THE VATICAN HAS said it is committed to a zero tolerance approach to child sexual abuse after allegations were made against hundreds of schools run by the Catholic Church in Ireland.

A scoping inquiry revealed almost 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse of children in schools run by religious orders. There were 844 alleged abusers in over 300 schools run by 42 religious orders across the country.

The Vatican welcomed the inquiry and acknowledged “the harm done to victims and their families”.

The Holy See “ensures its ongoing commitment for abuses never to be tolerated and for child safeguarding procedures and guidelines to be stringent and fully enforced”.

In the wake of the revelations, the Catholic Church was deemed “defensive” by Finance Minister Jack Chambers.

“I think some of the ways they’ve been quite defensive on this has been shameful,” he said. 

“The fact that so many victims have waited for so long and have had to use the process that we’ve had up to this point to have their stories heard and haven’t had any accountability has been shameful.”

A number people who gave testimony to the scoping inquiry described how they felt they couldn’t tell anyone what was happening to them when they were children because of the power of the Catholic Church in Ireland at the time. 

In some cases, survivors described being intimidated and threatened to remain silent, including some being told they would go to hell or be killed. 

More than 160 people have contacted gardaí since an appeal on Wednesday for people who wished to report historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders.

Gardaí are now in the process of making direct contact with each individual who has made contact with them.

Gardaí are also investigating the possibility that organised paedophile rings were involved in the abuse. 

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A number of people who gave testimony to the inquiry suspected this was the case in certain schools.

Some alleged that their school had multiple staff members involved in either carrying out or facilitating sexual abuse.

There will be a Commission of Investigation established to look at the report and determine what redress should be put in place, if any.

There have been calls for religious orders to be compelled to appear at any inquiry into the matter.