Ex-pastor who embezzled €125k from church has sentence reduced on appea

A former pastor who embezzled more than €125,000 from his own church in Co Kildare has had his six-and-a-half-year prison sentence reduced by one year on appeal.

The Court of Appeal heard on Friday that Ebenezer Oduntan (60), a former pastor of the City of David Church in Co Kildare, has made no restitution either to the congregation he defrauded or Revenue.

Oduntan was convicted of 87 theft and fraud-related offences following a three-week trial at Naas Circuit Criminal Court in March, 2024.

The church, which has charitable status, is a branch of a Nigerian-based Pentecostal church.

Oduntan was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, with the final six months suspended, by Judge Martina Baxter.

Quashing the original sentence and substituting it with the reduced term of six years with six months suspended at the Court of Appeal on Friday, Justice Alexander Owens said the court was of the view that the headline sentence identified by the trial judge was “somewhat too high”, though he described this conclusion as “a rather marginal one”.

He said the offending was “particularly serious”, involving a prolonged fraud against a charity by the person entrusted with its leadership.

“There was a gross breach of trust,” Justice Owens said.

He said that the offences involved substantial sums and improper claims for tax rebates, and noted the victims were not banks or insurance companies but the defendant’s own parishioners.

“The reality is that this man defrauded his own congregation,” he said.

The offences spanned ten years between 2010 and 2020, during which Oduntan was pastor of the church’s Newbridge branch and had responsibility for its day-to-day operations and financial affairs.

He had sole access to and control of the church’s finances between 2012 and 2020.

Oduntan, of Curragh Grange, Newbridge, Co Kildare, faced 73 counts of theft, five charges of deception and nine offences under company law following an investigation by the Corporate Enforcement Authority.

While he initially denied 54 of the charges, he pleaded guilty midway through the trial to 19 counts of theft, five counts of deception and nine charges of providing false information to the Companies Registration Office.

The sentencing court heard that Oduntan withdrew church funds for personal use, including cheques of up to €20,000 made payable to himself.

He admitted to a member of the congregation that he had been “dipping his hand into the church purse”.

Oduntan also inflated donation levels so that a larger rebate would be received by the Church from Revenue under the Charitable Donation Scheme.

None of the stolen funds has been recovered, and Oduntan has not been a member of the church since 2020.

In delivering judgment on Friday, Mr Justice Owens said there was very little mitigation available in this case.

The judge said the difficulty in relation to evidence of previous good character was that Oduntan had abused this status to “embezzle money”.

The judge was also critical of the timing of Oduntan’s guilty pleas, noting that he had made only partial admissions before proceeding to trial.

“The defendant, having made some half-admissions, then put the State to the pin of its collar,” Justice Owens said, adding that an early plea would have saved considerable time and expense.

He further noted that Oduntan had made no effort to reimburse the church or the Revenue for the losses sustained.

Justice Owens set a new headline sentence of seven years, which he then reduced to six years with the final six months suspended to encourage continued rehabilitation.

At the appeal hearing earlier on Friday, Damien Colgan SC, for Oduntan, argued that the original headline sentence of eight years was excessive given his client’s personal circumstances and lack of previous convictions.

He submitted that the trial judge erred in placing the case at the upper range of offending, noting that the total amount involved, approximately €125,000, was lower than in other cases where shorter sentences had been imposed. 

He also argued that the suspension of only six months was insufficient.

Jordan Fletcher BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the offending involved “a substantial breach of trust and fiduciary duty” carried out through “sophisticated means of deception”.

He said Oduntan exploited his status and position as pastor to commit the offences, acted as the sole controller of the church’s finances, and made no restitution to the congregation, the charity, or Revenue.

San Diego Chaldean bishop accused of embezzlement, brothel visits, amid Vatican investigation

An Eastern Catholic bishop in California has submitted his resignation amid a Vatican-ordered investigation into allegations of substantial embezzlement and sexual misconduct.

But the resignation of Chaldean Catholic Bishop Emanuel Shaleta has not yet been accepted by the Vatican, and sources say Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Sako is aiming to see the bishop retain a place in Church leadership.

According to documents reviewed by The Pillar, parish finance council members at St. Peter’s Chaldean Cathedral in El Cajon, California, noticed in November 2024 an unusual banking pattern that indicated the possibility of embezzlement.

The parish owns a social hall which is leased to an outside management firm for some $33,990 monthly. Rent was typically paid to the parish by the outside management company with a check. But in November 2024, the rent check deposited into the parish bank account came from a different bank account.

Records show that the rent for the hall that month was paid to the parish, not from an external source, but from another parish-based bank account, kept separately as a fund for financial assistance to the poor.

Records reviewed by The Pillar indicate that when parish leaders asked Shaleta about it, the bishop said he had instructed the management company to pay him the full amount in cash, so that he could distribute money to needy families directly, and that he had “reimbursed” the parish with money from the financial assistance account.

When finance council members checked past bank records — which have also been reviewed by The Pillar — they discovered that eight months worth of rent checks had been written to the parish from its own financial assistance account, all of them signed by Shaleta.

For all of those eight months, the rent had been paid in cash, directly to Shaleta, at Shaleta’s direction.

An audit of records for both parish accounts found other transactions in which Shaleta seems to have accepted cash on behalf of the parish for activity fees or services, and then “reimbursed” the parish from the charity assistance account.

In total, at least $427,345 in cash was appropriated by Shaleta — with corresponding “reimbursement checks” drawn from the parish charity account and all signed by the bishop. There were also checks written to other entities from the charity account, including a $7,500 check signed by Shaleta to the Fogo de Chao steakhouse.

And sources told The Pillar that other questionable transactions added up to the possibility of up to $1 million embezzled from the parish, which also functions practically as the eparchial curia.

Among the other transactions discovered was $30,000 in cash Shaleta seems to have accepted from parishioners for perpetual Mass enrollments offered for their deceased family members, with “reimbursement” to the parish again coming from its charity account, through a check signed by the bishop.

In documents reviewed by The Pillar, Shaleta claimed the cash he took had been distributed for charity in both the U.S. and several other countries, but the bishop did not have substantiating paperwork confirming distributions, nor demonstrate why he hadn’t simply withdrawn funds directly from the charity account for charitable purposes. 

According to sources close to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Eastern Churches, the possibility of financial fraud was reported in 2025 by parish leaders both to U.S. apostolic nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre and to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

The Pillar has confirmed that a sheriff’s investigation is currently underway in the case, with forensic accountants reportedly reviewing the bishop’s financial history before the possibility of criminal charges. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment from The Pillar.

