AUSTRALIA
7 News
AAP on February 6, 2017
Australia’s most senior Catholic leaders will have to explain why widespread child sexual abuse continued over 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’s 15th and final public hearing focused on the church, beginning in Sydney on Monday.
World-first data revealing the shocking extent of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Australia will be released on Monday.
The church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan has warned the data will reveal a horrific picture of the extent of claims of abuse by priests and brothers whose responsibility was to protect and care for children.
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