THE MANAGER of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle support service that clerical abuse survivors have been encouraged to contact wasn't told for more than six weeks about paedophile priest Vincent Ryan's death.
Clergy Abused Network chairperson and co-founder Bob O'Toole said he sent a text message to Healing and Support (Zimmerman Service) manager Magda Mycak last Friday to ask if she knew Ryan had died. He said she replied 'No, I didn't know'.
Mr O'Toole said Ms Mycak was currently ill and on leave.
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"The communication there has been dreadful, they should have been informed and I just think it's atrocious that they weren't," Mr O'Toole said. "She heard it from me."
The diocese was contacted for comment.
It said in a statement to the Herald this week that Zimmerman Service was able to provide support to survivors and their families in the wake of Ryan's death.
As previously reported, Mr O'Toole said Diocesan Administrator Father Greg Barker told him last Wednesday Ryan had died several weeks before. The diocese later confirmed he died on April 13.
Mr O'Toole broke the news to some survivors, including Scott Hallett, Gerard McDonald, Stephen Murray, "another family who have a very damaged sibling and also best friends of a fellow who suicided a couple of years ago, also a Ryan victim".
"I've checked with them to make sure they are okay, I don't think anyone from the diocese has, I don't think any diocesan person would have contacted those people to ask 'Are you okay and do you need help?' and the likely entity that would have done that would have been Zimmerman Service and they didn't know," Mr O'Toole said.
"I would have thought [Zimmerman Service] should have been informed back when he died, but none of us were... that attitude towards informing people in a proper manner, it's not a big ask really."
He said in saying that, many survivors wouldn't speak to Zimmerman Service.
"They wouldn't go to the institution that caused the damage, basically."
He said survivors of abuse by other clergy as well as non-survivors had also been impacted by Ryan's death and how the diocese had responded.
"It demonstrates the lack of concern for survivors generally, not just the Ryan ones," he said.
"Ryan's case has been huge, every Catholic in the diocese would know about Ryan.
"You mention his name and they know who you're talking about because he was notorious.
"I think it should have been announced generally to the Catholic community and certainly more care taken disclosing to survivors generally.
"They wouldn't have known if I hadn't have told them."
He said abuse was not relegated to history for survivors.
"It's not something that goes away, it's always there," he said.
"It's something they live with every day, it's never going to be history, it's current and it just goes to show they don't have much concern for survivors in my view, they should have had some safety nets in place for the eventual finding out that Ryan was dead... they should have anticipated there would be some repercussions and put some measures in place to look after people."
Mr O'Toole said survivors had contacted him asking him about Ryan's funeral and burial, which the diocese has declined to comment on.
The Herald asked the diocese this week how many Ryan victims it knew of - including those who didn't go to police but had been in contact and made claims or sought support - and how many Ryan victims the diocese knew had died by suicide.
