A Garda complaint has been made about a fundamentalist Catholic group based in Cork, which has allowed a defrocked priest to say mass despite alleged safeguard breaches.
The Society of St Pius Resistance, a splinter group of the controversial SSPX which was founded in 1970 by a former bishop who clashed with the Vatican over reforms, has operated from a farmhouse in Drinagh, Co Cork.
Gardaí have confirmed that enquiries into the group are ongoing on foot of a complaint which alleges safeguarding breaches in relation to the defrocked priest.
It is understood that at least one safeguarding organisation has also referred the matter to Tusla.
The defrocked priest is not currently in Ireland.
The group has held masses in Derry, where local bishop Donal McKeown, in a bulletin sent to all churches this weekend, warned congregations: "The priests of SSPX Resistance Ireland are not in full communion with the Catholic Church and do not accept the full teaching authority of the Church.
He said they "administer sacraments, but do so illicitly — without the necessary faculties and approval of the church".
He also warned congregations that because the group is outside the Catholic Church, it does not fall under safeguarding oversight.
The letter asked church-goers "to remain steadfast in communion with the church, united with the Holy Father and the bishops who share in full communion with them".
Bishop Giacomo Ballini, who runs the SSPX branch in Ireland, was heavily criticised by the Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costello after saying a mass in the city with a priest who had been removed from his position by the diocese.
In a statement in October, Bishop Costelloe wrote:
"One of the four bishops ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988, Bishop Richard Williamson, was expelled from SSPX in October 2012. Bishop Richard Williamson then established a new group known as the SSPX Resistance.
Between 2015 and 2022 Bishop Richard Williamson has ordained four priests as bishops, one of whom is an Italian priest, Giacomo Ballini. Bishop Williamson did not have a pontifical mandate to consecrate any of these priests to the episcopate.
"In accord with canon 1387 of the Code of Canon Law, Bishop Williamson and Bishop Ballini incurred automatically the penalty of excommunication, as did the other three bishops. As Bishop Ballini incurred the penalty of excommunication, he is prohibited by canon from “celebrating the Sacrifice of the Eucharist and the other sacraments” and “from receiving the sacraments”.
Accordingly, Bishop Ballini is no longer in communion with the Pope and the other Bishops."
In 2022, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism identified the SSPX Resistance as one of 12 "hateful and extremist groups in Ireland", particularly focusing on its "conspiracy" and "antisemitism".
In 2021, the Irish Examiner revealed that Mr Ballini had said a mass in Dublin's Herbert Park in defiance of Covid restrictions which was followed by "an exorcism" of Leinster House.
It is understood that a charity linked to the group has been under investigation for some time, but the Charities Regulator confirmed that the church itself has no charitable status.