Six men began their abuse of young orphans on one coast of Canada, then by a travesty of justice were sent to the opposite side of the country, where they allegedly abused more boys — as many as 200.

This month the offer of a $30-million class-action settlement to the second set of alleged victims to be paid by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Vancouver and two Lower Mainland Catholic schools adds another chapter to this tragic saga — a cycle of pain that a half-century later continues to ripple outward.

It’s worth retracing that dark circle to remind how the powerful who claim to shepherd and protect can instead shield the guilty. And to mark the wholly avoidable further suffering such conspiracies enable.

The “Mount Cashel Six” were members of the Christian Brothers of Ireland who were transferred by their order from Newfoundland after they abused their charges at Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s. They were sent to British Columbia to work at St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby and Vancouver College, also run by the Christian Brothers.