FAIRFAX (NEW ZEALAND)
Stuff Limited
May 6, 2019
By Tommy Livingston
Survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of clergymen are outraged three senior bishops attended a funeral celebrating the life of an abusive priest.
The requiem mass for Father Thomas “Tom” Laffey was held in Ponsonby, Auckland, on Friday and attended by Bishop of Auckland Patrick Dunn, Bishop Emeritus Dennis Browne and former Bishop of Rarotonga Stuart O’Connell, Stuff understands.
In 2003, Laffey admitted he had sexually assaulted Mike Phillips in the mid 1960s, when Phillips was a 13-year-old altar boy at St Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington.
Laffey’s admission came after Phillips went public with his allegations after being diagnosed with terminal cancer aged 50. Laffey had been playfighting with Phillips when he took advantage of the situation and sexually assaulted him, he alleged.
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