In addition to a criminal investigation, The Pillar obtained documents confirming a Vatican-ordered investigation into Shaleta, which was delegated in July 2025 to Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez.

As part of that investigation, attorneys and canonists from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles interviewed last year Chaldean Catholics with knowledge of the allegations, and reviewed financial records.

In addition to banking records indicating the prospect of embezzlement, the investigation’s dossier includes evidence of other unusual or improper conduct on the part of Shaleta, including allegations of sexual misconduct.

Among the allegations reported to the Vatican by Chaldean Catholics is that Shaleta regularly crossed the border from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico during late night hours to visit a large strip club where prostitution is regularly practiced.

A private investigator’s report submitted to the Dicastery for Eastern Catholic Churches reported the allegation that Shaleta made late-night border crossings more than one dozen times in a single month, and only decreased that practice to a “couple times a week” after the bishop was questioned about it directly.

The investigation report confirms that a private detective observed Shaleta parking his car in a remote lot “specifically reserved for people going to Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club” — an establishment regularly referred to in local media and in online reviews as a brothel, and flagged by human rights journalists as “a brothel where trafficked women and girls are forced to work in the sex trade.”

From the parking lot, the private investigator noted, the bishop boarded a shuttle vehicle “exclusive to visitors going to the Hong Kong Club.”

The private detective, Wade Dudley, is a retired FBI special agent. He spoke with The Pillar about his investigation, after receiving permission from the clients who commissioned his report.

Dudley emphasized to The Pillar that he is “a retired FBI agent with 20 years in the private investigative world. We don’t provide our opinions. We provide facts and observations.”

“Having said that, we saw his car park in a parking lot that was exclusively for patrons of Hong Kong, and we’ve seen him walking to the border and across the border, and we have seen him get picked up by a third-party ride share that exclusively takes customers to that establishment,” he said. 

Dudley’s report noted another unusual and longstanding situation in Shaleta’s life.

The investigator reported that Shaleta has held for years a joint personal bank account with a woman who was the parish secretary when Shaleta was a pastor in Michigan.

In 2025 the bank account’s balance was in excess of $40,000, and appeared to receive regular deposits from Shaleta.

When Shaleta became in 2015 the eparch for Chaldean Catholics in Canada, the woman “started making frequent visits to Toronto, staying either at a nearby hotel or at his house,” the private detective noted.

In 2017, Shaleta was appointed to lead the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego.

The bishop relocated to San Diego in August 2017, and the woman “immediately moved to San Diego,” the detective’s report said.

Dudley documented that “Shaleta has unfettered access to the [woman’s] home” — entering regularly by using the garage door code, and visiting during the day several times each week.

In turn, the woman “has keys to [his] home… and has been observed using her keys to open the door.”

She had, the detective reported, “visited [Shaleta’s] home for a prolonged period of time on multiple occasions.”

The detective also noted that the bishop had also been observed “spend[ing] a great deal of time with [the woman’s] children,” often without the woman present.

“He has been observed and documented taking the children to his home, to a park, buying them food, playing with them at their home, allowing the children free reign in his car, and tossing them into the air. Often times, he has been observed taking only one child. This activity is much like what a parent would do,” Dudley wrote.

In sum, the investigator noted that Shaleta’s “life is full of questionable and suspicious behavior,” which “seem inappropriate for a person of his stature.”

In addition to the behavior included in the report, Chaldean sources told The Pillar that some of Shaleta’s other conduct has raised other concerns in the Chaldean community. Sources recounted that during a pilgrimage with laity, Shaleta told a group of pilgrims that he had learned as a seminarian to read palms, and indeed purported to read the future of one pilgrim by examining his palm.

Asked whether Shaleta was joking, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said the bishop was “perfectly serious.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that palm reading, as a form of divination, is to be “rejected,” and that it “contradict[s] the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.”

In 2018, Pope Francis called palm reading an “idolatry of our times.”

At the conclusion of the Vatican-ordered investigation, sources close to the case told The Pillar that Shaleta submitted his resignation at the request of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches.

However, while Shaleta told Chaldeans he’d resigned in January, a resignation has not been accepted by the Vatican, leading to confusion among Chaldean clergy in Iraq and among the close-knit Chaldean diaspora in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.

But sources close to the Chaldean Church’s patriarch in Iraq, Cardinal Louis Sako, told The Pillar that the cardinal had objected strongly to the Vatican request for Shaleta’s resignation and has been attempting to rally support for the bishop in Rome.

Sources close to the cardinal told The Pillar that Sako had a long-standing friendship with Shaleta, personally selected him for the San Diego post, and has relied on contributions from Shaleta’s eparchy to support the patriarchate’s ministry in Iraq.

According to several sources close to the patriarch, Sako has complained that the allegations regarding financial misconduct reflect an unfair distrust in the bishop, and American attitudes of “puritanism” regarding financial administration. The patriarch has reportedly dismissed the allegations of personal misconduct as an attempt to discredit the bishop.

Several sources close to the patriarch say that Sako has solicited letters of support for Shaleta from a group of Chaldean bishops, and has floated to other bishops the idea that if Shaleta cannot be retained in his San Diego post, he could be appointed secretary of the patriarchate, in Baghdad.

The cardinal did not answer questions emailed to him by The Pillar on Thursday.

However, Sako attempted to forward The Pillar’s questions to Shaleta, with instructions not to respond to media requests “at the moment.” But rather than successfully forward the email, Sako replied to The Pillar.

In a subsequent email, the cardinal confirmed that he had attempted to instruct Shaleta not to respond to questions “because there is an investigation.”

Sako did not respond to follow-up questions.

Meanwhile, sources say that Shaleta has also solicited priests of his eparchy to send to the Vatican letters attesting to his character, and has acted retributively toward local Catholics he believes to be whistleblowers.

Shaleta, 69, was ordained a priest in 1984, and after obtaining a doctorate in Biblical theology, he moved to the U.S. in 1987.

He became eparch of Canada’s Chaldean Catholics in 2015, and — amid a fractious leadership struggle in the Chaldean Church — was appointed eparch of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego on August 9, 2017.

The eparchy is one of two Chaldean Catholic eparchies, or dioceses, in the United States. Its territory encompasses 19 western states.

The eparchy includes more than 70,000 Catholics, and roughly 20 priests.

