The Anglican Church's failure to properly select and train its aspiring priests led to child abusers in its ranks, the royal commission has heard.
Chair Peter McClellan asked four senior Anglicans if the process for picking and guiding student clergy had meant "people ended up in the church who were capable of committing these terrible crimes".
The four panellists agreed, with the administrator of the Anglican Diocese, Bishop Tim Harris, saying the church had been in a position of great privilege and autonomy.
"I would hope, going into the 21st century, that there is a much greater awareness that the church is rightly more accountable," he told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday.
Data released on the first day of the hearing revealed 22 Anglican dioceses received 1115 reported complaints of child sexual abuse between 1980 and 2015.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
It also found 45 of 247 alleged clergy perpetrators were schooled at St John's Theological College at Morpeth.
Former St John's principal Reverend Dr George Garnsey told the royal commission he supported a statement from another former college head, who said the institution's bad statistics should not be conveyed in a way that tarnished everyone associated with it.
He was asked if he had failed to properly scrutinise students while he was principal between 1980 and 1991.
"I do not know of any cases of people who passed through the college in my 11 years there that offended," he said.
It also heard students and clergy faced significant pressures, with priests working in the context of church abuse allegations and what some would call a "post-Christian" society.
The hearing in Sydney is investigating how Anglican authorities have so far responded to the royal commission's work.
It heard the various Australian Anglican colleges had different theological stances and did not often come together to talk about training issues.
Bishop Harris said there was a risk of pulling back "into the in-house culture of the Church".
"And to create a divide between what the Church regards as values and good practice and an unwillingness to be aware of or to even invite scrutiny and comment from the wider community, he said.
The hearing is expected to continue on Tuesday.
