IRELAND
GlobalPost
Agence France-Presse September 8, 2014
Cardinal Sean Brady, who was criticised over his handling of abuse scandals, stepped down as leader of the Irish Catholic Church on Monday with an emotional plea for forgiveness.
“I too need to say sorry and to ask forgiveness and I do so again today,” Brady told the faithful at a mass in Armagh in Northern Ireland.
Brady, who played a key role in the peace process after being appointed in 1996, had tendered his resignation to the Vatican last month after turning 75, the normal retirement age for senior clergy.
His years as leader of the Irish church coincided with a series of damning revelations of widespread clerical sex abuse.
Brady himself became directly embroiled in accusations that he mishandled child abuse allegations during an investigation into notorious paedophile Father Brendan Smyth.
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