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	Pressure Grows on Bishops to Resign By Clodagh Sheehy Herald December 24, 2009 http://www.herald.ie/national-news/pressure-grows-on-bishops-to-resign-1988469.html PRESSURE was growing today on the three remaining bishops named in the Murphy Report to step down. Within hours of Kildare and Leighlin Bishop James Moriarty's resignation, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin challenged Bishop Eamonn Walsh, one of the remaining three, to consider his position. Bishop Moriarty's decision has increased the pressure on Bishop Walsh and Bishop Raymond Field, both auxiliary Bishops of Dublin, and Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway. Donal Murray, of Limerick, has already resigned. All three men to date have resisted calls for their resignation, claiming they were not directly criticised in the report. Sex abuse survivor Marie Collins has insisted, however, that they must bear a collective responsibility for the cover-up in the archdiocese. Challenged In a statement, James Moriarty confessed that with the benefit of hindsight he now accepted that when working as a Dublin auxiliary bishop from 1991-2002 he "should have challenged the prevailing culture". Meanwhile, a confidential letter from Bishop Walsh to priests and people in the Dublin diocese asking for their support was at the centre of a new storm. The letter claims that Archbishop Martin "confirmed publicly" at a December 12 meeting of clergy that he "had confidence in his Dublin auxiliary bishops". But a spokesman for the Archbishop said was still evaluating the positions of his auxiliaries. E-mail: csheehy@herald.ie
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