Christian Brother-turned Priest's shock admission to Sunday Mass-goers sees livestream suddenly cut out before emotional parishioners react en masse in front of plain-clothes gardaí

Published: 04:52, 9 August 2026 | Updated: 04:55, 9 August 2026 A former Christian Brother-turned-priest got a standing ovation after he took to the pulpit to announce he is under active Garda investigation for alleged sexual abuse, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal. Plain-clothes detectives were in the church when the priest made the shock announcement, prompting his diocesan office to cut the live feed from the Mass that was being broadcast online. Despite admitting that he was under investigation, the priest appeared to receive resounding support from most of his congregation, some of whom approached him after the service and offered to raise funds to help pay his legal costs. The revelation comes as senior sources familiar with several abuse investigations involving current or former members of the order warned that some Christian Brothers’ classrooms are turning into ‘crime scenes’ as multiple victims come forward after an initial complaint is made against an alleged abuser.  It also comes as the order faces mounting criticism for what a Circuit Court judge described as a ‘morally bankrupt’ legal strategy to shield its vast assets and wear down abuse survivors through legal attrition. The Christian Brothers operate as an unincorporated association, meaning the order itself is not a distinct corporate entity and cannot be sued directly. The Government this weekend came under pressure to back a new law proposed by Labour leader Ivana Bacik that would ‘unblock’ the legal loophole Last week, the High Court ordered that 341 former members of the order be served with a summons by way of a newspaper advertisement, as part of a claim for damages for child sexual assault and rape. It is not alleged that the men whose names were published in a national newspaper this week were guilty of sexual abuse. The MoS has learned at least 35 more victims of alleged abuse will also pursue the Christian Brothers through similar newspaper ads unless the order changes its legal strategy. The Government this weekend came under pressure to back a new law proposed by Labour leader Ivana Bacik that would ‘unblock’ the legal loophole. The cases being taken by the 35 victims involve at least four former Christian Brothers, who have all already been before the courts. Plain-clothes detectives were in the church when the priest made the shock announcement, prompting his diocesan office to cut the live feed from the Mass that was being broadcast online The order’s legal strategy – and the advanced age of many of the alleged abusers – means investigations are turning into a race against time for victims and gardaí as many alleged perpetrators are already dead before a case has a chance to get to court. A senior source familiar with the investigations said many cases ‘spiral’ after initial complaints are made as more victims come forward, which is placing a significant ‘resource drain’ on Garda divisional protective services units. 90-year-old former Christian Brother Liam Coughlan was told he will most likely die in prison after he was convicted of 31 charges of indecently assaulting nine school boys during the 1980s at St Patrick’s Christian Brothers primary school in Portarlington, Co. Laois In the case of the Christian Brother-turned-priest, almost two dozen victims have made statements to gardaí, and the investigation was this weekend described as being at an ‘advanced stage’. The priest made his announcement from the pulpit after he was informed by gardaí about their active investigation and told by Church authorities that he would have to step aside pending the outcome. Undercover detectives were in the church when he made the announcement as they thought he could say something ‘incriminating’. A source told the MoS: ‘He got a standing round of applause and they lined up after Mass to shake his hand and wish him well and offered to raise funds to pay for his legal costs. ‘The diocesan office was up in arms.  'They didn’t want him saying Mass.  'He went rogue so they turned off the live-stream feed.’ Another source said Christian Brother classrooms are increasingly becoming the ‘scene of the crime’. They told the MoS: ‘Gardaí get the roll books to identify potential witnesses who are approached.  'They inevitably become victims too. ‘A lot of victims in these cases suppress their memories and probably never would have otherwise come forward. ‘Some go on to have chronic addiction issues and feel because of their life choices that they won’t be believed. ‘A lot of victims have disclosed abuse to someone in the past but got the wrong reaction.  'There are victims who tried to tell their parents and received beatings for suggesting such a thing.’ Gardaí are also facing a race against time to get justice for victims. Following the establishment of the Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Historical Child Sex Abuse in Schools last year, one Garda division alone received more than 60 referrals. In this division, a third of the cases related to a suspect who has since died. A source noted in these cases: ‘There is no more gardaí can do for them at that point. Imagine carrying the trauma for so long and finally trust enough in the system to engage?  It is not easy for men in their mid and later life to come in, open up, tell their story and ultimately the suspect is dead.’ Legal teams representing victims are also being hindered by the Christian Brothers’ controversial legal strategy to block court actions.  The solicitor representing some of the 35 victims of alleged abuse this week described the order’s actions as ‘shocking, appalling, totally unnecessary and completely avoidable’. However, Philip Treacy of Coleman Legal said more ads, similar to the one published this week publicly naming 341 former members of the order, will be placed in the coming months. He told the MoS: ‘There will be three applications made in the High Court in November looking for an order to publish and once we get the order we will publish again.  'There will be 31 applications at some stage next year. ‘Assuming we get the order, we will publish in exactly the same way,’ he said. ‘We have approximately 35 live actions against the Christian Brothers, and as long as they do this [refuse to appoint a nominee and to provide details of the whereabouts of former Christian Brothers], if they choose not to put forward a nominee, we will have to keep doing this.’ Judge Johnson said at the time: ‘By his actions, the accused has besmirched the reputation of the entire Christian Brother community, which does a gross disservice to the very many dedicated brothers who devoted their lives to giving a good all-round education to their students' Mr Treacy stressed this is not a ‘tactical’ approach by his firm. He added: ‘We have to in accordance with the law. It is in the best interests of our clients. ‘This is what you have to do because, if you pursue an unincorporated body without naming everybody, then the one person that you do name is entitled to say, “hold on, I’m only one per cent of these guys” or “there is another 400 and you’re only pursuing me so it’s your loss that you did not pursue everybody else”. The solicitor also questioned why the Christian Brothers are taking such measures to hinder the legal process. Mr Treacy said: ‘It is so easy for someone to act as a nominee and the other religious orders do this.  'You are still fully entitled to put in the strongest defence that you can imagine.  'I believe it is being done to dissuade and to thwart victims of sexual abuse from either starting a case or continuing with a case, but ultimately that’s just my opinion.  'If a plaintiff doesn’t do this, they’ll either low ball you or use it completely against you to defeat you.’ The Labour Party had accused some religious orders of using ‘lawfare’ against people who were abused in their care. The party has since put forward a Private Members’ Bill to close these loopholes which, if implemented, would mean abuse victims would no longer have to sue each individual member of an organisation to get compensation. The Government has stalled the proposed new legislation for six months to allow the Attorney General to review the proposed new laws. But in response to queries from the MoS, a Labour spokesman stressed: ‘This legislation is too important to delay any further than is absolutely necessary.’ Last month, 90-year-old former Christian Brother Liam Coughlan was told he will most likely die in prison after he was convicted of 31 charges of indecently assaulting nine school boys during the 1980s at St Patrick’s Christian Brothers primary school in Portarlington, Co. Laois.  While imposing a five-year sentence against Coughlan on July 24, the president of the Circuit Court, Judge Keenan Johnson, criticised the Christian Brothers order for the ‘grossly unfair’ manner in which they had dealt with civil cases. Judge Johnson said at the time: ‘By his actions, the accused has besmirched the reputation of the entire Christian Brother community, which does a gross disservice to the very many dedicated brothers who devoted their lives to giving a good all-round education to their students.’ The judge added: ‘The reputation of the Christian Brothers has been further damaged by the failure of the congregation to designate a nominee to accept service of civil proceedings brought by victims of abuse. ‘That approach has the effect of frustrating the claims of victims as proceedings have to be served on each individual member and former member of the congregations, which is a monumental task that appears to have been adopted to protect the assets of the congregation and wear down claimants through attrition. ‘That approach strikes me as morally bankrupt and grossly unfair not only to the victims but also to the many, many brothers who are totally innocent and blameless of any wrong doing.’ The Christian Brothers did not respond to our queries this week. 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