More than half of all complaints of abuse received by the Catholic Church in Scotland over a six-year period were sex-related, according to a report.
The church has published the results of its Diocesan Safeguarding Audits from 2006/12, giving a breakdown of incidents reported during that time.
A total of 46 allegations were reported, of which 55% related to sexual abuse, 19% to physical abuse, 11% were allegations of verbal abuse and 15% were in connection with emotional abuse.
Of those accused, 56% were priests, 22% were volunteers, 11% were parishioners and the remainder were staff or other people connected to the church.
There have been no prosecutions in relation to 61% of all cases reported, the church said. A further 15% resulted in a prosecution, 10% are still under investigation and the remaining 14% are described as “unknown historical cases”.
More than a quarter of all the accused reported (27%) are now dead, according to the audit report prepared for the Scottish Catholic Safeguarding Service.
The church also announced a further audit of all cases of historic abuse allegations between 1947 and 2005, and a full review of its safeguarding procedures.
The three initiatives, it says, were launched “in a spirit of openness and transparency”.
Members of the Catholic community were told about the plans at mass on Sunday and a formal announcement was made by the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland on Monday.
Bishops of the eight Scottish dioceses make up the Bishops’ Conference, which represents the Catholic Church in Scotland.