KATHLEEN McPHILLIPS. Royal commission hearings show Catholic Church faces a massive reform task.

February 14, 2017

In research prepared for the Royal Commission, 7% of priests were identified as perpetrators. By far the worst offenders were in religious orders: for example, over 40% of John of God Brothers, 22% of Christian Brothers and 20% of Marist Brothers were identified as alleged perpetrators.  These figures are particularly shocking because the rate of disclosure of abuse by victims is generally held to be under 20%.