The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) has said safeguarding failings in the Church have caused an “ecclesiastical earthquake”.

Rt Rev Richard Murray was speaking at Wednesday's meeting of the PCI’s Special General Assembly in Belfast following the safeguarding scandal that has engulfed the Church in recent months. It’s the second such meeting since December.

The previous moderator, Rt Rev Dr Trevor Gribben, stood down in November after an internal report uncovered serious safeguarding failings in the Church between 2009 and 2022.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has launched a criminal investigation into the safeguarding concerns and police have now sent an email requesting that “all congregations take immediate steps to preserve all Church documentation and material relating to their safeguarding activities".

Rev Murray said he welcomed that “safeguarding has (quite rightly) been moved centre stage” and added: “We in PCI are in trouble, make no mistake about it, especially, again, and most necessarily we think of those hurt, harmed, traumatised by our failings”.