By Margherita Stancati
Wall Street Journal
August 12, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704901104575423311120527460.html
ROME—Pope Benedict XVI rejected the resignations of two Irish bishops accused of covering up child sex abuse, spurring criticism that the Roman Catholic Church has further damaged an image battered amid a year of high-profile sexual-abuse scandals.
The rejection deals a blow to the campaign by Dublin's archbishop to bring greater accountability to Ireland's Catholic Church. It also reveals a gray area in the Vatican's dealings with bishops tied to cases of priestly sexual abuse: Rome has increasingly sought or accepted the dismissals of officials accused of abuse, but it has shown it will judge those accused of coverups on a case-by-case basis.
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| Pope Benedict XVI delivering a blessing on Wednesday |
In a letter sent this week to officials in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the pope had refused to accept the resignations tendered by Auxiliary Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field in December, following allegations that they had mishandled complaints from abuse victims.
"Following the presentation of their resignations to Pope Benedict, it has been decided that Bishop Eamonn Walsh and Bishop Raymond Field will remain as auxiliary bishops," Archbishop Martin said in the letter.
The priests were working in the Dublin Archdiocese, where Archbishop Martin has pushed for the church to assume more responsibility over child-abuse cases.
The pair offered to step down in late December 2009, one month after the Irish government issued a scathing report into priestly abuse that included allegations of child sex abuse between 1975 and 2004 concerning more than 170 priests.
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| Bishops Eamonn Walsh |
The report didn't say Bishops Walsh and Field explicitly concealed abuse charges. But it includes them in a list of "main people in the Dublin Archdiocese who dealt with complaints of child sexual abuse."
The pair said they hoped their resignations would bring "peace and reconciliation" to the survivors of child sex abuse.
Archdiocese of Dublin spokeswoman Maria Malone confirmed parts of the archbishop's letter on Wednesday but declined to give further details. She said Archbishop Martin and the two auxiliary bishops weren't available for comment.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said "we do not deny Archbishop Martin's words."
Groups representing abuse victims said Wednesday the pope's decision not to accept the resignations marked a step backward.
"This will be very upsetting to anyone who has experienced abuse as a result of the inaction," said Deirdre Kenny of the Irish group One in Four. "It seems clear that the exposure the [Irish government] report gave to the inaction of the church has fallen on deaf years in the Vatican."
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| Bishop Raymond Field |
Barbara Blaine, president of the U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in an emailed statement that the pope is "sending an alarming message to church employees across the globe: Even widespread documentation of the concealing of child sex crimes and the coddling of criminals won't cost your job in the church."
When the Irish government published its report last year, Pope Benedict said he shared "the outrage, betrayal and shame" felt by Irish Catholics.
The pope has already accepted the resignations of two other Irish clergymen following criticism sparked by the report.
The Vatican's rejection comes as Pope Benedict faces pressure to discipline bishops across Europe for failing to report abuse allegations and in some cases committing abuse themselves. Since March, the pope has accepted the resignations of bishops from Ireland, Germany and Belgium. In June, the pope appointed a team of top church officials to lead the Vatican's own investigation into the alleged sex-abuse coverups in Ireland. The investigation is continuing.
Archbishop Martin's letter said the two auxiliary Dublin bishops would remain in the diocese and be "assigned revised responsibilities."
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