Unlike today, in the seventies there were still many religious in Catholic schools and Christian Brothers’ colleges were no different. As my father was educated by the Christian Brothers, he was keen for his five sons to follow suit. And we all did.

The Brothers taught me mathematics, English, religion, drama and history. They also coached me in football, cricket and athletics. The Brothers were devoted, kind and mostly gentle in nature. I say mostly because in Grade 7, along with the rest of the class, I received ‘six of the best’ for misbehaving at morning assembly.

Back in the day, religious schools were no different to state government schools where the strap, cane and other ‘implements of pain’ were administered to naughty students by teachers without fear or favour. That was the era.

My father loved to regale the story of his experience with the strap in the early 1940s. The classroom teacher checked my father’s homework and was surprised when he was told to stop being funny. Confused, dad was then given the strap. What he didn’t know was the teacher was cross-eyed and was looking at the wrong page … a blank page. The left-hand side of his textbook contained his neatly written homework.

The teacher, after realising his mistake, apologised profusely. Though his hand was sore for a few days, dad never had a bad word to say about that teacher who he genuinely liked.

Today, five decades on from my education and media stories about the financial predicament besetting the Christian Brothers have been concerning. Like many religious orders, the Brothers have been selling properties and other assets to pay for reparation to the victims/survivors of sexual abuse.

I’ll make this point unambiguously: abuse of any individual is appalling and totally unacceptable, whether it be sexual, physical or verbal. The abused deserve acceptance and recognition for their bravery and our profound empathy for the trauma they have suffered.

A child should be nurtured with love and guidance, especially during their formative years, not exploited by a person in a trusted position. That is the ultimate betrayal! The denials and cover-ups only exacerbated the pain suffered by the abused but at least now their horrendous experiences are believed which hopefully can assist in their healing.

This repulsiveness is also sad for another reason. I won’t call them victims because that may be insulting to the victims/survivors of sexual abuse, but the priests, brothers and nuns who have never put a foot wrong have also been caught up in this sorry saga. As one priest said to me, “I’d cut off my right arm before I’d ever harm a child.”

The Brothers have given their life to God and because of their poverty pledge when they took their final vows most have little to show in their bank accounts. It is disheartening that these men, many of whom are in their eighties and nineties and in poor health, are being punished for the sins of others.

The dedication of the religious as teachers, mentors and spiritual leaders should not be glossed over, as the hundreds of thousands who have been through the Catholic system would attest.

I, for one, am grateful for my Catholic education.

Footnote: Lawyers for the Christian Brothers had asked the NSW supreme court to issue a cessation against claims because of their poor financial position. While the Brothers are facing the possibility their residences around Australia will be sold leaving some with no place to live, the risk has lessened for now after Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) agreed to assume responsibility and liability for all current and future legal proceedings, as well as for claims before the National Redress Scheme. The EREA have run Christian Brothers’ schools in Australia since 2007.

The story first appeared in the Spring issue of The Majellan magazine.