The Chaldean Catholic Church is a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church of more 600,000 members, almost all of whom are Iraqi, residing either in Iraq or in diaspora communities around the world.

‘A joyful day’: final piece of Sagrada Familia’s central tower put in place

The final piece of the central tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia has been laid in place, bringing the church to its maximum final height 144 years after work began.

After several days when it has been too windy to work, the upper section of the 17 metre-high four-sided steel and glass cross was winched into position at 11am on Friday, completing the tower dedicated to Jesus Christ. 

At 172.5 metres, the Sagrada Familia, to which the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí devoted the later part of his life, is Barcelona’s tallest building and the world’s tallest church.

As the Catalan and Vatican flags were raised, Jordi Faulí, the chief architect for the project, said: “It’s been a joyful day, wonderful for all the people who have made it possible.”

A ceremony to mark the completion of the tower – the tallest of 18 conceived by Gaudí – is due to take place on the centenary of Gaudí’s death in 1926 on 10 June, 16 years after the church was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

The end to the building at the church is expected in about a decade with the construction of a striking south-facing facade.

It was nevertheless a day full of emotion for a city that has lived with Gaudí’s unfinished work for generations and, although there remains much work to do, the temple now defines the Barcelona skyline as much as the Eiffel tower in Paris or the Empire State building in New York.

For decades it was a building site open to the skies, where generations of stone masons and carpenters worked around the tourists who have ultimately funded the construction. It’s only in the past 15 years, since work began on the breathtakingly beautiful interior, that it has felt more like a church than a building site.

Here Gaudí’s geometrical designs have created an oasis of light, with delicate, tree-like columns tapering off to the roof, the white stone of the interior picked out in colours from the stained glass windows.

The basilica is loved and loathed equally by those who live in Barcelona. George Orwell described it as “one of the most hideous buildings in the world” and regretted the anarchists did not blow it up when they had the chance.

The anarchists did, however, destroy Gaudí’s drawings and the plaster model, which years later was painstakingly reconstructed. In the late 1970s, Mark Burry, a New Zealand architect, adapted rocket design software to realise Gaudí’s design.

To those who claim the basilica is nothing like what was originally envisaged, Burry’s retort was that Gaudí’s geometry is so precise that should there be any deviation from his plan, the building would collapse.

It is, however, now the work of many hands. There are elements that jar, in particular the Passion façade, popularly known as Darth Vader façade, the work of the sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs, and yet overall it is unmistakably Gaudí’s work.

Aside from finishing the details of the main tower, three artists – Miquel Barceló , Cristina Iglesias and Javier Marín – have been commissioned to present designs for the Glory façade, which is expected to take a further 10 years to complete.

The Sagrada Familia is the city’s top tourist attraction, with about 5 million visitors a year and an annual income of roughly €150m (£131m), about half of which has so far been spent on construction.

‘Clear’ new disciplinary appeals panel needed for Enoch Burke, judge finds

A new panel will have to be appointed to review teacher Enoch Burke’s dismissal from Wilson’s Hospital School, after an Irish judge struck out proceedings relating to the dispute.

The decision came during High Court proceedings in Dublin which saw Mr Burke and members of his family removed from the hearings by gardai due to ‘completely unacceptable’ and ‘absolutely disgraceful’ disruption.

The judge said a new appeal body should be constituted within two weeks and suggested it should sit throughout the week as he criticised its current Saturday-only operation as ‘ludicrous’.

Mr Burke had sought a temporary injunction against a Disciplinary Appeals Panel (DAP) body that was reviewing the decision to dismiss him from the school amid a long-running dispute.

Two members of the tripartite panel had resigned ahead of making a decision, while Mr Burke also objected to the third member sitting on the body who was a representative of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI).

Mr Burke had sought an injunction against the members of the DAP making any recommendation on his appeal or taking any further steps relating to the process.

He had also said the ‘refusal’ of Geraldine O’Brien, the ASTI representative, to resign was unfair and unreasonable, and said the manner in which the DAP had conducted the appeal was also unfair.

Legal representation for the DAP said Mr Burke had been provided with a letter stating Ms O’Brien and the other two members of the body would not and could not be part of any new panel.

Mr Burke challenged the position on the basis that Ms O’Brien had not resigned and argued the DAP was still in existence.

On Friday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan said the proceedings against the DAP were ‘moot’, stating it is ‘clear’ a new panel will have to be appointed without any of the previous members.

He also said Mr Burke had obtained the relief he had sought, not by order of the court but by the ‘facts on the ground.’

The judge said none of the named defendants could issue recommendations on the appeal, nor take any further steps.

Mr Justice Cregan struck out the proceedings, and ordered Mr Burke be liable for the day’s costs.

He also said he did not intend to make any order in favour of Mr Burke’s expenses.

Padraic Lyons SC, for the DAP, said Mr Burke may normally be entitled to expenses as a lay litigant.

However, Mr Cregan said: ‘We’re very far from normal here.’

It came after Mr Burke was removed from the court by gardai and returned to Mountjoy Prison after a warning from the judge about straying beyond acceptable behaviour.

He has been imprisoned at Mountjoy Prison over contempt of court relating to breaches of orders not to trespass at the school.

The long-running legal dispute between the board of management of the Co Westmeath school and Mr Burke stems from incidents over a request in 2022 from the school’s then-principal to address a student by a new name and pronoun.

Mr Burke, an Evangelical Christian who taught German and history at the school, has repeatedly argued that the direction was unconstitutional and went against his right to express his religious beliefs.

The court heard he remains on the payroll of the Department of Education.

As he interjected while Rosemary Mallon, the barrister for the board of management, was outlining proposals to constitute a new DAP, the judge ordered him to sit down.

When he did not sit down, Mr Justice Cregan directed gardai to return him to Mountjoy Prison amid opposition from members of his family.

As he was being escorted by gardai, Mr Burke accused the court of an ‘abuse of power’ and said: ‘This is absolutely disgraceful, I have a right to justice.’

His mother, Martina, questioned why Ms Mallon was allowed to speak and told the barrister she was a ‘foreign presence’ in the court as the family did not believe the board should have been a party to the hearing.

She, along with Mr Burke’s sister Ammi, were also escorted out of the court by gardai.

Noting Mr Burke’s objections to the ASTI, Ms Mallon said he had been told a new DAP could be formed with a representative of the Teachers Union of Ireland instead or with, his agreement, a representative from an independent body such as the Law Society, Bar Council or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Ms Mallon was reading from a letter that had been sent to Mr Burke and he objected to this being read out in court.

