NEW ZEALAND
Stuff
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.
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