The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearoa New Zealand has called on Catholics and the public to wear white clothing on Sundays in February and March 2026 to call out church leaders for how they are responding to abuse.

In an Open Letter to Catholics published last Friday, leaders of SNAP in New Zealand said they “have still not experienced the openness and transparency promised and needed for justice and healing. Therefore, we would like to call on you to not just sympathise with us but also to stand in solidarity with us and hold your church leaders to account.”

The call comes amid ongoing frustrations with the handling of clergy and religious sexual abuse complaints by New Zealand's Catholic bishops.

The campaign is designed as a sign of solidarity with victims to hold church leaders to account.

The initiative was sparked by reports that the New Zealand Church’s National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS), which is overseen by the bishops, has engaged in “retaliation" against survivors who have not remained silent. The survivors have reported that NOPS instructed a lawyer to contact them in the bishops’ pastoral healing process, “creating a massive gap between what [the bishops] say in public and what they do in private."

The campaign’s goal is to push for transparency, end the silencing tactics currently being used by the bishops, and ensure church leaders uphold their obligations to survivors and the public for “openness and transparency.”

The colour white is used to symbolise purity and truth in contrast with the “darkness” of abuse and coverup.

The move was supported by some church leaders including Gerard Boyce, Parish Priest of St Peter Chanel Catholic Church, Whakatāne, who welcomed the initiative.

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