Two-Year Update from the Healing Fund

The Healing Fund for Japanese Canadians is a 5-year collaborative project, that began in September 2021, that addresses Gordon Goichi Nakayama’s clergy sexual abuse. The Healing Fund is supported by the National Association of Japanese Canadians and the Anglican Church of Canada. The Anglican Church of Canada has provided $610,000 in funding towards this project and finances a Facilitator / Project Manager. References to clergy sexual abuse are contained in this article.

Dear Community Members, The Healing Fund is active from September 2021 - September 2026. As Summer 2023 comes to a close the Healing Fund, too, is closing a chapter. In September we will hold a midterm meeting to review the progress of the Healing Fund’s first two years. So far, the Healing Fund has spent $200,000 of the original $610,000 from the Anglican Church of Canada. Our expenses include all costs for counselling support, education grants, and community healing and education projects. The expenditures to date cover programming that includes individuals and family members of approximately 30 survivors. Many more survivors are out there who many want or need to know about the Healing Fund. Nakayama said he abused 300 boys between the 1930s and the 1990s. Survivors are known to include Japanese Canadian, Caucasian Canadian, and Japanese Nationals in Japan. Nakayama traveled widely and may have abused children in 38 other countries around the world. Please share this article or the contact information for the Healing Fund with anyone you might know who could have been affected. Beyond 2026 While the Healing Fund is projected to close in 2026 that does not mean healing support will necessarily end at that time. The Healing Fund is addressing the limited 2021-2026 time period by measuring the need for the Healing Fund’s programming through our community feedback form. We have a budget of $610,000. The community’s declared need is already $920,000. The increased need is partially reflected in the uptake we have seen for the Healing Fund’s resources. Additional funding may be provided by the Anglican Church of Canada in the future. If any community members have been affected by Nakayama’s abuse, either as survivors of the abuse, members of families affected by the abuse, or as communities impacted, we ask you to fill in the community feedback form. Archives The Healing Fund was given the task of accessing archival records from the Anglican Church of Canada, specifically the Diocese of Calgary, where Nakayama worked for most of his career. These archives will help answer questions surrounding how Nakayama was able to continue his abuse for so long. What did the Anglican Church know all those years ago, and why did it take so long to come forward with this information? In August 2023, the Dioceses of New Westminster and Calgary provided archive material to the Project Office from their respective Diocese archives. Crucial information is missing, misplaced or destroyed, including records of correspondence and an internal investigation report into Nakayama. Taken together, 125 pages of records were provided. These confirmed that Nakayama’s clergy sexual abuse was known by members of the Anglican Church of Canada since the 1950s. Nakayama was sent back to Canada on August 5, 1952 after he was caught abusing a child in Okinawa. The Bishop of Calgary writes, in his own words: “...I want you to know that I am going to do my utmost to help you, and hope you will be very frank with me when I start to talk to you. Be assured that the matter I refer to is known to me alone.” - Bishop George Calvert, September 25,1952 These words, while cryptic, suggest the Bishop knew about Nakayama’s abuses in Japan and the reason he was sent home early. This correspondence also supports the known Bishop-to-Bishop communication channels that exist for priest loans between Dioceses, in this case between the Dioceses of Calgary and Hawaii. As Nakayama was retained as an employed priest the reader can feel confident in knowing the help Bishop Calvert offered was help to cover up Nakayama’s abuse. Nakayama continued to abuse children for decades. George Calvert held jurisdiction over Nakayama as Bishop of Calgary for 15 more years after the 1952 cover-up. Safe Church Policies on Clergy Sexual Abuse Community members asked the Healing Fund to ensure the Anglican Church of Canada was working towards preventing and addressing clergy sexual abuse. Every three months, we access all 30 Diocesan websites and search for sexual abuse policies to answer the question “if a community member was looking for help, what would they find?” The first review was on May 10, 2022. At that time 16 of 30 websites had accessible policies. The sixth review was on August 10, 2023. At that time 16 of 30 websites had accessible policies. There were some changes between the six review periods. While Dioceses such as Edmonton, Algoma, and NB & PEI have new policies online, others such as Central Newfoundland, Islands & Inlets (Victoria, BC), and Saskatoon have become inaccessible. Safe Church policies remain active matter for the Healing Fund. Bishop Stephens of New Westminster and Archbishop Kerr-Wilson of Calgary offered in March 2023 to bring Safe Church policies to the attention of all Canadian Anglican Diocese at the House of Bishop’s meetings. There is a level of independence between Dioceses and as such the House of Bishop’s is a good place to bring up Safe Church policies. The House of Bishop’s meet twice a year. In Closing The Healing Fund will continue to offer our support programming, will continue to collect and share information, and will continue to listen to survivors of Nakayama’s abuse and their families. We will be here to support survivors until at least September 2026. Peter Wallace Facilitator / Project Manager Project Office of the Healing Fund for Japanese Canadians anglicanhealingfund@najc.ca www.bit.ly/Healing-Anglican

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