'Significant increase' in allegations of abuse against Catholic Church members, report says
THERE HAS BEEN a 'significant increase' in the number of new allegations notified to the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI).
The organisation published its
annual report
today, which covers the period between April 2024 and March 2025.
According to the report, there were 385 child protection notifications against male and female members of the clergy last year.
This is increase of over 50% on the 252 allegations notified the previous year.
It is the highest number of any reporting period since the NBSCCCI began publishing the annual figures in 2009.
The report said 291 of the allegations received state sexual abuse as the major abuse, while there were a further 55 allegations of physical abuse.
It said that 32 of the allegations did not disclose a specific form of abuse. In some of the cases notified, particularly in relation to sexual abuse, emotional abuse was also noted on the referral form, it added.
The NBSCCCI said the increase in notifications was predominantly from September 2024, which coincided with the release of the report of the
scoping inquiry into historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools
run by religious orders.
The inquiry reported that there were almost 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse of children in schools run by religious orders.
'These events in September 2024 appear to have given individuals renewed strength to tell of their experiences,' said Aidan Gordon, CEO of the NBSCCCI.
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The vast majority of the allegations relate to the period from 1960 to 1989, with 282 of the 385 allegations – or 73% – in this category.
The decade which the allegations notified to the NBSCCCI relate to.
NBSCCCI
NBSCCCI
Only two allegations relate to the period after 2000. The NBSCCCI said that this should be caveated with the fact that 47 allegations did not have a definite timeframe attributed to them.
The report states that 287 requests for safeguarding advice were made during the 2024/2025 period, up from 281 the previous year.
The NBSCCCI provides advice, services and assistance around the safeguarding of children within the Catholic Church in Ireland. It also monitors compliance with legislation and policy, and reports on these activities annually.
The national board said this year was its final year for completing and reporting on reviews of safeguarding practice in dioceses and across religious orders under the 2016 child safeguarding policy.
By the end of this year, the NBSCCCI said it anticipates that it will be beginning its review process looking at practice under the three standards of our current Church policy (2024).
'While this is undoubtedly an extremely difficult undertaking for those who have suffered any type of abuse as a child, it is good to be able to begin to address that trauma and we are grateful for the production of such a comprehensive and far-reaching report by Mary O'Toole SC,' Gordon said.
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