SURVIVORS of paedophile priest Vincent Ryan's abuse will be experiencing a range of different reactions to his death, but all have one thing in common: they had the right to know when he died.
That's the view of NewPsych Psychologists director Tarnya Davis, who said survivors might be surprised by their own responses, which could range from relief and elation, to feeling safe for the first time, grief for the loss of a life free from abuse, to anger or distress they didn't have the chance to confront or bring charges against him, have their day in court, or receive an apology.
"Regardless of a survivors' experience of that grief, it's absolutely their right to have been told in a way that's compassionate and supportive and where people are around to help them process that, whatever it might be," Ms Davis said.
"Just because it happened a long time ago and just because they were abused by them does not mean the death is not important.
"One of the parts that could be hurtful about the church not sharing this is that feeling of 'Was I not important enough to be told? My experience when I was a young person being abused by this man you protected was that I was not important enough to make that stop and here again I'm not important enough to even let know this happened - and you definitely would have known who I was'."
Ms Davis said it would be useful to understand how the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle came to the decision not to inform the community and survivors about Ryan's death, or to make any follow-up direct contact with survivors.
The diocese has declined to comment.
"A progressive organisation would have consulted with some experts and sought advice about how best to deal with this situation," she said.
"That's key, that shows a willingness to be vulnerable enough to admit that you don't always know the answers... how did they seek to understand what the impact of the death would be on victims and their families?
"The non-consultative aspect of the church contributed to covering up and secrecy [in the past] and for some people this will again feel very triggering, 'It's secret, we've kept it within the church, it's no-one else's business'.
"Once they realised they didn't manage their communication as well as they could have, an organisation capable of growth would have reflected upon this and decided to do things differently."
Ms Davis said any argument of not wanting to further upset survivors was "such an outdated perspective on mental health and emotional distress".
"It's not their job to decide whether to share information in case it upsets them," she said.
"It's their [responsibility] to empower the people that need to know with the information that they need to know and then they can choose what they do next."
She said it was also the diocese's responsibility to provide the psychological support that survivors and their loved ones needed after Ryan's death.
Some would have compensation agreements with a limited number of treatment sessions, which she said was "problematic". Others wouldn't.
"It would be great to be able to offer them easy to access non-denominational support with a counsellor of their choosing in a way that suits them, but of course nothing to do with the church."
Ms Davis said she liked to think the diocese hadn't known what to do or intended to cause harm.
"But the problem is they have a responsibility to find out what is the right thing to do if they don't know," she said.
"The potential lack of consultation is I think one of the most concerning parts - and then also the lack of vulnerability, in the face of the knowledge that maybe we could have handled this better, to still not correct the error - that's about growth isn't it.
"We all make mistakes, but it's what we do next when we learn we've made a mistake that shows the world we're capable of change and growth.
"This will happen again, all these perpetrators are going to die. Get it sorted now."
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