Cardinal John Dew

Photo: Archdiocese of Wellington

Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Wellington, New Zealand

Dioceses/Religious Orders: Archdiocese of Wellington, Military Ordinariate of New Zealand, Diocese of Palmerston North

The day after Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Wellington, Dew released a statement that he had become aware of an allegation of sexual abuse made against him. When New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled against Dew’s attempt to prevent the media outlet Newshub from reporting it, the allegation was made public in March 2024.

The accuser alleged that Dew, a priest at St. Joseph’s parish from 1976 to 1979, sexually abused him in November 1977 when he was seven years old and temporarily living at the nearby St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Upper Hutt. Dew worked alongside multiply accused priest Noel Donoghue, a man Dew called his “mentor,” whom the complainant also accused of abuse.

In 2006, an allegation against Donoghue was made to the Archdiocese of Wellington, then led by Dew. Dew’s successor, Archbishop Paul Martin, told Newshub that Dew would have known of the allegation. Though Dew initially denied any knowledge of the allegation, he later said that he found it “very hard to believe.” The church acknowledged that a “serious boundary violation” was investigated by the Sexual Abuse Protocol Committee, but a police spokesperson said that law enforcement was never made aware of the complaint.

Dew denied the accusation against him, claiming he did not know the individual and had never entered the orphanage. In his March 7, 2024 statement, he said the police had decided not to charge him and had closed the case. However, Newshub reported that police indicated they lacked sufficient evidence but remained open to reviewing any new information. On the same day, Archbishop Martin stated that Dew had withdrawn from all public church duties since the allegation emerged. With the police investigation concluded, Martin said the Church would begin its own inquiry, following the Vos estis lux mundi protocol, according to the Catholic News Agency.

On June 5, 2024, Martin announced in a public letter that the Vatican had determined no further Church investigation was necessary. Dew was cleared to resume his public duties within the Church. The complainant later told Newshub that the Vatican had not reached out to him during its review.