AFP
December 25, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iL6PcQZd2N4IWEG9kWUj9EuEW8iA
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| A damning report found that Catholic authorities concealed abuse on children for three decades |
DUBLIN — Two more bishops said on Friday they were offering their resignation to Pope Benedict XVI in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal that has shaken Ireland.
Auxiliary Bishops of Dublin Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field said in a statement they had informed the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, on Christmas Eve Thursday of their intention to quit.
Four bishops have now resigned following a damning report last month by judge Yvonne Murphy on the Dublin archdiocese -- the country's biggest -- that found the Roman Catholic authorities concealed abuse of children by priests for three decades.
"It is our hope that our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. We again apologise to them," Walsh and Field said in their statement.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have so bravely spoken out and those who continue to suffer in silence."
Walsh was ordained in 1969 and was secretary to the Archbishop of Dublin from 1985 to 1990, when he was made a bishop.
He was appointed apostolic administrator by the pope for four years from 2002 in the diocese of Ferns, southwest Ireland, when its bishop Brendan Comiskey resigned in a clerical child abuse scandal.
Field was ordained as a priest in 1970 and was made a bishop in 1997.
The resignations come as Ireland's top Catholic churchman, Cardinal Sean Brady, Primate of All Ireland, again apologised to abuse survivors and their families at a Christmas Eve vigil mass held at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
In their dealings with allegations of of abuse, Brady said clerics had "put the reputation of the church before the safety of little children".
"I declare my abhorrence at the breach of trust and the crimes that have been committed. There are many reasons to feel angry and let down. There are many reasons to feel sad and ashamed."
Murphy's investigation found church leaders did not report abuse to police as part of a culture of secrecy and a determination to avoid damaging the reputation and assets of the church.
Earlier this month Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Donal Murray, bishop of Limerick, an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1982 to 1996.
On Wednesday, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin James Moriarty said he had offered his resignation to the pope. He had served as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1991 to 2002.
Pressure remains on other prelates and senior churchmen to quit over the scandal.
Martin said criminal behaviour by clerics must be investigated and prosecuted, at a Christmas Eve mass in Dublin.
"No words of apology will ever be enough for the hurt caused," he said in his sermon at Saint Mary's Pro-Cathedral.
The church must "honestly and brutally" recognise what had happened.
"Renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past. Criminal behaviour must be investigated and pursued," he said.
"Gross failures in management must be remedied in a transparent way. Current practice must be effectively monitored. Anachronisms left over from past history must be replaced."
Pope Benedict met last week with Brady and Martin. In a statement, the pontiff apologised for the abuse, saying he "shares the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland (over) these heinous crimes".
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