Decisive Action Welcomed

Stuff
September 15, 2014

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/opinion/10502940/Decisive-action-welcomed

The Catholic parish in Marlborough has been thrown into turmoil with the announcement at the weekend that one of the priests based in Blenheim has been charged with indecent assault.

Officials from both the church diocese and the Passionist order to which the priest belongs were at services on Saturday and Sunday to break the news to the congregation that Father Aidan Kay has been removed from the parish and will not be returning. They also said he has been charged by police, but would not give any further detail of what that involves.

Kay is due to appear in the Blenheim District Court today charged with indecent assault on a male over 16.

The church is to be commended for its swift and public response to the situation. With the "employee" yet to appear in court and enter a plea to the charge, many organisations would have kept the situation quiet, treating it as an in-house matter until the legal process had been worked through.

During the past 30 years, the Catholic church has been criticised for the way it has done just that. Rather than being open about the illegal and deviant behaviour of some of its religious leaders, it has quietly and swiftly transplanted them to various outposts and supervised roles. Deals were done, victims were persuaded not to lay complaints with police and charges were avoided.

The circumstances of this charge are not yet revealed, but the church leaders say they have co-operated fully with the police. They also say the priest will not be back. This recognises that the parish must have the utmost trust in its faith leaders and that some people will struggle with that even if Kay is not convicted.

He must be given the opportunity to respond to the charge and not be judged automatically as acting against the law and his vows. There could be any number of explanations for the actions that led to the charge.

While the parish awaits those details, they can feel some comfort in the way their senior leaders have taken ownership of the situation. The Archbishop and the Passionist provincial superior have shared what information they can and are promising whatever support is needed.