Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1996-2013 · 17 years · show in timeline

Ireland 1996 to 2013: State audits found that dioceses reported 43 percent of allegations only after more than a year or never, and religious orders failed to report 88 percent promptly

By 2012 the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE), at the request of the Minister for Children, audited how the dioceses dealt with abuse allegations; the Child and Family Agency Tusla audited the religious orders in 2018. Both audits were voluntary and depended on the goodwill of church leaders. Of 411 categorisable allegations the dioceses should have reported, they reported 175, 43 percent, only after more than a year or not at all. Shortly after the introduction of the Church's 1996 guidelines the Papal Nuncio wrote to the bishops that some elements appeared to be contrary to canon law. Among the 135 orders, of 523 reported allegations only 12 percent were reported promptly, 88 percent were not.

Period
1996-2013 (17 years)
Country
Ireland
Institutions
Irish dioceses
Irish religious orders
Apostolic Nunciature in Ireland
Category
Sexual abuse, Cover-up
Level of evidence
A Primary source · what does this mean?

What happened to the people

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. The HSE audit was not statutory but voluntary and depended on the goodwill of church leaders. Of 411 categorisable allegations which the dioceses should have reported, 175, 43 percent, were reported only after more than a year or not at all. Of the allegations from the period of the Church's first guidelines of 1996, 36 percent were still unreported after one year. Anonymous allegations were in general not passed to the authorities.
    Evidence: Health Service Executive (HSE), Irland, PDF-S. 38
    „is not statutory in nature and is a voluntary process which relies on the goodwill of Church leaders“
    Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Volume 1: Dioceses Report, PDF-S. 38. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Health Service Executive (HSE), Irland, Inhaltsverzeichnis, Anhang 1
    „Letter from Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan T.D. to HSE, October 2005“
    Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Volume 1: Dioceses Report, Inhaltsverzeichnis, Anhang 1. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Health Service Executive (HSE), Irland, PDF-S. 41
    „175 of the 411 categorisable allegations (43%) which dioceses should have reported took either more than one year to report or were not reported at all.“
    Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Volume 1: Dioceses Report, PDF-S. 41. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Health Service Executive (HSE), Irland, PDF-S. 41
    „36% of allegations notified during that period were unreported after one year“
    Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Volume 1: Dioceses Report, PDF-S. 41. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Health Service Executive (HSE), Irland, PDF-S. 43
    „Anonymous allegations were, in general, not reported to the civil authorities.“
    Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Volume 1: Dioceses Report, PDF-S. 43. Original · Archive copy

What happened to those affected?

  1. 135 religious orders with about 8,500 members in Ireland took part in Tusla's audit of the orders. Of 523 assessable allegations reported by orders to the authorities, only 65, 12 percent, were reported promptly, 458 or 88 percent were not; 25 allegations were not reported at all. As risk indicators the report names large numbers of allegations against individuals and orders, delays in notification and poor management of those placed out of ministry.
    Evidence: Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Irland, PDF-S. 31
    „the 135 Religious Orders, that provided responses to the Audit, comprise approximately 8,500 members residing in Ireland“
    Audit of Religious Orders, Congregations and Missionary Societies Safeguarding Arrangements, Volume II, Part 1, PDF-S. 31. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Irland, PDF-S. 49
    „Of the 523 allegations that were reported by Religious Orders to the civil authorities 65 or 12% of the allegations were promptly reported to the civil authorities over the three reporting periods.“
    Audit of Religious Orders, Congregations and Missionary Societies Safeguarding Arrangements, Volume II, Part 1, PDF-S. 49. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Irland, PDF-S. 49
    „The remaining 458 or 88% of the allegations were not reported with immediacy by the Religious Orders to the civil authorities.“
    Audit of Religious Orders, Congregations and Missionary Societies Safeguarding Arrangements, Volume II, Part 1, PDF-S. 49. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Irland, PDF-S. 48
    „a total of 25 (1%) allegations were assessed as ‘not reported’“
    Audit of Religious Orders, Congregations and Missionary Societies Safeguarding Arrangements, Volume II, Part 1, PDF-S. 48. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Irland, PDF-S. 55
    „high risk indicators viewed by the audit team included large numbers of allegations against both individuals and Religious Orders, delays in notifying the statutory authorities, poor management of those placed out of ministry“
    Audit of Religious Orders, Congregations and Missionary Societies Safeguarding Arrangements, Volume II, Part 1, PDF-S. 55. Original · Archive copy

Background

Response of the Church

  1. According to the HSE, shortly after the introduction of the Church guidelines the Papal Nuncio wrote to all bishops in Ireland that some of their elements appeared to be contrary to canonical discipline.
    Evidence: Health Service Executive (HSE), Irland, PDF-S. 41
    „It is understood that shortly after the introduction of the Framework document the Papal Nuncio wrote to all bishops in Ireland to advise that some of its elements appeared to be contrary to canonical discipline.“
    Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Volume 1: Dioceses Report, PDF-S. 41. Original · Archive copy

See also

Original documents to read

  1. Government report
    Health Service Executive (HSE), Irland: Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Volume 1: Dioceses Report, 1 January 2012. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
  2. Government report
    Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Irland: Audit of Religious Orders, Congregations and Missionary Societies Safeguarding Arrangements, Volume II, Part 1, 20 February 2018. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
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