‘Shocking’ extent of Catholic child abuse

AUSTRALIA: The extent of the Catholic Church’s ‘‘confronting and shameful’’ history of child sexual abuse in Australia will be laid bare in a world first.

The child sex abuse royal commission will release Catholic Church data on the extent of abuse claims in Australia as part of its final public hearing focused on the church and its past and current handling of abuse, which begins on Monday.

The head of the church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council expects the public will be shocked by the extent of abuse revealed by church records going back to the 1950s.

‘‘I was quite confronted by it and I’m sure I won’t be alone on that,’’ TJHC chief executive Francis Sullivan said.

Sullivan believes it is the first time in the world the Catholic Church’s records on child sexual abuse have been compiled and analysed for public consideration.

He said the release of the data was in the interests of transparency about what he has described as the shameful and confronting history of abuse in the Catholic Church.

‘‘It’s terribly important for the complete story to be told.’’

The records used in the royal commission’s data survey cover child sex abuse claims received by Catholic Church authorities in Australia.

However Sullivan acknowledges the data will not reveal the full extent of abuse in Catholic institutions as some victims never come forward.

The commission is also holding final hearings into a number of other institutions’ handling of child abuse and their current policies and procedures, including the Anglican and Uniting churches and federal, state and territory governments. - AAP