Australia's most senior Catholic leaders, including an archbishop charged with concealing child sexual abuse, will be grilled as a royal commission investigates why widespread offending occurred in church institutions.
Six of Australia's seven archbishops, many of whom have already appeared before the royal commission, and the leaders of Catholic religious orders will give evidence at the final public hearing into the church.
World-first data on the extent of child sex abuse claims known to the church in Australia will be released when the hearing begins in Sydney on Monday.
The metropolitan archbishops including Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson will participate in a panel at the end of the hearing, set down for three weeks and one day.
Archbishop Wilson has pleaded not guilty concealing information about a serious indictable offence, relating to the 1971 sexual assault by a pedophile priest in NSW.
He is believed to be the most senior Catholic official in the world to face a charge of this kind.
Of the archbishops, only Hobart Archbishop Julian Porteous is not on the witness list for the commission's 15th hearing focused on the Catholic Church.
The provincial leaders of the Christian Brothers, Marist Brothers, Jesuits, Salesian and St John of God orders will also appear, along with several bishops, Catholic education officials, academics and experts.