It was at this point that Mr Burke did not follow Mr Justice Cregan’s order for him to sit down and he was returned to Mountjoy Prison.

During the resumed proceedings, the judge told Mr Burke, who was on videolink from prison, that his behaviour and that of his mother and sister was ‘absolutely disgraceful’ and ‘completely unacceptable’ in the court.

He added: ‘It is absolutely manifestly an abuse of process.’

His brother Isaac was also taken out of the court by gardai after interrupting proceedings.

Mr Lyons had argued the proceedings were moot as the appeal was not continuing following the resignations and that there could be no recommendation.

He said there would be no hearing or rehearing by any of the named defendants.

Representing the board of management, Ms Mallon said: ‘We just want to appoint a new DAP.’

Mr Burke had contended the proceedings were not moot as there were serious matters relating to breaches of natural justice and the ‘shambolic nature’ in which the DAP was run.

In particular he said there had been a denial of his right to conduct cross examination.

Mr Justice Cregan said matters relating to unfairness ‘fall away’ because a new panel will have to be appointed.

He criticised the conduct of Mr Burke, stating: ‘All you do is kick up and create a storm and delay the process.’

He later said: ‘You just bulldoze your way through every single judge in the country and refuse to accept any rulings of the court – it is just ridiculous.’

He also criticised Mr Burke for ‘disgraceful hypocrisy’ after he asked the judge to have the ‘good graces’ to let him to finish his appoint.

Mr Justice Cregan said: ‘That’s a little bit rich coming from you given that you and your family interrupted these proceedings.’

Mr Burke contended that he and his family had been treated disgracefully before being muted on the videolink.

The judge criticised the functioning of the DAP to date, with matters ongoing for three years.

He said Mr Burke had either been in jail or trespassing at the school during that time, both of which were ‘undesirable’.

Mr Justice Cregan said it was ‘ludicrous’ that the DAP only sat on Saturdays, adding that it should be able to sit throughout the week.

He said it was ‘imperative’ that relevant parties nominate new members to a DAP ‘expeditiously’, suggesting this should be within two weeks.

‘Mr Burke is languishing in jail on a contempt of court issue while parties only sit on Saturday – that’s completely undesirable.’

The judge also said the DAP should consider a stenographer because of the ‘fundamental divergence of views’ about what happened in affidavits.

On the suggestion that a Teachers’ Union of Ireland representative could be nominated, the judge said he would not express a view but added that he did not think the DAP should diverge from its processes and choose to pick someone from another body like the Law Society.

SSPX rejects Vatican dialogue, plans to consecrate bishops without papal mandate

The Society of St. Pius X has rejected a Vatican offer of dialogue and said it will move forward with plans to ordain bishops without a papal mandate this summer.

In a letter sent to the Vatican on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, and made public on Feb. 19, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the traditionalist society known as SSPX, told Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, that he could not accept the terms under which the Vatican proposed to resume talks. Pagliarani added that he would not postpone the episcopal ordinations planned for July 1.

‘Cannot agree doctrinally’

“We both know in advance that we cannot agree doctrinally, particularly regarding the fundamental orientations adopted since the Second Vatican Council,” Father Pagliarani wrote.

The letter came one week after Cardinal Fernández and Father Pagliarani met at the Vatican on Feb. 12, in which the cardinal proposed dialogue to address the “minimum requirements necessary for full communion with the Catholic Church,” on the condition that SSPX suspend its plans for the ordinations. 

The Vatican dicastery had warned that proceeding with the consecrations “would imply a decisive rupture of ecclesial communion (schism) with grave consequences for the Fraternity as a whole.” 

At the same time as the letter, SSPX published a statement on its website arguing that it does not believe it is acting in schism.

A significant challenge for pope

The specter of schism represents a significant challenge for Pope Leo XIV in the first year of his pontificate, as the pope has repeatedly emphasized his desire for Christian unity. 

Father Pagliarani claims that he had recently written to the pope twice, “first to request an audience, then to clearly and respectfully explain our needs and the real-life situation of the Society,” but received no timely reply. 

“Yet, after a long silence, it is only when episcopal consecrations are mentioned that an offer to resume dialogue is made, which thus seems dilatory and conditional,” he wrote.

Rejecting offer of dialogue

Vatican officials have sought for decades to bring SSPX fully back into communion with Rome. In his letter, Father Pagliarani justified the rejection of the Vatican’s offer of dialogue by citing a lengthy prior history of failed negotiations.

In particular, he highlighted the formal dialogue that began in 2009, continued with particular intensity for two years, then proceeded more sporadically until June 2017.

“Throughout these years, we sought to achieve what the Dicastery now proposes,” he said, adding that “everything ultimately ended in a drastic manner, with the unilateral decision of Cardinal Müller, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who, in June 2017, solemnly established, in his own way, ‘the minimum requirements for full communion with the Catholic Church,’ explicitly including the entire Council and the post-Conciliar period.”

‘The Mediatrix of all Graces’

Father Pagliarani signed off the letter to Cardinal Fernandez by saying, “I pray for you in particular to the Holy Ghost and — do not take this as a provocation — His Most Holy Spouse, the Mediatrix of all Graces,” alluding to a document on Marian titles released by the dicastery in November.

The illicit consecrations planned for July 1 echo a 1988 crisis when the society’s founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, ordained four bishops without a papal mandate. St. John Paul II declared the act schismatic and excommunicated Lefebvre and the newly ordained bishops.

SSPX was founded in 1969 by Archbishop Lefebvre in opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Its priests celebrate the traditional Latin Mass and the society rejects the council’s positions on religious freedom and ecumenism. 

When SSPX first announced on Feb. 2 that it would proceed with the consecrations, a move that could lead to automatic excommunication, two traditionalist groups that celebrate the Latin Mass and remain in communion with the Holy See expressed concern.

Full canonical penal process may be opened against Spanish bishop accused of sexual abuse

A preliminary investigation by the Roman Rota into the allegations against a Spanish bishop accused of sexual abuse of a minor has recommended that the Vatican open a full canonical penal process.

According to reports in El País the investigation carried out by the Roman Rota tribunal in Madrid into the allegations against Bishop Emeritus Rafael Zornoza of Cádiz and Ceuta interviewed a number of witnesses and found credible evidence.

