CNA Newsroom, Mar 7, 2024 / 10:25 am
The Vatican is launching an investigation into a claim of historical sexual abuse against New Zealand Cardinal John Dew, according to a public letter published by the Archdiocese of Wellington on Thursday.
Addressing the Catholic community of the country in the Pacific Ocean, Archbishop Paul Martin, SM, of Wellington wrote on March 7 that the Church inquiry into allegations against Dew was launched after a police investigation concluded without charges.
The allegations date back to the 1970s and involve an alleged incident at St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Upper Hutt, roughly 20 miles northeast of Wellington, where Dew, then an assistant priest, is accused of abusing a 7-year-old boy.
Police investigated claims made by a man who alleges Dew sexually abused him — then an assistant priest — at St. Joseph’s Orphanage when he was 7 years old.