John Cooney Battle Lines Are Drawn at Rome Summit Showdown, by John Cooney, Irish Independent, February 15, 2010

John Cooney: Battle Lines Are Drawn at Rome Summit Showdown

By John Cooney
Irish Independent
February 15, 2010

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/john-cooney-battle-lines-are-drawn-at-rome-summit-showdown-2063539.html

IRELAND -- In 1891, it was a tragic case of 'Parnell versus the bishops'. In 2010, it is 'Martin versus the bishops'. It will not escape the attention of those versed in history that the late 19th century bishops came out in force against Parnell's relationship with the divorced Kitty O'Shea when they realised that if they did not do so they would be left behind in the moral indignation stakes by Protestant evangelicals.

No doubt, too, the discerning reader will also question the historical analogy with the observation that Diarmuid Martin is the Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of All Ireland and the number two in the Irish hierarchy after Cardinal Sean Brady.

Bishop Jim Moriarty and Bishop Denis Brennan leading the procession into St Patrick's Church in Rome last night for Cahal Daly?s 'month's mind'.

However, the deeply ingrained public perception is that a 'Martin versus the bishops' division over how to respond to the damning Murphy report into clerical sexual abuse cover-ups in the archdiocese of Dublin appeared to be coming to a head on the eve of the two-day summit of 24 Irish bishops with Pope Benedict at the Vatican.

Since the volcanic impact on Irish and international opinion that erupted with the Murphy report's publication on November 26, Archbishop Martin has sided with the demands of victims that six bishops implicated in the report should resign.

Retired auxiliary bishop, Dr Dermot O'Mahony, was already retired but has been ordered by Archbishop Martin not to administer Confirmations this spring. Of four other former Dublin auxiliary bishops who have offered their resignations, only one, that of Dr Donal Murray, has so far been accepted by Pope Benedict.

Of the three other resignations by auxiliary bishops Eamonn Walsh, Ray Field and Jim Moriarty, they remain in the papal in-tray awaiting Pope Benedict's signature of acceptance. Of these three, only Bishop Moriarty, now bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, is in Rome for the summit talks.

In Rome, too, is Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway, the sixth former Dublin auxiliary asked by Archbishop Martin to be accountable for their role in a system of church governance damned by the state inquiry as based on a cover-up system that put the prestige of the institution above child protection.

Bishop Drennan has refused to resign on the grounds that he did no wrong and has claimed Archbishop Martin's open request for him to be accountable has called into question his integrity in public.

To the dismay of journalists who have travelled from Ireland to Rome, the Bishop of Clogher, Dr Joe Duffy, was the sole bishop present for the pre-summit briefing. When asked about Bishop Drennan's position, Bishop Duffy said he was not his spokesman. Journalists should put their questions to Bishop Drennan.

But late last night Bishop Drennan did not turn up for a 'month's mind' Mass in Rome for the late Cardinal Cahal Daly, thus evading journalists wanting to interview him ahead of today's crunch summit with Pope Benedict, which will take place behind the walls of the Vatican city state.

Last Wednesday, there was a third and final gathering of the Irish bishops to prepare for the Rome summit. Bishop Drennan refused to answer questions about his resignation or removal that were put directly to him by the Irish Independent at the bishops' secret session in a hotel in Knock, Co Mayo, while they purportedly attended a spiritual retreat.

While Bishop Drennan was missing last night, Bishop Duffy appeared to bat for him by saying that it was not the business of the 24 Irish bishops to reach a consensus about a resignation -- that was the Pope's prerogative.

Under questioning, Bishop Duffy, who said he would not mention Bishop Drennan in his seven-minute presentation to the Pope, accepted that there was no veto against Archbishop Martin raising the demands of clerical abuse victims for the resignation or removal of Bishop Drennan.

Significantly, Bishop Duffy also acknowledged that the two-day summit could result in Bishop Drennan's resignation or removal.

"That is something that will happen or not happen as a result of the overall discussion that will take place over two days with the Holy Father," said Bishop Duffy.

Internally, the battle lines have been drawn, with Cardinal Sean Brady as yet undeclared.

Ultimately, Bishop Drennan's fate lies with Pope Benedict and his heavyweight lieutenants who head the powerful Vatican curial (governmental) departments.

With Pope Benedict being inundated with shocking revelations from his native Germany of Irish-style cover-ups of child sexual abuse -- but on a bigger geographical scale -- he cannot afford to alienate the victims of abuse in Ireland by giving a reprieve to Bishop Drennan.

If the German Pontiff flunks the Drennan dilemma, the Irish bishops will return on Ash Wednesday to a church in revolt.

As long as Bishop Drennan remains in the ranks of the Irish hierarchy, he will do so as a divisive figure who will also speed up the exits from the church pews.

But the bottom line for Pope Benedict and his advisers may be the fear that if they do not address the so-called 'Irish Problem' decisively, it will be much more difficult for them to do so on the Rhine and the Moselle.

Archbishop Martin can still win and avert a tragedy for Rome and the Irish church that will be as momentous as 1891.