As many as one in seven Catholic diocesan clergy in New Zealand have been accused of abuse, according to an investigation by the church.
But groups representing victims say that is likely to be a fraction of the actual abuse within the church, which often went unreported or unrecorded.
The Catholic Church reported on the scale of alleged abuse within its New Zealand parishes, schools and other institutions for the first time today, after a request by the Royal Commission on Abuse in State Care.
During a two-year inquiry, the church received 1680 reports by 1122 individuals against Catholic clergy, brothers, nuns, sisters and lay people from 1950 to the present day – of which 592 were named.
Nearly half of the alleged abuse involved sexual harm. And the vast majority of the complaints involved children.