Letter_to_Father_Quyen_Vu_SJ_October_2020

Monday 26 October 2020

Dear Fr. Vu,
Congratulations on your appointment as the next Provincial of the the Society of Jesus, Australia.

My name is Mark Prytz, I have a strong interest in the history of child sex abuse (CSA) within the Society of Jesus Australia and the Jesuit schools.

With the help of a few others I do research, run a website and try to assist the survivors of abuse.
During the last three years or so we have encountered many obstructions and lack of promised truth and transparency from Fr. Brain McCoy SJ.

I am hoping that with you at the helm these attitudes will change.

What I have found is that we are dealing with a political party, not a religious order.
Protection of reputation, authority, money and power are paramount.

The immoral and unethical covering up of sex abuse history is still going on as strongly as ever before.
Fr. McCoy has put in place protocols that are designed to prevent us from getting information.


"We will continue to listen, consult, be open to criticism from people, including lay people,
who are strong enough to give us honest, robust, reasonable, evidence-based feedback.
We will also continue to act on that feedback and be relentless in our efforts to ensure that our
schools and ministries are safe places, particularly for children and young people"
Father Brian McCoy SJ, Jesuit Provincial 17 December 2018.

“We are committed to owning the past”
Bill Doherty


I have had one in person meeting with Fr. McCoy (with also Bill Doherty and Simon Davies) and nothing came from it,
except that he accused me of “abusing people on retreat”.
Fr. McCoy for the last 18 months or so has never replied to an email from me.
Simon Davies also mostly never replies.
They have also described me as “obsessed” and “a danger to myself and others”.

It is possible that Simon Davies was exploring whether I could be bribed to shut and go away.
“ What would it take for you to go away and live on a tropical island”
“I don’t suppose he’d go away if we gave him half a million dollars, would he”.


• Fr. McCoy has redefined the Jesuit archives and the schools’ archives as a “private resource”.
“who are you and why do you want it?” Is the response to a request for general
information. Then it is not provided.
He will not even supply lists of staff names at schools.


Fr. McCoy has not published the annual Child Protection Report for the last two years.
Previously he made a promise to do this.
The report contains basic information on the sex abuse complaints received during the
year.


Fr. McCoy and Xavier College are happily receiving money from a known child sex abuser’s Trust.
Eldon Hogan is his name. His good friend Peter Walsh is the Trustee and a member of the Xavier Foundation Board.
Via Peter Walsh the Xavier College received $4 million for the Eldon Hogan Performing
Arts Centre and more monies for renovating the archives, buying a boat with Eldon
Hogan’s name on it and for numerous student prizes and for publishing books about
Xavier College and the Jesuits.

Staff at Xavier College refer to the Eldon Hogan Performing Arts Centre as the
“paedophiles palace”.
Brian McCoy, the Xavier Board and the Principal, Bill Doherty, know all this have done
nothing. They will not even make a statement about it.

This is utterly immoral and speaks the truth to survivors that money is more important
than honesty, transparency or justice.

I am very sorry but the list of egregious actions and non-actions is very long.

As a member of Catholic Religious Australia and Catholic Professional Standards Ltd. The Society of Jesus has to publish a Complaints Handling Policy.
As a member of Catholic Professional Standards Ltd. (CPSL) the Society of Jesus is required to adhere to the following:

CPSL Criterion 6.1 states:
The entity has an effective Complaints Handling Policy and procedures which clearly outline the roles and responsibilities,
approaches to dealing with different types of complaints, reporting obligations and record keeping requirements.

6.2.2
The Complaints Handling Policy and procedures are made publicly available in a variety of formats,
including age and developmentally appropriate for children, enabling complaints processes to be easily understood.

I reported this omission to CPSL 18 months ago and nothing has been done.

As a result the Society of Jesus is free to act in any way they want when handling a complaint.

Another bad indicator of their attitude is CPSL and the Society of Jesus ignored the
Royal Commission Recommendation for the need for independent oversight of complaint handling by institutions.




