The Christian Brothers has deliberately kept nine convicted child abusers, one who is currently behind bars, as members of its religious order because it says it has a “Gospel imperative” to “care for all Brothers” and “the needy”.

Court documents also reveal the head of Christian Brothers Oceania met with representatives of the Holy See in an attempt to obtain support six months before it declared it was going broke and could not afford to meet abuse claims from survivors, but received no financial assistance.

The Christian Brothers on Thursday obtained a moratorium on all current and future civil claims by abuse survivors, throwing dozens of pending trials into chaos and halting hundreds more cases in their tracks.

The order says it is about to go broke and cannot afford to meet the claims of survivors. It is instead proposing a scheme that would sell off its remaining property, worth about $217m, and divide the proceeds to pay out survivors.

An affidavit filed by Brother Gerard John Brady, the head of the Christian Brothers Oceania province, told the court that it had about 176 brothers still in the order, most of which were in Australia.

Nine of those are convicted child sex offenders. One is behind bars. More current brothers had been accused of child abuse.

Br Brady said the order’s Oceania leadership team had made a decision to keep them in the order as brothers.

“While dismissal of an offender from the Christian Brothers is an option open to us, I believe that it is not always the appropriate response,” he said. “Accommodating known sex-offenders in the wider community following their discharge remains a difficult issue for society. The [Oceania leadership team] believes that the Christian Brothers have obligations both to the wider community and to the offender.”

He said that offenders would become a “burden for taxpayers to shoulder” if they were moved out into society, because they often have no means of financial support.

The leadership team also took the view that it was their responsibility to “care for the needy”.

“Further … we have an obligation under canon law to care for all Brothers,” he said. “We accept that this philosophy requires us to continue contact with and support of those found to have committed serious criminal offences. We see this as a Gospel imperative.

“We acknowledge that victims and members of the wider community may interpret such support as preferring the interests of offenders over victims. However, we are conscious of ensuring that our support of the Brothers does not undermine seeking justice for, or compromising the protection of, victims and survivors.”

He said that if an offender lived in the wider community, without the congregation’s support, he might not “seek nor receive treatment for his offending behaviour”.

“We believe that, if the Christian Brothers keep an offender within the Congregation, we are able to monitor his behaviour and support treatment,” he said. “We take responsibility for doing so. We believe that society is more likely to be protected by an offender remaining part of the Congregation and being monitored.”

The affidavit also reveals that Br Brady met with representatives from the Holy See, the centre of Catholic power in the Vatican and the intitution that embodies the authority of the Pope, to seek support. The meetings occurred from January.

Br Brady said the engagement was part of a broader plea to other Catholic institutions to warn them of the Christian Brothers Oceania province’s “severe financial position and expectation that it will be facing insolvency in the near term”.

Brady also asked whether other institutions could “provide any support to the Province (the nature of the support depending on the institution and its circumstances).”

“No financial support has been forthcoming,” he wrote in the affidavit.

One of the other institutions the Christian Brothers has sought support from is Edmund Rice Education Australia. That entity was created in 2007 and now runs former Christian Brothers schools in Australia.

Vast holdings of land have been transferred to EREA from the Christian Brothers over the past decade.

Property records show the transfers have included multimillion-dollar homes in Sydney, including a five-bedroom Strathfield home, complete with a back yard pool, worth an estimated $4.7m.

A property transfer document signed by the former head of the Christian Brothers in Oceania, Peter Clinch, reveals that home was given to Edmund Rice for $1.

EREA says it will not be selling off the properties to help the Christian Brothers.

But the Christian Brothers says it will not attempt to stop survivors suing EREA. It estimates the property transfers are worth $540m, though EREA financial documents suggest it has received land worth $891m from the Christian Brothers.

• In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International