UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet
30 September 2014 by Liz Dodd, Christopher Lamb
The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, who this week said he was “relieved” that a relationship he had with a woman six years ago had come to light, said that the church authorities did not know about the affair.
Bishop Kieran Conry said that if they had known, his fellow bishops would have done something. He told the Catholic Herald: “someone would have said something to me, someone would have taken me aside, and nobody did”.
Bishop Kieran Conry announced at the weekend that he was submitting his resignation to Pope Francis after The Mail on Sunday newspaper revealed details of the affair. The paper also made allegations about a friendship with a married mother-of-two, although Bishop Conry denied that this is sexual.
The bishop told the Daily Mail: “It has been difficult keeping the secret. In some respects I feel very calm. It is liberating. It is a relief. I have been very careful not to make sexual morality a priority [in his homilies]. I don’t think it got in the way of my job, I don’t think people would say I have been a bad bishop. But I can’t defend myself. I did wrong. Full stop.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.