Mgr. Eamon Martin Set to Become Head of Irish Catholic Church

Vatican Insider
January 18, 2013

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/irlanda-ireland-irlanda-21463/

Mgr. Eamon Martin (Photo by Derry Journal)

Benedict XVI has appointed Mgr. Eamon Martin as new coadjutor (assistant) Archbishop of Armagh, in Northern Ireland. 51-year-old Mgr. Martin became Diocesan Administrator of Derry, after the previous bishop Mgr. Seamus Hegarty resigned in 2011. As the new coadjutor, Martin will become the successor of the current Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Sean Brady, and as such is in line to become the next Primate of the Irish Catholic Church.

The new coadjutor archbishop’s appointment comes after repeated requests were made for Brady’s resignation because he had kept quiet about cases of sex abuse committed by priests against minors. The cardinal himself admitted to the cover-ups.

In 2010, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland also said he felt ashamed for attending meetings in which children had had to sign vows of silence over allegations against Fr. Brendan Smyth (who died in 1997), one of Ireland most notorious paedophiles. Many victims had called for Brady’s resignation.