Exorcism claims: Religious order asked to leave diocese

By Niva Chittock of RNZ 

The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch has asked a religious order accused of holding prolonged, unsanctioned exorcisms to leave the diocese.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) complained to the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and police about reports of ritualistic abuse and other forms of faith-based abuse by Sons of the Most Holy Redeemers clergy since August 2021.

The traditionalist order, also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists, was a conservative movement within the Catholic Church. Its mother house or principal community was Golgotha Monastery Island in Scotland.

SNAP national leader Dr Christopher Longhurst said the allegations included children being told they were possessed by Satan, people having lengthy exorcisms performed on them without prior medical examination and isolation of parents from their children.

Some of the claims made by children and their parents were horrifying, he said.

"It gave me goosebumps to hear what was being disclosed to me on the phone."

Longhurst said he was also told a young pregnant woman was tied to a chair and beaten, under the pretext of having the "devil cast out of them".

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemers were yet to respond to RNZ's request for comment.

The Catholic Church's national body was informed of the complaints and SNAP was told it was working with the order to follow safe-guarding protocols.

Longhurst said it was not clear what monitoring was put in place.

When Michael Gielen became Christchurch's bishop in 2022, Longhurst said SNAP informed him of the complaints and called for action.

He said few responses were received from Bishop Gielen until a Holy See investigation was launched in November last year.

Australian Bishop Robert McGuckin conducted the inquiry and sent a report to the Vatican.

Bishop Gielen this week accepted the recommendations of the Vatican department overseeing the investigation.

He did not detail what the recommendations were, nor how the investigation had been conducted or what it found.

Bishop Gielen stripped the priests of their faculty, meaning they would no longer be able to practise within the rules of the Church, effective from July 14.

All professed members of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemers were also asked to leave the Christchurch diocese.

But Longhurst said the Catholic Church's response was not good enough.

"The current Pope, Pope Francis, has a zero tolerance for abuse. So presumably, the complaints have been upheld on some level," he said.

"The priests just have to leave that particular diocese. So where's the zero tolerance? Because the consequences are that they go somewhere else and the risk is they continue."

Longhurst said the complainants SNAP was supporting had not seen the report to the Vatican or the recommendations, and had not been informed about the Bishop's move before it was publicly announced.

"Put the victims first, don't put the institution first. The victims are harmed because of what's taking place in the institution. Protect them and the institution will be a safer place for them."

Police told RNZ they were unable to respond to queries that "seek to establish whether a specific person or organisation is, or has been, the subject of a police complaint or investigation".