Church doesn't know how many of last year's 178 abuse allegations were previously known, report says

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland report says 115 respondents were deceased, while a further three were found to be 'in ministry'

Of the clergy accused, 36 were diocesan, and 141 were members of religious congregations. File picture

It is “impossible” to determine if all of the almost 180 abuse allegations against Catholic Church clergy received late last year relate to alleged abusers previously known or reported, according to the Church’s child protection board.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) published its annual report for 2025 this week, documenting 178 abuse allegations it received across April to December.

Of the clergy accused, 36 were diocesan, and 141 were members of religious congregations. The vast majority of the 178 allegations (78%) relate to the decades between 1960 and 1999.

However, a further four allegations relate to the period post-2000, including one allegation from the 2010s and another from the 2020s. A further 10 complaints received by the child protection board were undated.

Of the allegations received by the NBSCCCI, the vast majority (87%) reported sexual abuse as the major abuse experienced. A further 14 (8%) reported allegations of physical abuse, and the type of abuse alleged was not provided in eight (4%) of the notifications.

Excluding eight "unknown" respondents, 115 respondents are deceased. A further three were found to be 'in ministry', the report notes.

Of the remainder, nine (5%) are in prison, a further 11 (6%) are subject to a management plan, while 31 (18%) have either been laicised, have left the Church body, or are out of ministry.

In its annual report, the safeguarding body said it acknowledges "the immense strength required for survivors to share their stories", and it continues "to advocate for a compassionate Church response to every survivor who finds the courage to speak out." 

However, it noted, the NBSCCCI is unable to receive personal identifiers in these notifications due to Data Protection regulations.

"It is impossible to determine if all 178 allegations were previously known or have been reported in prior periods. That information is held by the individual church body." 

Data protection concerns arise in relation to church bodies sharing sensitive personal data with the NBSCCCI for the purposes of notification of allegations received, the report notes. 

To remove any concerns about potential breaches, "it is proposed that when notifications are received, they do not contain any identifying information that would contravene data protection legalisation", it added. 

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

This allows it to fulfil its role in "maintaining oversight that the allegation has been reported to the relevant statutory authority". However, it also means that the body currently cannot "cross-reference the notification to establish whether the respondent is already known, or to check if the allegation may already have been reported to the NBSCCCI by an alternative source, or if there has been more than one allegation against the same respondent or by the same complainant".

"That information remains with the relevant church body."

The number of allegations received by the NBSCCCI peaked in 2024, when it received 252 allegations of abuse against Catholic Church members between April 2023 to March, 2024. This was the most recorded by the national board in a 12-month period since 2014.