Te Rōpū Tautoko chairwoman Catherine Fyfe says she is confident Bishop Charles Drennan's sexual misconduct did not affect or influence the group's work. The head of the Catholic Church's liaison group with a Crown investigation into historical abuse cases sees no reason to review past decisions or procedures, after one of its own resigned in disgrace over sexual misconduct. Charles Drennan, a member of Tautoko, resigned as bishop of the Palmerston North diocese last week, after a months-long investigation into a sexual misconduct complaint made by a young woman. Although Fyfe was a lay person, Tautoko has drawn criticism from survivors of abuse by Catholic priests for being dominated by clergy. Tautoko did not engage directly with abuse survivors, since that was more appropriately handled by the Commission itself, she said.

Source: Stuff October 09, 2019 01:52 UTC