Reportedly, one of the witnesses testified that they saw the bishop in bed with the former seminarian who alleged that Zornoza sexually abused him while he was between 14 and 21 years old.

The tribunal finished last week and is now waiting to hear whether the penal process will be opened.

The crime Zornoza is accused of is time-barred, so civil courts cannot prosecute him, but under canon law he can be tried.

When the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith initially received the allegations last summer they deemed them credible and ordered the Archdiocese of Seville, of which Cádiz and Ceuta is a suffragan, to open an investigation.

Archbishop José Ángel Meneses of Seville then referred the canonical proceedings to the tribunal of the Roman Rota in Madrid, a step dioceses can take for particularly complex cases.

The Rota has sent its report to the Archdiocese of Seville so that it can send it to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for review.

The allegations say the abuse took place in the 1990s in Getafe, when Zornoza was the rector of the seminary there. The complainant eventually left the seminary.

According to sources close to the case who spoke to Religion Digital, Zornoza maintains his innocence and has said that he feels betrayed by the Church.

“The Church has abandoned me, betrayed me, left me alone and the interrogation has been an ordeal,” he has been saying, according to sources close to the case.

In November, when the allegations were first published in El País, Zornoza referred to them as “unjust and false.”

However, Zornoza immediately stepped down from his role as bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta. Pope Leo XIV also confirmed that he was aware of the case and accepted the bishop’s resignation.

“The bishop himself has had to respond and maintains his innocence. An investigation has been opened, and we must allow it to proceed; depending on the results, there will be consequences,” the pontiff said.

The allegations were first sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith last summer which included a letter from the complainant.

“It was at night when he came to the room and I suffered the abuse. He got into my bed, caressed me and kissed me. In the mornings I also woke up the same way. At that time, I never said anything to him, paralysis controlled me,” he said.

“He told me that ‘my wound’ (that’s how he referred to my homosexuality) did not let me see things and to trust him,” he added.

The complainant alleges that these abuses began in 1994 when he was 14 and continued until he was 21 – he entered the seminary aged 18. Zornoza was 45 in 1994.

In the information initially sent to the Dicastery, the complainant alleges that Zornoza used confession as a means to “manipulate and control” him.

“After confessing my homosexual acts I would go to bed, and within minutes he would get into my bed and caress me,” he said.

Ten years after leaving the seminary, the complainant says he sent an email to Zornoza telling the bishop that after some time coming to terms with it, he felt that he’d been abused and manipulated. He said the bishop didn’t respond.

He later met in person with Zornoza and the complainant says that the bishop “acknowledged the manipulation and abuse.”

An Post capacity decision threatens Catholic newspaper’s distribution after 138 years

The Irish Catholic, operating since 1888, has warned its future is being commercially threatened after An Post said it cannot provide paid-for postal collection services at the publication’s new Dublin 2 address, citing capacity constraints.

This newspaper has endured through the Rising, wars, civil wars, and more recently the Covid pandemic – the paper believes the decision jeopardises its ability to distribute print editions and manage core operations, despite having already paid for a full year of postal collection.

In an email to the newspaper, An Post’s billing unit said it had attempted to put collection arrangements in place following the move, but that all collection services in Dublin 2 are “at capacity”.

“My apologies for the delay replying as our Team were trying to get collection service put in place for you at the new address,” the email states. “Unfortunately, all our collection services in Dublin 2 are at capacity and we are unable to take on any additional services to what is in place.”

An Post said it would cancel the invoice connected to the service, which had been paid for the year. The correspondence is signed by John Barry of An Post’s Fee Billing Unit, based at the EXO Building on North Wall Quay.

Garry O’Sullivan, Managing Editor of The Irish Catholic, said the refusal to provide collection, after payment had been made, creates an immediate operational risk for a small, long-established print title reliant on dependable
logistics.

“Just to be told by An Post that our newspaper, which has existed since 1888, cannot be collected in Dublin 2 where we moved recently, despite us having paid for postal collection for the year is shocking,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “An Post complaining about profits, and yet they are turning away existing business customers? Makes no sense and to do this to a newspaper that serves a minority is profoundly undemocratic.”

The publication is now seeking an urgent resolution, warning that disruption to collection and dispatch can directly affect delivery schedules, subscriber confidence, and the commercial viability of the business, which employs ten.

Enoch Burke removed from court by gardaí

Enoch Burke has been removed from the High Court, with a judge in his case against a disciplinary body ordering gardaí to return him to Mountjoy Prison, where the proceedings are due to resume via videolink.

Mr Burke had sought a temporary injunction against a Disciplinary Appeals Panel (DAP) body that was reviewing the decision to dismiss him from Wilson’s Hospital School.

Friday’s hearing was called to discuss the process following two resignations from the DAP and whether the board of management of Wilson’s Hospital School could join the proceedings as a notice party.

At the outset, Mr Justice Brian Cregan warned Mr Burke that he would direct gardaí to return him to Mountjoy Prison if he strayed beyond behaviour that the court deemed acceptable.

He has been imprisoned at Mountjoy Prison over contempt of court relating to breaches of orders not to trespass at the school.

As Mr Burke interjected while Rosemary Mallon, the barrister for the board of management, was outlining proposals to constitute a new DAP, the judge ordered him to sit down.

When he did not sit down, Mr Justice Cregan directed gardaí to return him to Mountjoy Prison amid opposition from members of his family.

As he was being escorted by gardaí, Mr Burke accused the court of an “abuse of power” and said: “This is absolutely disgraceful, I have a right to justice.”

His mother, Martina, questioned why Ms Mallon was allowed to speak and told the barrister she was a “foreign presence” in the court.

Mr Burke’s sister, Ammi, said that Geraldine O’Brien, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) representative on the DAP, was still sitting on the panel, which the family said was still in existence.

Mr Burke’s mother and sister were also escorted out of the court by gardaí.

He said it was “disgraceful to drag my family out of court”.

The long-running legal dispute between the board of management of the Co Westmeath school and Mr Burke stems from incidents over a request in 2022 from the school’s then-principal to address a student by a new name and pronoun.

Mr Burke, an Evangelical Christian who taught German and history at the school, has repeatedly argued that the direction was unconstitutional and went against his right to express his religious beliefs.

Earlier in Friday’s proceedings, Mr Burke had argued that Ms Mallon and the board of management should not be present nor added as a notice party in his dispute with the DAP.

He said he “absolutely” objected to them being added to proceedings, arguing that solicitors for the school had engaged in “lying” and “prevarication”.

