Prepared by the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, which handles the church’s dealings with the royal commission into institutional responses to sexual abuse, the admission is crucial because it opens the door to the church examining how its culture and arcane rules and not just the behaviour of individuals may be responsible for the cases of entrenched abuse and denial which have so tainted the Catholic Church in Australia.

The report does not represent the official position of the church in Australia, let alone the hierarchy in Rome, but it is an admission many Catholics have been waiting to hear.

The Catholic Church is certainly not alone in sheltering sexual predators among its ranks, and often protecting them while persecuting their victims, but the scale of the abuse and the lengths it has been prepared to go to hide its dark secret has left many Catholics asking how this could be allowed to happen and how they can reconcile their faith with the conduct of the institution.

Now there is at least a glimmer of hope that the church will accept the road to its redemption and reform must include examining compulsory celibacy and the effect it may be having on some in the clergy.

The notion that a set of man-made rules is enough to guarantee the safety of the most vulnerable in our society and should be above scrutiny is finally collapsing under the weight of guilt.