Two Irish bishops decide to step down
By Ed West

8 January 2010

Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick announces his resignation in the city's St John's Cathedral PA Photos

Two more Irish bishops have resigned following the child sex abuse scandal that has caused the biggest crisis in the Irish Church's history. Auxiliary Bishops of Dublin Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field said in a statement on Christmas Day that they had informed the Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin on Christmas Eve of their intention to quit.

Four bishops have now stepped down following the damning report in November by Judge Yvonne Murphy on the Dublin archdiocese which found that Catholic authorities concealed abuse of children by priests for three decades.

"It is our hope that our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. We again apologise to them," Bishops Walsh and Field said in their statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have so bravely spoken out and those who continue to suffer in silence."

Bishop Walsh was ordained in 1969 and was secretary to the Archbishop of Dublin from 1985 to 1990, when he was made a bishop. He was appointed apostolic administrator by the Pope for four years from 2002 in the Diocese of Ferns, southwest Ireland, when its bishop, Brendan Comiskey, resigned following a clerical child abuse scandal. Bishop Field was ordained as a priest in 1970 and was made a bishop in 1997.

Cardinal Seán Brady, Primate of All Ireland, again apologised to abuse survivors and their families at a Christmas Eve vigil Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland.

In their dealings with allegations of abuse Cardinal Brady said that clerics had "put the reputation of the Church before the safety of little children". "I declare my abhorrence at the breach of trust and the crimes that have been committed," he said. "There are many reasons to feel angry and let down. There are many reasons to feel sad and ashamed."

Judge Murphy's investigation found that Church leaders did not report abuse to police as part of a culture of secrecy and a determination to avoid damaging the reputation and assets of the Church. Earlier this month Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick, and auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1982 to 1996. On December 23 Bishop James Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin, who had served as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1991 to 2002, announced he had offered his resignation to the Pope.

At a Christmas Eve Mass at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin Archbishop Martin said clerical criminal behaviour must be investigated and prosecuted. "No words of apology will ever be enough for the hurt caused," he said, asserting that the Church must "honestly and brutally" recognise what had happened. "Renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past. Criminal behaviour must be investigated and pursued," he said.

"Gross failures in management must be remedied in a transparent way. Current practice must be effectively monitored. Anachronisms left over from past history must be replaced."

Only one of the five auxiliary bishops mentioned in the Murphy Report remains. Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway has refused calls to step down despite repeated appeals from abuse victims.

Bishop Drennan was auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1997 to 2005 but said the Murphy Report had said "nothing negative about me". The reference to him states that he correctly handled one particular case of allegations against one priest.

A spokesman for the Galway diocese said that Bishop Drennan had the full support of his priests and that the bishop was "holding up well in the circumstances". It is believed that the Murphy Commission is now to look into the Diocese of Cloyne, in Co Cork.

In March last year Bishop John Magee resigned in order to help the investigation into the handling of clerical sex abuse. The Murphy Report came at the end of the worst year in the Irish Church's history.

In May the Ryan Report revealed that rape and sexual molestation were "endemic" in schools and orphanages run by the Irish Church over seven decades.

Before Christmas Pope Benedict met Irish Church leaders and issued a statement concerning the abuse, saying he "shares the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland [over] these heinous crimes". The Pontiff is expected to write a pastoral letter to the nation setting out how the Vatican intends to reform the Irish Church.