He accused Ms Mallon of telling a “very serious lie” that his dismissal had nothing to do with his personal views.

“They have no business being here today.”

He added: “They are a foreign presence in the court this morning.”

Ms Mallon told the court she did not intend to “deal with the personalised attacks” against the legal representatives.

Mr Justice Cregan replied: “Nor should you.”

Ms Mallon argued that there was no prejudice against Mr Burke about the board of management being added as a notice party, and that her clients would be “impacted by the outcome of the proceedings” at the DAP.

She said Mr Burke was still on the payroll of the Department of Education.

She noted that Mr Burke had objections to Ms O’Brien and the ASTI, and said the board of management had put forward proposals that a new DAP could be formed with a representative of the Teachers Union of Ireland instead or with, his agreement, a representative from an independent body such as the Low Society, Bar Council or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions due to the “exceptional circumstances” in the case.

Ms Mallon was reading from a letter that had been sent to Mr Burke and he objected to this being read out in court.

It was at this point that Mr Burke did not follow Mr Justice Cregan’s order for him to sit down and he was returned to Mountjoy Prison.

The proceedings are scheduled to resume with Mr Burke attending via videolink on Friday afternoon.

Israeli settlers spray ‘revenge’ messages outside Church of the Visitation in Jerusalem

Israeli settlers on Thursday vandalized the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, a neighborhood in the western part of Jerusalem, according to Wafa news agency.

The Jerusalem Governorate of the Palestinian Authority reported that extremists vandalized church walls and parked vehicles in Ein Karem, which was a Palestinian village before 1948.

Photos show graffiti in red spray paint in Hebrew that says: “Revenge,” “David, king of Israel lives and endures,” and “The (Jewish) messiah is here!” near the outer wall of the Catholic church.

Israeli police announced they are investigating the “nationalist graffiti” and have begun collecting evidence to track down the vandals, according to The Times of Israel.

The governorate said that the vandalism is part of mounting violations by Israeli settlers against religious sites in Jerusalem, including incursions into churches and mosques, and desecration of historical and religious sites.

Settlers commonly spray graffiti during attacks on Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where, since October 2023, there has been a sharp increase in such attacks.

Crypto donations risk church's stewardship and credibility

Catholic parishes and dioceses across the United States are under real financial pressure. 

As giving habits change and younger Catholics move almost entirely into digital spaces, church institutions are increasingly asked whether they should accept donations in cryptocurrency. Some parishes and dioceses already do.

That question should not be answered casually. If Catholic institutions are going to accept cryptocurrency at all, they should have clear, written policies in place before doing so — or adopt them as soon as possible if they have already crossed that threshold. 

This is not a matter of technological sophistication. It is a matter of Catholic moral responsibility.

Catholic social teaching does not begin with tools or markets. It begins with the dignity of the human person, the common good, solidarity and the moral limits of economic activity. When applied seriously, those principles counsel prudence, transparency and governance before novelty.

Start with stewardship. 

Canon law obligates pastors and bishops alike to safeguard the temporal goods of the church and to administer them "with the diligence of a good householder." That obligation applies at every level of ecclesial administration. 

Cryptocurrency is volatile by design, often speculative in practice and frequently detached from productive economic activity. A parish or diocese that accepts crypto without a plan for immediate conversion, custody controls, and oversight is not exercising prudence — it is assuming risks inconsistent with responsible stewardship.

Some may argue that cryptocurrency poses no greater moral concern than cash, since cash can also be used for illicit purposes. That comparison is incomplete. While cash is anonymous, it is also physically constrained. It moves slowly, in limited quantities and usually within local or national boundaries. 

Cryptocurrency, by contrast, allows the instantaneous transfer of large sums across borders without intermediaries, identity checks or meaningful friction. The result is not merely anonymity but scale and opacity — conditions that have made crypto uniquely attractive for ransomware, sanctions evasion, fraud and other serious crimes.

If Catholic institutions choose to open the digital collection basket, they should do so with eyes open, norms in place and the moral tradition of the church firmly in hand.

This distinction matters morally not only because of risk, but because of complicity. Catholic moral teaching has long recognized that institutions can cooperate — formally or materially — in wrongdoing even without intending it. 

When a parish or diocese accepts cryptocurrency without safeguards, it risks more than accidental receipt of tainted funds. It risks becoming entangled in, and normalizing, an economic sector that has been structurally shaped by speculation, extraction, environmental harm and illicit use.

Acceptance also teaches. 

The church is not a neutral market actor. Its practices catechize as surely as its preaching. 

When Catholic institutions accept crypto donations without qualification, they implicitly communicate that the church regards participation in the crypto economy as morally unproblematic. That message is at odds with the church's consistent teaching that economic systems must be judged by their effects on the vulnerable, on social trust, and on the common good — not merely by their technical legality or popularity.

Scandal must therefore be understood correctly. In Catholic moral theology, scandal is not embarrassment —  it is conduct that reasonably leads others into moral confusion or weakens the church's witness. 

Given the well-documented harms associated with much of the crypto ecosystem, uncritical acceptance risks teaching the faithful that those harms are morally irrelevant so long as charitable ends are served.

Transparency becomes indispensable in this context. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church insists that economic life be intelligible, accountable and ordered to the common good. 

Crypto transactions are often opaque even to finance councils and diocesan officials, let alone to parishioners. Without clear policies requiring donor identification, third-party screening, prompt conversion to dollars and hierarchical oversight for significant gifts, Catholic institutions cannot plausibly claim to meet that standard.

Environmental responsibility further deepens the concern. Certain cryptocurrencies rely on energy-intensive mining processes that directly conflict with the moral framework articulated in Laudato Si'. To accept such assets without reflection or limitation risks contradicting the church's own call to ecological conversion.

None of this requires rejecting technology outright. The church has long adopted new tools — printing presses, radio, television, online giving — when they served the Gospel and were governed wisely. But the church has never treated financial innovation as morally neutral. Markets exist for people, not the other way around.

That is why policy matters. Clear, written policies governing cryptocurrency donations — applicable at both the parish and diocesan levels — are not bureaucratic excess. They are moral boundary-setting. They allow Catholic institutions to reduce the risk of complicity, avoid catechizing indifference to economic harm and demonstrate that the church's engagement with new technologies is governed by conscience rather than convenience.

The harder truth is this: Accepting cryptocurrency without rules is not pastoral openness; it is abdication of responsibility. Catholic social teaching demands more than enthusiasm for innovation. It demands judgment.

