By JAMES GARDINER
A dying man, sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest, has accused the powerful Society of Mary order of mishandling his complaint.
He believes the society may be trying to cover up other cases of abuse.
Mike Phillips, 50, said he was a 13-year-old altar boy at St Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington in the mid-1960s when Father Tom Laffey assaulted him.
Mr Phillips, who has terminal cancer, kept the secret for 36 years but approached the church to try to put the matter behind him, worried that other children may have suffered while he stayed silent.
His approach last June coincided with an unprecedented public apology from the country's Catholic bishops, who gave a commitment to confront the "evil" of the past.
It took more than two months for the Society of Mary to confront Father Laffey, but on September 2 Mr Phillips got the phone call he was waiting for.
The order's deputy leader, Father Tim Duckworth, rang him to say that not only had Father Laffey admitted everything, but - according to Mr Phillips - he had confessed there were four other instances.
But the order now disputes whether any such admission was made, and Father Duckworth refuses, on legal advice, to talk to Mr Phillips or to answer questions.
Father Laffey, who lives in a church establishment in Pt Chevalier, Auckland, would not discuss the allegations in detail but told the Weekend Herald he was ashamed of what he did to Mike Phillips and wanted to apologise to him.
He denied any other offending, then referred questions to his lawyer, who refused all comment.
Mr Phillips said the assault occurred after a wrestling play-fight turned into simulated sex.
"We had just carried the collection money over from the church," he said.
"He knew I was interested in professional wrestling and he started playing fighting with me. He was very tall and well built. I was quite small for my age."
Internationally, the Catholic Church faces accusations of hundreds of cases of child abuse by priests, brothers and nuns, many hidden by deliberate cover-ups, victims' suicides or the shame they felt.
In New Zealand it is little different. The Weekend Herald revealed last year how the Society of Mary repeatedly moved Father Alan Woodcock from school to school from 1978 to 1987 after complaints about his abuse of schoolboys. Woodcock, 55, is now being extradited from England to face charges of buggery and indecent assault involving 11 complainants.
Mr Phillips, a father of four, said his main issue now was whether there were other victims of Father Laffey.
He said he had not gone seeking money, just a written apology and acknowledgment of what had occurred.
In the end he got $10,000 after laughing at an earlier offer of $5000, an apology framed in a legal document and no acknowledgment or admission of liability.
Mr Phillips was so incensed with the way he was treated and concerned that the society was not interested in finding out about other victims that he laid a complaint with the police on December 23.
Detective Steve Humphries, who executed a search warrant on the Society of Mary's Wellington offices and interviewed Father Duckworth with a lawyer present, said he had conflicting accounts about the possibility of other victims.
"I've got no doubt about Mike's sincerity but I've got no reason to doubt Tim Duckworth's explanations either."
Mr Phillips' version was supported by his son Michael, a policeman in Australia, who attended a meeting in November at which the society agreed to pay the $10,000.
He recalls Father Duckworth saying the boys would have to come forward themselves. He said Father Duckworth never denied knowledge of the other boys and was quite open in discussing their existence.
Mr Phillips' counsellor, Lyn Coker, also supported his version. She said he relayed the September conversation to her straight after it took place and she made notes.
"I remember it so clearly because he said to me, 'I wish I knew who the other boys were'."
Mrs Coker, a psychotherapist who wrote a report saying Mr Phillips suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the abuse, has had several other clients who are victims of clergymen.
She said the society had "protected the reputation of the institution over and above the feelings of a human being".
Brent Cherry, another counsellor with clients who have complained of abuse by priests and brothers, is scathing of the way the Society of Mary has handled complaints. The society was "re-traumatising" victims, he said.
"They're struggling with denial or not wanting to really deal with the issue. People who have rung up the Society of Mary, they [the order] have come back and said, 'Oh, that was consensual sex because it was a woman or it was a person over 16 years of age'. That's appalling."
At a meeting this month, New Zealand's Catholic bishops and the heads of about 40 religious orders will discuss co-ordinating the handling of the dozens of complaints dating back decades.
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