Shocking church data finds SEVEN per cent of all Catholic priests are accused paedophiles - and in some orders the number jumps to more than one in five, by Stephen Johnson, Daily Mail (UK) (February 5, 2017)

Shocking church data finds SEVEN per cent of all Catholic priests are accused paedophiles - and in some orders the number jumps to more than one in five

By Stephen Johnson
Daily Mail (UK)
February 5, 2017

https://goo.gl/JnKBVc

Counsel assisting the royal commission Gail Furness said 60 per cent of survivors attending private royal commission session were from faith-based institutions

The Catholic Church's Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan (left) says the data reveals horrific abuse at the hands of priests

Melbourne Archbishop and Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Denis Hart (pictured)

World-first data from the Catholic church has revealed seven per cent of priests are accused child sex abusers.

The shocking figures coincide with the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse's 15th and final public hearing on the church, beginning in Sydney on Monday.

This is the first time in the world Catholic church records on child sex abuse have been analysed for public consideration, and it covers church records from to 1950-2010.

More than 20 per cent of the members of some Catholic religious orders — including Marist Brothers and Christian Brothers — were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, the hearing was also told.

In her opening address, counsel assisting the royal commission Gail Furness , SC, said a survey revealed 4,444 alleged incidents of abuse between January 1980 and February 2015.

Ms Furness said 60 per cent of survivors attending private royal commission sessions reported sexual abuse at faith-based institutions.

Of those, almost two-thirds reported abuse in Catholic institutions.

Ms Furness described the victims' accounts as 'depressingly similar'.

Children were ignored or worse, punished, she said.

'Documents were not kept, or they were destroyed.

'Secrecy prevailed as did cover-ups.'

The average age of the victims at the time they were allegedly abused was 10 for girls and 11 for boys.

The church's Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan said the data would reveal a horrific story of abuse at the hands of priests.

Australia's most senior Catholic leaders will have to explain why widespread child sexual abuse continued for several decades while convincing a royal commission the church is acting to ensure it is not repeated.

Six of Australia's seven Catholic archbishops and the leaders of its religious orders have been told to appear before the child abuse royal commission.

The data covers reports made to the church and will therefore still not reveal the full extent of the abuse, given many victims never come forward.

The provincial leaders of the Christian Brothers, Marist Brothers, Jesuits, Salesian and St John of God orders will testify, along with several bishops, Catholic education officials, academics and experts.

Many of the archbishops and Catholic leaders have already appeared before the commission.

Hobart Archbishop Julian Porteous is the only archbishop not listed as a witness.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, believed to be the most senior Catholic official in the world to face a charge of concealing child sex abuse, will participate in a panel with other archbishops.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, said the leaders will explain what the church has been doing to change the old culture that allowed abuse to continue and to put in place new policies and structures to safeguard children.

The hearing, set down for three weeks and one day, will involve panel discussions about issues including the church's structure, the screening and training of priests, canon law and the sacrament of confession.