If Catholic institutions choose to open the digital collection basket, they should do so with eyes open, norms in place and the moral tradition of the church firmly in hand. 

Anything less risks letting novelty outrun conscience — and that is a price the church should not be willing to pay.

Synod establishes new Commission dedicated to Eastern Churches

The General Secretariat of the Synod has created a new body dedicated to developing proposals for the revision of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO) in the context of the synodal journey. 

Called the Eastern Canonical Commission, it met for the first time on February 20 at the General Secretariat of the Synod’s headquarters.

A dedicated Commission

This new Commission builds on the work of the Canonical Commission that had been formed in December 2023. That commission had already put some proposals forward for a reform of the CCEO, though its main focus was on the Latin Church’s Canon Law.

The 2026 Eastern Canonical Commission is also responding to a number of requests made by leaders of the sui iuris Churches. These are the 24 individual autonomous Churches within the Catholic Catholic Church that are in full communion with the Pope but maintain their own specific traditions, liturgies, laws, and governance.

Aimed at fostering interdicasterial cooperation to serve the local Churches, the new Commission is made up of Eastern canon law experts who have been chosen from consultants of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts and the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

Cardinal Mario Grech, General Secretary of the Synod, explained that “it was deemed appropriate to establish a dedicated commission that could work in close connection with Study Group no. 1 on Certain Aspects of Relations Between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church” while “taking into account the specificity of Eastern Canon Law”.

This Study Group is one of the ten established by Pope Francis in 2024, following the First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. During that Assembly, a number of important topics regarding the life and mission of the Church in a synodal context emerged.

In the spirit of synodality “that characterizes this implementation phase,” Cardinal Grech invites “the sui iuris Churches, episcopal conferences, Catholic universities, institutions, and individuals interested to submit their contributions to the General Secretariat of the Synod by April 15, 2026.”

Mandate

In the short term, this new Commission is tasked with preparing “draft normative texts in order to give effect to the juridical proposals advanced during the 2021-2024 synodal journey, in particular those enumerated in the Synthesis Report (2023) and in the Final Document (2024).”

The Secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, which is the responsible Curial body, will coordinate the Commission’s work, including updating the current Eastern legislation.

Catholic Church and Irish Government urged to apologise for ‘systemic failings’ on ‘forgotten children’ sent from Republic to NI institutions

The Catholic Church and Irish Government have been urged to apologise for failings over hundreds of ‘forgotten children’ being removed from the Republic and placed in abusive homes and institutions in Northern Ireland.

Jon McCourt, chairman of Survivors North West, said children were taken from the south and sent north to Derry “without any accountability”.

He explained: “Responsibility for that abuse rests not only with the religious institutions into whose ‘care’ these children were placed, but also with those who placed them in the ‘care’ to begin with — parish priests, lay religious organisations, social welfare officers and ultimately the Irish Government, whose duty it was to protect its citizens under the now-removed Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution.”

Mr McCourt said that from 1922 until the late 1960s, “hundreds of children” were sent to Derry mainly from Donegal, but also from Sligo.

Nazareth House in Bishop Street formally opened as a ‘home’ for the care of “old people and young children” on March 2, 1892, and “ceased to be a home for children in 1998”.

Termonbacca opened in November 1922 and closed in 1982.

The congregation reported that, between both homes, Nazareth House had received 2,347 children and Termonbacca had received 1,834, during their periods of operation.

Mr McCourt said: “What isn’t taken into account are the large number of what were referred to as ‘voluntary placements’ into the care of these institutions.

“The majority of these ‘placements’ were made on the recommendation of parish priests or on their advice, following intervention from other religious-affiliated non-statutory bodies, i.e. the Legion of Mary or the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

“Arbitrary decisions were made to remove some or all of the children, breaking up families that, in many cases, they deemed unsuitable, unworthy or undeserving of support.

“These are the ‘forgotten children’. It is almost impossible to put an exact figure on how many children were removed from families, homes and the state and sent across the border to Derry.”

In January 1957, Eddie McAteer, the nationalist MP at Stormont in correspondence to the Co Londonderry County Borough Welfare Committee, pointed out that of the 87 boys in Termonbacca, 21 (24%) were born outside of NI, while of the 157 girls in Nazareth House, 35 (22%) were born in the Republic.

The ‘Report of the Northern Ireland Welfare Council for 1956 to 1959’ states that “of the 84 children in voluntary homes, 63 of them were concentrated in two Roman Catholic homes in Londonderry”.

Mr McCourt said this casts “significant doubt” on figures supplied previously by the Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth to the 2017 Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry Report.

“Even a low estimate would accrue that somewhere between five and six hundred children were sent to Derry in the relevant period,” he said.

“These were Irish citizens transported across the border with less paperwork than cattle or sheep.

“Many would have been removed from schools and medical records and no one asked, or dared to ask: ‘Where did they go?’”

Mr McCourt said that because they were placed in NI as children, they were excluded from giving evidence to the Ryan inquiry, as they were considered outside its remit.

He continued: “To all intents and purposes, the Irish Government, the relevant county councils and the Catholic Church appear to have escaped scrutiny and accountability for these ‘forgotten children’. Now is the time to make it right.”

In the Dail during the week, Donegal TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked Hildegarde Naughton, the Republic’s Minister for Education and Youth, if she was aware of the deep hurt felt by the ‘forgotten children’ and their families.

He asked if she and Taoiseach Micheál Martin will consider that, with confirmation that the survivors of abuse in industrial and reformatory schools will be offered a state apology.

Mr Mac Lochlainn cited hundreds of children taken from the Republic and placed in NI homes and institutions “who endured abuse”.

In response, Ms Naughton gave an assurance that she is “acutely conscious of the enormous trauma felt by survivors of abuse, as is the Government”.

She added: “While nothing that we do now can ever undo the hurt which has been caused, the Government is committed to recognising that hurt and providing appropriate supports to survivors.”

She referenced an apology in May 1999 by then-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to victims of childhood abuse, prompted by the “appalling revelations of abuse and mistreatment in industrial schools, reformatories and other institutions”, saying that was “to all such victims”.

Ms Naughton also spoke of “a comprehensive response” by the state, including a range of initiatives such as the establishment of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme.

“In relation to children placed in homes and institutions in Northern Ireland, I would note that the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board was established to provide redress to those who were abused as children in relevant institutions,” she concluded.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland was contacted.

