Brady Claims Moral Authority but Is Undone by Feet of Clay

Irish Independent
May 9, 2013

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/martina-devlin/brady-claims-moral-authority-but-is-undone-by-feet-of-clay-29253228.html

Church abuse...File photo dated 07/03/2011 of Cardinal Sean Brady, who has come under further pressure from Ireland's deputy prime minister Eamon Gilmore over his role in a secret child abuse inquiry. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday May 3, 2012. The cardinal has faced a mounting chorus of calls by senior politicians in the Republic and Northern Ireland to resign amid disgust over the 1975 investigation and inaction against abusive priest Brendan Smyth. See PA story IRISH Abuse. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire...A

Moral crusaders must maintain impeccable standards or risk being outed as sanctimonious phoneys – and nothing damages a cause like hypocrisy. This is neither canon nor criminal law, but the law of common sense.

When Cardinal Sean Brady sets himself up as a moral authority, lecturing TDs on their duties as lawmakers and Catholics on their obligation to oppose abortion legislation, naturally his credentials are relevant.

In theory, his role as the Catholic Church's Primate of All Ireland should mean his voice is an influential one in the abortion debate.

But Cardinal "I was only following orders" Brady has feet of clay: a handicap so conspicuous that it renders him unfit to sermonise on ethics.

This man is compromised irreversibly by his role in the hierarchy's culture of silence and cover-up over clerical child abuse. He lacks credibility, which means his views – even where sincere and valid – have a currency shortfall.

He ought to have resigned in 2010 when his role in the secret church investigation into notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth was revealed. Retirement to a monastery would have been fitting – and if he didn't go willingly, the Catholic Church ought to have despatched him.

Its blunder in retaining the cardinal smacks of chickens coming home to roost, because during this groundbreaking social discussion his voice is neutralised at best – and a provocative intervention at worst.

It is manifestly difficult to listen to his use of terms including "self-deception" and "convenient compromise", in relation to abortion legislation, without cringing at his blatant dual standards. Both terms, bandied about by him at a service in Knock last weekend, apply equally to his attitude to the Catholic Church's handling of paedophile clergy.

In case the details of his involvement in the Brendan Smyth case are forgotten already, let me recap. Cardinal "I was only following orders" Brady was part of a 1975 canon law inquiry into Smyth – one so bent on protecting Mother Church's interests that the predator was allowed to proceed unchecked for many years.

Then Father Brady, he was a note-taker, and argues he had no authority over Smyth. However, a BBC2 documentary 'The Shame of the Catholic Church', last year reported that he was instructed to check out a 14-year-old boy's story about being abused by Smyth.