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Our nation is going through heartbreak. The data emerging from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse distils tragedy and crime that all but defies belief and can leave no rational person other than wrenched with grief and fury.
Before we ventilate some of that data, which was revealed on Monday as the royal commission resumed hearings that have been running for more than three years, we would like to pay profound respect to survivors who have shown such courage by speaking out. Their harrowing testimony will surely limit – and hopefully eradicate – the widespread sexual abuse of children by people within institutions.
The figures show the worst offender has been the Catholic Church, the focus of as many as 16 of the commission's 50 hearings so far. The sheer number of paedophiles in its ranks – monstrous criminals it has finally admitted were in many instances protected by the church hierarchy – is damning.
As is the complicity and cover-up it has admitted, after years of external pressure – particularly during the royal commission – of shielding and shifting perpetrators. The punishing and tormenting that many of the children who sought to denounce the rapists faced is also unforgivable.
The fresh figures were compiled by the commission and analysed with the help of the Catholic Church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council, established to help manage the church's policy response to evidence of decades of widespread sexual abuse of children.
The council is headed by a layperson, Francis Sullivan, who wept as he reacted to the distressing details outlined by counsel assisting the royal commission Gail Furness.
Ms Furness revealed that more than one in five members of some Catholic religious orders were allegedly perpetrators of abuse. She said that of orders with only religious brother members, the highest proportion of alleged perpetrators were members of St John of God (40.4 per cent), the Christian Brothers (22 per cent), the Salesians of Don Bosco (21.9 per cent), Marist Brothers (20.4 per cent) and the De La Salle Brothers (13.4 per cent). Almost 4500 people have made claims of child sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church over the past 35 years.
Mr Sullivan said: "These numbers are shocking. They are tragic and they are indefensible ... As Catholics, we hang our heads in shame."
The church has at least created a compensation scheme for victims, notwithstanding that survivors can never be adequately compensated. Many have taken their own lives. Many have crippling ongoing difficulties including mental ill-health and addiction. But every effort should be made by the church to redress these crimes.
Most important, Mr Francis and the church hierarchy must, with full transparency, introduce policies to prevent any more children and vulnerable others suffering such grotesque crimes. That is the focus of the current hearings.
The Catholic Church is rightfully in the spotlight, but it is certainly not the only institution guilty of these crimes. And preventing child sexual abuse falls to the entire community. As many as one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused, and most of these assaults are committed by family members or people close to the family of the victim.
Knowledge can protect and empower children. We must do that, though, without causing them to be unduly fearful and distrustful of a world that can be beautiful, and without robbing them of innocent joy. There are many readily available resources – including advice from psychologists and early-childhood specialists – to help people sensitively manage this vital responsibility.
For help or information call Lifeline 13 11 14, or contact the police at http://www.police.vic.gov.au or the royal commission at http://childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au
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