IRELAND
Irish Examiner
Our government didn’t give a damn, but Eamon Casey made a name for himself, as a young priest, helping those people. This was forgotten, however, because of his human failings.
Sure, as the saying goes, it could happen to a bishop. One pope died in bed with his mistress, and another not only had a son, but also arranged for the son to succeed him. In more recent times, Cardinal Cody of Chicago died while under criminal indictment as a result of his long-term involvement with a woman, and Cardinal Jean Danielou died on the stairs of a Paris brothel as he was going to visit a young prostitute.
Some of those who knew the cardinal argued that the visit was just part of his priestly duties. “The press aired all the expected innuendoes,” according to the British Dominican Timothy Radcliffe. “But, as far as I could see, he was a holy man being a good priest. In a way it was the perfect place for a cardinal to die.”
Wow!
In many respects the Casey affair opened this country up to a healthy scepticism and ultimately helped to undermine the temporal power of the Church here. Only a few years earlier, for instance, the Catholic hierarchy had played a leading role in persuading people to reject constitutional change that would have provided for divorce.