of Reference for the inquiry into historic abuse in state care ends midnight. The draft Terms of Reference covers physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect with a key focus being the impact for Māori. Royal Commission Chairman Sir Anan Satyanand expects more submissions about the scope of the inquiry. "The number of submissions we've received it's north of 200, by the end of tonight, I'm thinking we'll be around the 300 mark," says Satyanand.

https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/politics/deadline-input-abuse-inquiry-scope-ends-tonight 

Former school principal who sexually violated students granted parole

A former school principal who sexually assaulted his pupils 35 years ago says he is "obsessed" with keeping himself and the community safe. Linton man Paul Roger Herrick was released on parole in January after satisfying the Parole Board he was not an undue risk.
He was jailed in late-2016 for sexual offending against seven children during his time as a teacher and principal at Awamoa School, south of Oamaru. That offending took place between 1980 and 1983, and he managed to cover it up through various means, including threatening his victims' siblings.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/100368409/former-school-principal-who-sexually-violated-students-granted-parole 

They Promised Heaven But Led Me to Hell

What about the catholic church orphanages this is my story I have it coming out as an ebook with bookbaby... a must read for every one in new Zealand to read... as well as the world... they must know what us innocent children went through because of our mothers being Raped... and we were the devil's children who had to be punished... for our mothers sins as well as our own...

you think only of the state abused men and women and every time I see or read about this... it tears me apart to think that still after all of what us men and women have been through... that there is a very big path between us victim, survivors... just because of the different names of the orphanages. home and family homes...

Names of orphanages... home... and state home ... DO NOT CHANGE THE EXTENT AMOUNT OF THE ABUSE... WHICH WAS INFLICTED UPON THE INNOCENT CHILDREN IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HOMES AND ORPHANAGES WORLDWIDE...

Do I have to have a drink or two before I can write what exactly what I mean... about the difference between us abused children for this Royal Commission Inquiry in New Zealand... the Sate Government children run homes... it should be for ALL OF THE CHILDREN not just for the state...
Please help ALL OF US MEN AND WOMEN WHO WERE ABUSED AS CHILDREN... we all need help... I need help right now and have for years... abuse never leaves you...

WHY HAVE YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN TURNED YOU BACK ON US FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ORPHANAGES?... Ann Free Spirit =  Ann Thompson

https://www.facebook.com/theypromisedheavenbutledmetohell/ 

Bail for former Kiwi priest extradited on sex charges

A former Catholic priest has appeared in a Sydney court accused of sexually and indecently assaulting seven males aged between 14 and 20 in the late 1980s at a western Sydney school.

New Zealander James Joseph Cunneen, 58, was arrested at his Hamilton home in July and extradited to Australia on Wednesday. former Catholic priest has appeared in a Sydney court accused of sexually and indecently assaulting seven males aged between 14 and 20 in the late 1980s at a western Sydney school.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11947383

Eva's dying wish: Support for sexual assault survivors

Hi, I'm Eva. I'm 16 years old & dying of cancer. In the time I have left I'm asking for your help to end sexual violence & support survivors.
My name is Eva. I’m 16 years old, and I have one mission in life – to end sexual violence. That mission is even more important than ever because of one thing.
I’m dying of cancer.
When you know your days are numbered, it really makes it clear what matters to you. Sure, I could pin my hopes on meeting my favourite actress, or travelling the world.
But what I really want is to make a positive difference that will still be helping people’s lives after I am gone – to give more in life than that I have taken.
 
http://annfreespiritjusticeforabusedchildren.blogspot.co.nz/p/blog-page_36.html

Three hundred accounts of mental health failings

The release of the personal stories of 300 mental health patients, their families and workers show New Zealand's mental health system is in crisis, a mental health activist says.
Mental health activist group People's Review is campaigning for a government-backed national review of mental health services.
The campaign's director, Laura Rapira, told Nine To Noon the submissions showed the mental health system was in crisis.
"Our submissions are beginning to paint a picture of long wait times ... of services stretched to breaking point, of families' fear and frustration when their loved ones are at risk, and of professionals exhausted and burned out," Ms Rapira said.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201819334/three-hundred-accounts-of-mental-health-failings

They Promised Heaven But Led Me To Hell

They Promised Heaven

But Led Me To Hell 

Years In Two Catholic Orphanages
Left their Hidden Scars 

 

I wish to thank every one who said no to me
Because of them I did it myself

 

 My. book goes to the publishers next Friday... I can not wait until it is printed... I want people to know the TRUTH... about what happened to us, in the catholic church orphanage.

 I was conceived out of wedlock, because of my mother being raped at fifteen years old. I was just two and a half months old when I was taken from my mother’s arms, by the catholic church then placed in the care of one of their Catholic orphanage. From the beginning, I was taught that my mother was sinful and that I would be too unless the devil was beaten from my soul. 

I was sexual abused in the nursery from a tiny young girl of eighteen months old by three lady workers for four years. My childhood abuse in the orphanage, is New Zealand’s shameful, dirty secret of physical, mental and sexual abuse of innocent children by nuns, lay staff, the older girls and the priest and bullying at two orphanages in Christchurch New Zealand. 

From the age of five years old I was made to work on their farm and later on in their kitchen and laundries, both at Mount Magdala – St. Joseph Girls Orphanage and Nazareth House. At night times three nuns would ritual attack me by taking my clothes off, tying me to both ends of the bed and savagely attacking me with the buckle of her belt, hula hoop cut in half and a large whip as they tried to suppress my well and to break my spirit. 

They Promised Heaven is also about my fight with the catholic church to accept responsibility for the past institutionalized abuse of children and young people while in their care and to admit – unconditionally – that there was wrong doing by the two order of nuns and the priest.

