Dominican Friars

The Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, was founded in 1216 by St Dominic (1170–1221). Its purpose has been ‘to defend the Church against her enemies and to preach the Gospel’. The Dominican Friars have had a presence in Australia since 1831, but it wasn’t until 1898 that the first strong Dominican presence was felt through the establishment of a community of friars in Adelaide.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found in its Final Report (2017), that the Dominican Friars had the lowest overall proportion of priests who ministered between 1950 and 2010 and were alleged perpetrators. The figure was 2.1 per cent for the Dominican Friars out the total number of 150 members during that period.

Some of the schools and parishes where sexual abuse was identified by the Royal Commission include St Martin de Porres Girls' Primary School in Queensland, Blackfriars Priory School and Saint Lawrence's Parish, both in South Australia.

We invite former victims to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

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