The apology comes nearly three months after the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care released its 3000-page, nine-part final report detailing the abuse and neglect of children, young people and adults in the care of State and faith-based institutions in New Zealand, between 1950 and 1999.
In its response, released this week, the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand said it accepted the commission’s findings, including the church’s reluctance to confront abuse, failure to remove people and lack of consistent policies and procedures to prevent and report abuse.
It acknowledged and deeply regretted the abuse and neglect that occurred within its care, and accepted responsibility for historical, societal and institutional factors that contributed to these abuses.
It had already begun work on the commission’s recommendations and said it expected to be held accountable for its commitment to seeing that
work through.
A public apology to survivors, their whanau and support networks would be made by the Presbyterian Church’s moderator Rev Rose Luxford next month.
She said the church grieved deeply "for all who have been harmed by its actions and inactions, whoever they are and wherever they are".
"Any form of abuse of children is totally unacceptable and completely abhorrent."
When asked if her planned public apology in mid-November would include an apology for the historical abuse inflicted upon those in the care of Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO), Ms Luxford said the apology was "not finalised" and would be written after consultation with survivors.
The Presbyterian Church was involved in founding the Presbyterian Social Services Association, which later developed into Presbyterian Support.
The Presbyterian Church was a "separate entity" to Presbyterian Support with its own management structures, and could only investigate allegations of abuse that related to Presbyterian Church members, she said.
"Where abuse reported to the church concerns PSO the complainant will be encouraged and supported to contact PSO.
"While PSO holds responsibility for abuse that happened in their care we do collectively share the burden, the grief of these abhorrent actions."
Network of Survivors of Abuse in Faith-Based Institutions spokeswoman Liz Tonks said it welcomed the church taking full responsibility for its part in enabling the abuse that had occurred in its institutions and the "serious and extensive harm" that it had caused, as this had not been the case for many other churches.
The argument that the church itself had no responsibility for PSO and other support services carrying the Presbyterian label was "the same used by all the main churches that have legally separated their institutions to avoid liability", she said.
"The network suggests they use their authority to require them to do what is right by survivors, or remove their entitlement to associate with the Presbyterian Church."
The Royal Commission’s report noted there was a "distinct legal separation" between the church and the support organisations.
But the church conceded at a hearing in 2022 that "despite the separate legal structures, survivors do not see a distinction between the church and its support services organisations, often referring to the two collectively as "the church"’.
Most board members for homes run by support services were comprised of members from the Presbyterian Church and, until the 1980s, governance boards for the support services organisations were comprised "largely" of Presbyterian ministers, the report stated.
Male Survivors Otago manager, and a survivor of historical sexual abuse, Michael Chamberlain said the church’s response was "meaningless" ahead of redress and did little to pacify the families of abuse survivors who had died.
The response was "merely a token gesture" for the public at large and did not apologise for survivors who were abused in the care of church support organisations.
Mr Chamberlain said he believed the church was "fully aware" of the links between it and its support organisations "but choose to operate differently, specifically on the subject of abuse".
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