Christian Brothers Oceania preparing for closure

Christian Brothers Oceania Province said from Melbourne on June 22 that it was proposing a plan to facilitate the “orderly distribution of our remaining property, funds and other assets” to victims of abuse by congregation members.

The organisation said that “some members” of the congregation had caused “enormous harm through their criminal sexual abuse of children”.

The group said it is facing a “pivotal moment” in which a “very difficult financial position” led it to propose the distribution scheme. Either through that scheme or through “liquidation”, the group said its Oceania province would “inevitably come to an end”.

The congregation has multiple chapters on every continent except Antarctica and has faced numerous sexual abuse allegations elsewhere. The Oceania province includes congregations in Australia, New Zealand and Papa New Guinea.

The organisation said that over the past 45 years it has already made payments to abuse victims “in excess of A$480 million”. Yet in the past decade the number of claims against the organisation has “accelerated”, leading the group to propose the distribution scheme.

If the proposal does not receive court approval, the congregation said, then it will “have no option but to enter liquidation”.

“In both cases,” the group said, the Oceania province will “cease to exist”.

The province’s assets include approximately 36 properties throughout Australia with a total value of about A$216 million, the group said. The proposed distribution scheme would also account for the future care of the remaining brothers in the province.

A total of 176 brothers are still living throughout the province with an average age of 80 years.

FULL STORY

Christian Brothers Oceania Province faces ‘inevitable’ end in Australia as it moves to settle abuse claims (By Daniel Payne/EWTN News)