The latest reports by the Catholic Church's child protection watchdog, focusing on 43 religious congregations, reveal that 325 allegations were made against 141 priests or brothers in Ireland since 1941, resulting in eight criminal convictions.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) audit of eight male religious orders and 35 smaller orders of nuns indicates that the Jesuit Order failed to tell the gardaí about at least 22 allegations of child sexual abuse made against its members in the past 40 years.

But NBSCCC CEO Teresa Devlin has said the Order had confirmed with gardaÍ that the cases concerned did not meet the threshold for reporting.

A Jesuit spokesperson said these cases were suspicions and concerns for which there were no reasonable grounds and that the board states that every allegation requiring reporting has been reported.

However, Ms Devlin said there were delays of up to four years in reporting substantial allegations to the gardaí in the early 1990s.

As well as Pope Francis' order, the Jesuits, this tranche of audits by the NBSCCC covers in depth the Camillians, Capuchins, Carmelites, Cistercians, Sacred Heart Fathers, Slalesians and Rosminians.

The finding that only eight criminal convictions have been obtained following 325 allegations highlights what Ms Devlin called the undeniable fact that once again, a significant number of children were abused in the care of religious.

Also criticised is the Rosminian Order for its significant delays in making written reports of allegations to the civil authorities before 2009.

Both the Jesuits and Rosminians have welcomed the reports and apologised to victims abused in their care.

The board says that, overall, the reports show a considerable improvement in safeguarding practice in all eight male orders.

The Jesuit Order said in a statement: "We are ever conscious of the terrible damage inflicted on people who are victims of abuse, and we recognise the importance of ongoing review of our child protection procedures, and of the handling of allegations.

"We wish to unreservedly apologise to any person who has been abused under our care. It is a cause of great sadness to us that anybody was ever abused by a Jesuit."

The Order also said the process had already begun to fully implement all the recommendations contained in the NBSCCCI report.

The Rosminians said it was committed to working with former residents as best it could in the continuing healing process.

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