It is a story which needs to be heard and to read, I have told of the horrific upbringing in two catholic orphanages. In 1997, when I watched a Prime Television documentary exposing the decades of abuse by the Good Shepherd nuns at the Christchurch orphanage, I realized then mine wasn't the only lost childhood. 

My name will not likely be familiar to most New Zealanders but my story is one that all will be shocked to read about. Whilst unbelievable that such acts of cruelty happened in New Zealand by nuns, They Promised Heaven, But Led me to Hell... also portrays my great strength of spirit and determination. I am a mother of four and I have lived in Whangarei for the past fifty years, with my husband Brian. 

My story is one story of many worldwide... Ann 

An Apology? Surely NZ needs a Royal Commission of Inquiry

Labour’s Justice spokesperson, Jacinda Ardern, recently called on the NZ Government to issue an apology for historic abuse in state institutions. Previously Social Development Minister, Anne Tolley had said that she would apologise to any child who was abused in state care.
Ms Ardern spoke last week after the launch of Elizabeth Stanley’s new book “The Road to Hell; State Violence against Children in Post-War New Zealand”. The book is a moving account of the experiences of those placed into state care from the 1950s to the 1980s and the harrowing tales it contains are indeed a persuasive argument for redress and change.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1608/S00338/an-apology-surely-nz-needs-a-royal-commission-of-inquiry.htm

Kiwi expat calling for Royal Commission inquiry into child sex abuse

Grant West knows first hand the destruction that results from being a victim of sexual abuse. The New Zealand born man is travelling through the country to gather signatures for a petition, calling for a Royal Commission into institutional responses to child abuse.
He grew up in Wellington, was sexually abused by a family member and spent time in and out of institutions, mental homes and then prison.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/83075972/Kiwi-expat-calling-for-Royal-Commission-inquiry-into-child-sex-abuse 

Jury finds former St John ambulance officer guilty on all eight sex charges

Also found to have breached the trust paramedics around NZ have rightfully earned. Hidden beneath the "protective cloak" of a St John uniform was Christopher Roger King, a sexual predator who arrogantly selected, gassed and traumatised his patients.
King, 48, was not who he tried to portray throughout the trial. The "unluckiest" ambulance officer in the country.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11358427 

This is a Truly Harrowing Tale; Say Sorry

This is a truly harrowing tale, written in the first person by a woman born out of wedlock to live her childhood as an orphan, abused, unloved.
Ann Thompson was born in Christchurch in 1941 to a 16-year-old mother who placed her baby in a Catholic orphanage.
What follows is a sadly familiar tale of cruelty, neglect, torment and tears – all triggered by the abuse of nuns there to care for her.
Most of these tales of abuse come from overseas homes.

http://annfreespiritjusticeforabusedchildren.blogspot.co.nz/p/blog-page_30.html 

The Pope's child sex protection expert Father Hans Zollner on battling 'evil'

By his own admission, Father Hans Zollner's job is "dark, bleak and heavy". Often described as the Pope's expert in the fight against child abuse, he has heard countless tales from those who have suffered at the hands of priests.
Zollner, a German, is president of the Centre for Child Protection at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University. He is also a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, set up by Pope Francis in 2014 with the single purpose of developing initiatives that could prevent future abuse within the church.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/82855627/the-popes-child-sex-protection-expert-father-hans-zollner-on-battling-evil 

The Pope's child sex protection expert Father Hans Zollner on battling 'evil'

By his own admission, Father Hans Zollner's job is "dark, bleak and heavy".  Often described as the Pope's expert in the fight against child abuse, he has heard countless tales from those who have suffered at the hands of priests.
Zollner, a German, is president of the Centre for Child Protection at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University.  He is also a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, set up by Pope Francis in 2014 with the single purpose of developing initiatives that could prevent future abuse within the church.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/82855627/The-Popes-child-sex-protection-expert-Father-Hans-Zollner-on-battling-evil 

Catholic church investigating five cases of alleged abuse; New Zealand

New Zealand's Catholic church is investigating five historical cases of alleged sexual abuse, and victims' counsellors say the situation here is no better than scandal-plagued dioceses overseas.
It has been eight years since New Zealand's Catholic church apologised to its parishioners about how it had historically handled sexual abuse cases, after admitting to 38 cases of sexual abuse by priests and other men in its ranks.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10637043 

Treatment and care of children in institutions

Do I often wonder what it would have been like to have been left in a loving home with my family intact, to share Christmas morning with all my brothers, sisters, grandparents and mother? Sure I do! I do not delude myself that it would have been all roses and always loving. We would have had many trying situations but we would have had the only unconditional love that is available, that of the love of family.[207]
4.1 The highly evocative and emotive language that is constantly repeated through the submissions and evidence received from across Australia is testimony to the nature of the treatment of children in institutions over many decades. Language such as 'my sentence', 'concentration camp', 'prison', 'hell-hole', 'felt like a convict', 'entombed in institutions', 'inmates', 'incarcerated', 'internship', 'tortured', 'nightmare', 'release', 'outside world', 'victims', 'survivors' graphically describe the feelings that remain about the treatment received at an early age of their lives.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/report/c04 

The hidden horror of child abuse in South Canterbury NZ.

The 5-year-old child cowered in the corner, terrified, as his father threatened his mother. "He was going to cut Mum with an axe. He said, "I'm going to gut you". I felt like Daddy was going to kill me." The child cried on the floor after taking another beating at the hands of his father.
"My dad strangled me and kicked me to the side, and I said, "help" and he said, "help yourself".  "I felt angry and scared." Another unimaginable display of cruelty. Another 5-year-old.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/74318738/the-hidden-horror-of-child-abuse-in-south-canterbury