BishopAccountability.org
	Two More Irish Bishops Quit Their Posts over Child Abuse Criticism The Times December 25, 2009 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6967993.ece Roman Catholics across Ireland were attending Christmas Day Mass yesterday as two more bishops resigned. Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field bowed to weeks of intense criticism and pressure, announcing at services that they planned to quit their posts as auxiliaries in the Dublin Archdiocese. They are the latest senior clerics to stand down after the Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, James Moriarty, and the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray, resigned over the damning Murphy report that exposed the church hierarchy’s shocking inaction and cover-up of paedophile priests over decades. Bishops Walsh and Field announced their resignations in a statement as Midnight Mass took place around the country. “As we celebrate the Feast of Christmas, the birth of our Saviour, the Prince of Peace, 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,” they said. “We again apologise to them.” In St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin — who stopped short of publicly calling for resignations but repeatedly pressured senior churchmen who have served in the capital to reflect — described 2009 as a painful year for the Church. “The diocese failed its most vulnerable members. The archdiocese failed to recognise what was to be done,” the Archbishop said. Dublin Labour councillor Aodhan O’Riordain attended Midnight Mass in Malahide, north of the city, where the bishops’ resignations were announced. “The timing of the announcement is open to question, but the resignations are welcome nonetheless,” Mr O’Riordain said. “It is now time for a full and frank debate about the relationship between the church and state institutions in Ireland, especially education. “As a principal of a Catholic school, I feel we can hide from that debate no longer.” The Murphy inquiry, based on a sample 46 priests, revealed a catalogue of paedophilia and subsequent cover-ups over three decades. Archbishop Martin said that the diocese must now be called to renewal by recognising what happened, accepting responsibility and investigating criminal behaviour. “It has been a painful year. But the Church today may well be a better and safer place than was the Church of 25 years ago when all looked well, but where deep shadows were kept buried,” he added.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.