IRELAND
The Irish Catholic
Garry O’Sullivan and Cathal Barry
In what some Dublin priests are describing as a ‘mystifying move’, auxiliary Bishop Eamonn Walsh is to be appointed Episcopal Vicar for Clergy in the archdiocese, the first senior appointment for Bishop Walsh since his dramatic resignation on Christmas Eve 2009 amid public pressure and a lack of full-some support from Archbishop Martin in the wake of the Murphy report.
However in August 2010, in what was widely seen as a public reprimand to Archbishop Martin, the Pope refused to accept the resignation Bishop Walsh and that of fellow auxiliary bishop Ray Field forcing Archbishop Martin to quietly announce their reinstatement buried in a three page letter on the sacraments.
Abuse victim Marie Collins at the time declared that Archbishop Martin’s authority had been “undermined”. However, Bishop Walsh has always considered his treatment ‘an injustice’ and it is believed a case was made to Rome along these lines and hence Rome refused to accept the resignation.
The ‘promotion’ now of Bishop Walsh, given he has been largely consigned to Confirmations has taken the clergy of the diocese by surprise. “It makes sense to give it to him. But it does show a complete lack of imagination” said one priest contacted by this paper. “The diocese is suffering from a lack of imagination. Where’s the vision?”
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