The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has launched eight new investigations, including one about Marylands, the Christchurch school run by the Catholic religious congregation, the Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God, from the 1950s to 1984.

The Royal Commission has published the details of its Marylands case study – one of a number of individual inquiries it will hold into state and faith-based institutions – as part of its overall investigation into historical child abuse in care institutions. It has yet to name a date for the Marylands hearing.

The Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand has welcomed publication of details of the inquiry into the former Marylands School.

The Royal Commission will investigate ‘the nature and extent of abuse that occurred at Marylands, why it happened, and the impacts of abuse that may have occurred at the hands of priests, religious or lay employees of the Church. It will investigate whether there are any systemic, structural or other factors which contributed to the abuse occurring and the adequacy of the response by the Catholic Church to allegations of abuse.’

Te Ropu Rautoko, the group coordinating Catholic engagement with the Royal Commission, has welcomed the investigation into Marylands. Group chair Catherine Fyfe said the Church would ‘work with the Royal Commission and the leadership of the brothers of St John of God to ensure our response is as timely and comprehensive as possible, to honour those harmed at Marylands’.

Br Timothy Graham OH, the Sydney-based Provincial of the St John of God order, said the Marylands inquiry is an acknowledgement of those who were harmed in the care of the brothers.

See: www.abuseincare.org.nz/public-hearings/abuse-in-the-care-of-the-catholic-church/marylands-school/ 

Published in WelCom September 2020