Sex abuse ribbons generate tensions
Ribbons put on a Wellington church fence by child sexual abuse survivors were promptly taken down by the parish priest.
The ribbons were tied to the fence of the St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Boulcott St on Thursday but were gone by yesterday morning.
They were put up to acknowledge historic sexual abuse of children in the Wellington diocese, particularly at St Patrick’s College in Silverstream and Wellington City, and St Bernard’s College in Lower Hutt.
A sexual abuse survivor involved in the protest, who did not want to be named, said the removal of the ribbons was an outrage. ‘‘For the priests to take our ribbons down ... is insulting, devastating and an attempt to silence survivors.’’
The protest was part of the ‘‘Loud Fence’’ movement, which originated in Melbourne last year following an inquiry into child sexual abuse by institutions such as the Catholic Church. The movement last month reached Dunedin, where ribbons were tied to the gates of St Joseph’s Cathedral. Dunedin Bishop Michael Dooley and others from the diocese were on hand to offer support. Ribbons there are still in place. In a phone conversation with another person involved in the Wellington protest, St Mary parish priest Kevin Conroy said the ribbons were taken down because permission had not been granted to put them there.
Staff were always removing items to keep the premises tidy, he said.
Conroy said he removed the ribbons early yesterday and, at first, was not aware what they represented. The network member who called Conroy said he was astonished and dismayed at Conroy’s reasons for taking down the ribbons.
‘‘The ‘heritage’ of the bricks and mortar church is surely secondary to the heritage of horrendous sexual abuse of children that these ribbons represent and symbolise in a deep and profound way,’’ he said.
‘‘The victim survivors do not need the permission of clergy to express their grief and agony in this fashion.
‘‘It is their fundamental right, and the ribbon tying has united and empowered victims and provided a voice so long ignored and silenced.’’
Church spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said the removal of the ribbons ‘‘does not mean the church is in any way lacking in empathy for the victims of abuse’’. ‘‘Anything put on the church’s grounds without permission is automatically removed.’’