The Pathology of a Predator

The Catholic Church is one of the most powerful institutions in the world. It has endured scrutiny, war, political and cultural upheaval for more than 2000 years. Then came the child abuse crisis. Across the world, thousands of priests have been accused, tried and convicted of paedophilia.

How can we understand why these men are the way they are? In this series, Inq speaks to current and former priests, brothers and seminarians who have themselves abused, witnessed abuse or who are now tasked with making huge structural changes to an ancient bureaucracy. We give a psychologist’s insight into the mind of one of Australia’s worst paedophile priests, speak with a Marist Brothers whistleblower, try to unearth a document that names 154 abusers within that order, and go inside a seminary to observe life as a priest in 2019.