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	Bp Willie Walsh Goes but Cardinal Brady Resists Calls for Resignation By Ruth Gledhill The Times May 18, 2010 http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2010/05/cardinal-brady-resists-calls-for-resignation.html Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Willie Walsh, and has appointed Kieran O'Reilly as Bishop of Killaloe in his place, the Irish Church announced this morning. One of his parish priests blogs about it here. In the US, the Catholic Church is claiming its bishops and priests are not 'employees' of the Church in a bid to avoid the Pope being called as a witness in a pending court action. Meanwhile Cardinal Sean Brady has resisted calls for his resignation in Ireland and is to stay on as Archbishop of Armagh in spite of the child abuse scandal that has caused such devastation. In his statement he asks for 'episcopal support', and it is not clear from the statement whether this is an assistant bishop or coadjutor. Insiders say he has privately asked Rome for a coadjutor and specifically requested his adviser Father Tim Bartlett. If this is the case, he is in effect resigning because the power will pass to the brilliant Father Tim. Against Father Tim however is his youth - at just 45, his appointment as coadjutor would mean in effect that he would become Archbishop and then lead the Irish Church for three decades. There are some who would resist that. Still, I will be praying this is true. In my prayers I'll be requesting the intercession of Cardinal Newman, who has proved astonishingly efficacious in appointments that I've cared about in the past, both in the Church and the secular world. But ultimately it depends on a more earthly power. Any day now, in Rome, is expected the appointment of Cardinal George Pell to head the Congregation of Bishops. It is highly unusual for this job to go to a non-Italian and perhaps that might explain the hold-up. The decision on whether Brady gets an episcopal assistant and therefore remains as Primate, or whether he gets a coadjutor and therefore in effect goes or at least the power goes, will then be in the hands of Pell. This explains the delay in sorting all this out. Pell knows the English and Irish scene better than possibly any prelate from outside the UK. Ireland, never mind the rest of the Catholic world, needs a priest of his gifts heading the bishops. With three more diocesan vacancies still to fill, a shortage of talent and a collegial responsibility-taking by Irish clerics for all that has gone wrong, someone of Pell's calibre perhaps stands a chance of sorting it all out. Brady is clever and is popular in the parishes. By requesting episcopal support, but not specifying publicly precisely what kind of support, he has passed the buck. The decision is now in Rome's court. It would be a blow for the Church in many ways if he goes. Hans Groer of Vienna is the only other primate to have resigned over the crisis and he was an abuser. No-one is suggesting anything of the sort about Brady, a nice and rather gentle priest. But if he stays, the 1975 incidents, where as a canon lawyer he was at a meeting where victims were made to sign vows of silence, will haunt him and his Church forever. The Belfast Telegraph has an early story and the BBC reports this morning. Joanna Sugden reports for Times Online Patsy McGarry reports for The Irish Times. This is what the former says: The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has asked Pope Benedict to appoint an "archbishop in waiting" to succeed him as Primate of All-Ireland if his health fails, according to Church sources. If the sources are correct, Cardinal Brady's decision to request the Vatican appoint a coadjutor archbishop of Armagh will mean that Rome will identify the cleric it wants to lead the Church after his retirement on reaching 75. Since revelations broke in March about his swearing to secrecy on oath in 1975 of two children abused by Smyth, Dr Brady has signalled his determination to carry on as "a wounded healer". Further doubts about his future arose in April when he took ill during Mass and was ordered by doctors to suspend public duties. However, it is understood that Dr Brady last week flew to France as leader of the annual Armagh diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Church sources said it was expected Dr Brady will announce his decision to stay on in his dual role as Archbishop of Armagh and head of the Irish Bishops' Conference at the Marian shrine. Previously, Dr Brady said he would make his decision known on Pentecost Sunday (May 23.) I am not entirely surprised. During my brief visit to Ireland over Holy Week, it became clear that the Cardinal was wavering over whether to go or stay. But significantly, attending different services in North and South in the run-up to Easter, it became clear that he had the backing of many, many people in the pews, if not most. Even some victims, although not all, thought his resignation was not necessary. There was a sense of anger also at the Irish Church having been singled out for particularly harsh criticism by Rome.
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