The Anglican church in Tasmania is planning to sell 76 of its 133 churches in order to fund the national child sex abuse redress scheme.
Locals are upset to lose the churches, some which are more than 130 years old.
But those who survived abuse say while they feel for locals, it sends an important message of acknowledgement.
All up, the 120 properties earmarked for sale make up half the church's assets in the state.
Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend Richard Condie, said the move was to fund redress for survivors of child sexual abuse, which he estimates will cost $8 million.
But only one quarter of the proceeds of the sales will go to redress, with three quarters going back into parishes.
"We want to be able to fund redress, that's the number one thing we're trying to do here, [while] at the same time keep the people of God doing their ministry in local places," he said.
Locals are upset to lose the churches, some which are more than 130 years old.
But those who survived abuse say while they feel for locals, it sends an important message of acknowledgement.
All up, the 120 properties earmarked for sale make up half the church's assets in the state.
Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend Richard Condie, said the move was to fund redress for survivors of child sexual abuse, which he estimates will cost $8 million.
But only one quarter of the proceeds of the sales will go to redress, with three quarters going back into parishes.
"We want to be able to fund redress, that's the number one thing we're trying to do here, [while] at the same time keep the people of God doing their ministry in local places," he said.