• In the
INDEPENDENT REVIEW INTO THE MOVEMENT OF VICTOR HIGGS
Commissioned by Rev Father Brian McCoy, Provincial of the Australian Province of the Society of Jesus
20 December 2019
Ms. Warren made some important findings and made recommendations.
“in light of the revelation by the Society to the Review of 21 cases of
sexual offending other than Higgs during 1968-71,
it is apparent there was a serious pattern of deviant criminal behaviour being perpetrated across the Society “


“..the location of Higgs could have actually been part of a much larger and more
challenging problem of where to locate not merely one but up to 22 problematic priests or brothers.

However, I am unable to make such a finding absent more information about the other 21 cases. “


“It would appear from Dr Murphy’s voluntary work, and from the fact that 21 other instances
have been identified by the Society where complaints of sexual abuse occurring during the period 1968-71 had been made by students in Jesuit schools,
that there are serious matters warranting resolution.

It may be reasonably expected that the Society is or will be conducting further
investigations into these matters. In my view, it is highly desirable that it do so. “

(note: there are many more than the 21 identified here)

And:
“The Society has made further inquiries with Xavier's archivist who has confirmed
that there are no records relating to any students prior to 1980
(other than being able to confirm a student attended the School)
as they were all destroyed for the purpose of saving space. “

This is highly suspicious and I have asked Fr. McCoy and Bill Doherty to explain it and have not received a reply.

Fr. McCoy has made no statement or comment or said anything at all about this damning report.

Publishing the names of credibly accused sex offenders.
We have asked Fr. McCoy to do this, as has been done by the six North American Provinces.
He said they looked into it and won’t do it because its a denial of natural justice.


Xavier College does nothing to assist abuse survivors.
All they have done is install a rock and two plaques as an apology and memorial.
The Rector Fr. Middleton says they help survivors directly. There is only one I know of
and he won’t say how many.
Bill Doherty has been asked to do something and he won’t.


• An example of how things were “handled”.
In 1997 Brendan Ellis was Head of School when:

Glen Walls, a graphics teacher at Xavier College was dismissed after a sex abuse complaint to the school.
A previous complaint years earlier was ignored.
In 1999 he was re-hired at Xavier College.
In 2003 he was charged by police with sexually assaulting students at Xavier College.
There was a deal done and an appeal and he got away with it.
Then he was employed at Swinburne University for a good while.

Brian O’Reilly was dismissed after an inappropriate behaviour complaint.
He was then employed at Samaritan College, Northcote and continued his improper behaviour.
The he was employed at Santa Maria Girls College, Northcote.

These two cases raise the question of what sort of reference they got that enabled them to be employed at other schools/institutions.


I have been told that a Boarder Master was in a sexual relationship with a year 12 boarder.
Nothing is known if anything was done about this.

I have asked may questions about these and got no answers.
e.g. Did Brendan Ellis report to authorities as he was bound to do under law?
Why was Walls re-hired in 1997?
Why did Walls leave again after one term in 2001?
Why didn’t Xavier College warn other schools about these offenders?



As you probably now know two Jesuits have recently been charged with child sex offences.
Theo Overberg SJ and Lawrence Leonard SJ.
This is only because of the courage of the survivors who reported to the police.
Other living offenders are living well and being protected by Brian McCoy.
Some are Peter Beer SJ, Celso Romanian SJ, Noel Bradford SJ, Paul McMahon former SJ., Patrick O’Sullivan SJ (former Provincial).
Brian McCoy knows all about them.

This is another slap in the face to survivors.
Fr. McCoy’s position is that they are innocent until convicted in a court of law.

The whole behaviour of the Soviet of Jesus Australia over time has been disgustingly immoral
and completely lacking in any genuine empathy or concern with the victims of sex abuse.
Brian McCoy does not meet with survivors who make a complaint, he does not want to listen to the pain and suffering they are going through.
Bill Doherty called the police to remove me from the street outside Xavier College.

My grand father and my father attended Xavier College.
My father sent his four sons to Xavier College in good faith.
I was sexually assaulted myself, another brother witnessed sex abuse and another brother was felt and tested by another known abuser.

This betrayal is beyond description.

I am hoping that you will bring a new broom with you and clean out the lies and deceptions and actually behave in the way a man of god would.

Sincerely,
Mark Prytz
(Xavier College 1966-69)

markp@sundowngolf.net

Tel; +61 448 841 016

http://xavier-college-kew-abuse.com