Thief caught with bolt cutters and cash jailed after Buncrana church robbed

A man who was caught with bolt cutters and cash he could not account for after a church was broken into in Co Donegal has been jailed for three months.

Gheorghe Zoltan appeared at Letterkenny District Court accompanied by prison officers.

The 49-year-old is already serving a suspended prison sentence for breaking into churches in both the Cork and Kerry areas.

Zoltan, a Romanian national who has been living in Ireland since 2022, was charged with stealing property, the property of Fr Francis Bradley.

The charge is contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and fraud Offences) Act of 2001.

It follows a break-in to St Mary’s Oratory in Buncrana on January 26th last.

Garda Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that Gardai had received a report that St Mary’s Church had been broken into and that a number of collection boxes had been stolen.

While on patrol, Gardai came across Zoltan and another man at an Applegreen Filling Station.

When searched, the men were in possession of a bolt-cutters and more than €250 in cash which they could not account for.

CCTV from the church was examined and it showed Zoltan and another man in the church.

Sergeant Collins told the court that it took the men seven minutes and twenty seconds to remove cash from church envelopes.

When charged by Gardai, the court was told that Zoltan replied “I’m sorry about this.”

Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client was a “patsy” in the case and that he was with another person who appeared to have more influence.

He asked the court to consider his client’s full and frank admission, his social background and his deep remorse.

“He is very apologetic for his actions and he is very embarrassed. He has been on remand on these charges since he was arrested,” added Mr Gallagher.

Judge Emile Daly asked Mr Gallagher if his client was working and was told no.

When asked if there was a reason why he wasn’t working, the solicitor replied that there was a difficulty with the language barrier.

Mr Gallagher also said there were “difficulties with certain nationalities getting work in certain areas.”

Judge Daly replied that it didn’t help when people were stealing from churches.

Passing sentence Judge Daly said the theft involved offerings that parishioners had made to the church.

Describing it as a “low form” of theft, she said showed a degree of disrespect.

She took into account the defendant’s plea but noted a previous similar theft when he had expressed remorse for his actions.

She sentenced Zoltan to three months in prison.

Stormont unveils memorial to child abuse victims

A memorial to victims and survivors of historical and institutional child abuse in Northern Ireland has been unveiled at a ceremony in Stormont.

It acknowledges the suffering caused to thousands of people who were abused in children's homes and other residential institutions.

Victims and survivors groups have been critical of the time it has taken to get to this point, nine years after it was recommended by Sir Anthony Hart, chair of the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry.

His 2017 report also recommended a public apology and compensation scheme, both of which have already been implemented, but some institutions criticised by the public inquiry have not yet made redress payments.

The Stormont memorial takes the form of a plaque in the entrance hall at Parliament Buildings.

Dozens of survivors attended the event on Friday.

'A black mark against the state'

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill said in her address that there "is no ambiguity about the failures which have occurred or the responsibility owed".

She said the memorial would stand "as a permanent acknowledgement and reminder that children were failed by the state and by others who had a duty to protect them".

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: "We cannot change the past, but we can face it with honesty and integrity."

She told survivors and their families: "We are all so deeply sorry that you were failed by so many people for so long."

The speaker of the devolved assembly, Edwin Poots, said the abuse would "forever be a black mark against the state of Northern Ireland".

Earlier, Margaret McGuckin from the group Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse (SAVIA) said the unveiling of the memorial would be a significant moment.

"Where the plaque will be placed, it is in the seat of government," she said.

"When these politicians see it daily, and all these visiting dignitaries from around the world enter into that building, they will see what happened.

"We were failed, children were failed by the state and church."

She said she hopes it will bring a sense of closure for victims.

The Commissioner for the Survivors of Childhood Institutional Abuse, Fiona Ryan, said the memorial was the result of the "courage and conviction" of campaigners.

She added: "If we are pledging to remember, then let us not forget survivors had to fight for the truth to be heard - for the silenced voices of the children they once were to be finally listened to."

The plaque acknowledges that many victims did not live to see justice and accountability.

What was the HIA Inquiry?

The HIA Inquiry examined allegations of abuse in 22 homes and other institutions between 1922 to 1995 and found there was widespread abuse of young residents.

Its final report identified six religious and charitable organisations which, it said, were required to contribute towards the cost of the redress scheme and support services.

So far, payments have been received from the De La Salle Order, the Good Shepherd Sisters and Barnardo's.

The Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor has also made a payment regarding the institutions which it ran with the De La Salle Order.

Stormont officials said they have had "constructive discussions" with the three remaining organisations.

They are the Irish Church Missions, the Sisters of Nazareth, and the Sisters of Saint Louis.

The Executive Office said: "The negotiation process with institutions is continuing and will only be concluded once all redress determinations have been made."

It also said officials would continue to engage with the organisations which have made payments in relation to their final contributions.

Almost 5,500 applications for compensation

The redress board considered the final application for compensation this week.

The total amount of payments is about £116m and there were almost 5,500 applications.

It is understood that the completion of this stage will allow negotiations with the organisations to be finalised.

The amount which each institution has contributed will be published when the process is finished.

What does the memorial plaque say?

The text on the plaque includes: "Between 1922 and 1995, many suffered childhood abuse in residential institutions and were failed by all those who had a duty to protect them, including individuals, organisations and the State.

"Some were sent overseas through the Child Migrant Scheme. These children deserved care, safety, and dignity — but many suffered harm instead."

Concerns had been raised by campaigners when the words "the State" were removed, but it emerged last week that they have been reinstated.

Nine-year delay has 'taken its toll on all of us'

Jon McCourt, from the group Survivors North West, said it had been "a very long road" to get to this point.

"This should not have taken this length of time and it's taken its toll on all of us.

"I have lost my sister and my younger brother since then," he said.

"If it hadn't been for the Assembly collapses we had, and the disagreements, this would have been done within a year."

McCourt added that 2017 "seems so long ago but I remember every word that Anthony Hart said that day".

"This is a tribute to all of those who went through those institutions."

A spokesperson for The Executive Office (TEO) said the plaque will stand as "a permanent acknowledgement" of the children who suffered abuse in residential institutions.

"This has been a phased approach through a public inquiry, specialist support services, redress, a public apology, and a memorial, together representing the Executive's acknowledgement of victims and survivors.

"The event is the culmination of what has been a long, sensitive and detailed engagement process to ensure that the wording on the memorial plaque reflects the views of victims and survivors," they added.