Hiding offending by priest

the two schools, were ever told by the Catholic diocese of Auckland about Raass’ offending – only his suspension.

The schools and the parish collectively complained to the Bishop of Auckland, Patrick Dunn.

Marist Primary board chairwoman Catherine Gilchrist wrote a note to parents, saying the school had conveyed ‘‘our disappointment around the poor communication and lack of transparency from the diocese’’.

In his letter of response, Dunn described Raass’ offending as ‘‘some inappropriate text messaging’’.

‘‘With hindsight, I regret that you were not given more information from us at the time,’’

Dunn wrote, saying the diocese felt legally constrained about commenting while the matter was before the courts. ‘‘I apologise for the hurt and disappointment this may have caused.’’

Dunn added: ‘‘It’s most regrettable that many of you learned of this from the media.’’

His letter was circulated to parishioners, and to parents, by the three bodies that received it.

Gilchrist’s message to parents said the school board took Raass’ offending very seriously and it was praying for the victim.

Her note said the board members were ‘‘surprised and dismayed to find out about this for the first time when it was published in Stuff’’.

Gilchrist’s letter said while the church told the school’s former principal of the police investigation in January 2018, the board was not informed, and neither the schools nor the parish were told of his eventual conviction 14 months later.

St Mary’s parish ran a short note in its parish bulletin, saying it had ‘‘requested an urgent response’’ from the diocese.

Dave Wood, chairman of the parish’s pastoral council, said: ‘‘We’re happy with the outcome. He [Dunn] has written to us and addressed the [issue].

‘‘It is a diocese matter, rather than a parish matter, so it is up to them how they handle it [but] we would have liked to have been informed earlier.

‘‘We understood they couldn’t divulge everything because of the suppression orders but we advised them it would have been nice to learn about it before the story was published.’’

The disgruntled parent was pleased with the school board’s response but disgusted with the diocese’s approach. ‘‘It’s another partial sorry when they have been caught out,’’ he said.

‘‘It is ridiculous they did not inform us. The letter is the weakest thing I’ve seen in some time: it’s apologising for how we feel.

‘‘I’m irate: it is classic Catholic obstruction and disinformation; hiding the facts and the truth and it’s the reason why the Catholic church continues to be in trouble. Until there is systematic change at the top of the church, they are going to be in this mess for a long time.’’

Auckland Catholic diocese spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said Dunn did not want to be interviewed but would consider written questions.

Our questions included asking what legal advice Dunn had taken to lead him to decide not to tell parishioners, what he would do differently in the future, and whether he thought describing Raass’ actions as ‘‘inappropriate text messaging’’ served to minimise the offending.

In response, Freer provided a statement saying: ‘‘The bishop believes this letter is self-explanatory, and covers the questions you raise.’’

STUFF Sosefo Sateki Raass pleaded guilty to a sexual offence in March 2019. The priest of St Mary’s Church, in Auckland’s Mt Albert, was later sentenced to 100 hours’ community service. But his parish was not told.