IRELAND
Irish Independent
Michael Kelly
Published 14/08/2014
As Cardinal Sean Brady sends his retirement letter to Pope Francis this week, he’ll surely breathe a sigh of relief – and hope it’ll be swiftly accepted.
As Primate of All Ireland for almost 20 years, he has been responsible for guiding the Catholic Church through some of its darkest days and most turbulent times. It has rarely been out of choppy waters and often on the rocks.
He has been the subject of sharp criticism and intense anger from many people over his own failures in the case of the notorious abuser-priest Brendan Smyth.
Dr Brady has stubbornly resisted calls for his resignation over his failure to save further victims by reporting Smyth’s crimes to the police.
Dr Brady and his supporters point out that he was only a note-taker during the canon law investigation into Smyth, that his role was periphery. But that misses the point: as Archbishop of Armagh he presented himself as the leader of a church which had learnt the lessons of the past and had cleaned up its act on child abuse. Yet, every time the cardinal appeared, he was a potent – and for survivors, a painful – reminder of a corrupt church culture which put the avoidance of scandal and the reputation of the church ahead of the rights of children.
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