On Wednesday the Anglican Church in Australia officially apologized to the hundreds who during childhood were victims of sexual abuse and negligence by members of the church.

The Australian Senate launched an investigation into the treatment of minors at various facilities, some of them Anglican, discovering that many children were abused during the last century.

Archbishop Peter Carnley, Primate of the Australian Anglican Church, read the apology after a meeting of the Anglican General Synod in Perth.

"The church deeply regrets that its institutions and personnel did not always provide environments in which these children were protected and nurtured," the apology read.

The Anglican Church in Australia is facing a lawsuit filed by abuse victims who are demanding millions of dollars in compensation.