Catholic resignations: the beginning
Bishop Donal Murray (right), who was severely criticised in the Dublin child abuse report, has travelled to Rome and is . The archbishops of Dublin and Armagh will also meet the Pope later this week to brief him on the implications of the report.
Bishop Murray's mishandling of a child abuse allegation was described by Judge Murphy, in her report, as "inexcusable". He is only one of five serving Catholic bishops in Ireland implicated in the report. The others are of Kildare and Leighlin diocese; of Galway diocese; and the , Bishop Ray Field and Bishop Éamonn Walsh.
Last week, one of Ireland's leading moral theologians, , called on all five bishops to resign in response to the Murphy Report and described the hierarchy's response to the report's publication as "mind-bloggling".
all give bishops shared information during the period under investigation, and all were aware of the church's strategy in response to abuse claims, Professor Twomey believes their position today is untenable. Cardinal Sean Brady, in an interview with RTE this weekend, said he believes all five will do the right thing. This is being read as an encouragement to resign. Ireland's Catholic bishops will meet in Maynooth on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to examine the Murphy Report and make decisions about the way forward for the church. They have much to talk about. Every time I ask a bishop about resignations, I am, told that resignations will not be enough to deal with this. That is true; structural changes will be necessary too, with considerably more involvement by the laity in the decision-making of the future church. But the public -- -- is telling the bishops very loudly and clearly this week that resignations are the bare minimum of a response to the failings exposed in the Murphy Report.
And not just the five bishops currently serving in Ireland. Cardinal Desmond Connell (pictured, left), whose response to the Murphy Commission is described in the report as "disruptive", is also severely criticised in the report. He is still a member of the College of Cardinals. He is a prince of the church, holding a position of honour in the church's hierarchy second only to the pope. Cardinal Connell is no longer in place as the archbishop of Dublin, but he is now the focus of increasing anger from Catholics demanding that their church do the right thing too.
Comment number 1.
At 7th Dec 2009, Rusticatus wrote:The French Jesuit priest Cardinal Louis Billot resigned after a row with Pius XI in 1927, the only cardinal to do so within living memory, and in previous centuries it was not unknown for cardinals who had not been priested to resign in order to marry. Nowadays most cardinals are bishops, their only specific function in the Church is to elect the new Pope and those over 80 can't vote. The hapless Des Connell is unlikely to appear again in his gear. Why are you making such a big thing of this, William?
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Comment number 2.
At 8th Dec 2009, Will_Crawley wrote:Rusticatus, I think you should put your question to the victims and survivors of clerical child abuse who are calling now for every bishop or archbishop implicated in the subsequent cover-up to resign. They are offended by the fact that these men, including Cardinal Connell, appear to think they can walk away from the Murphy Report without paying any price for their role in the conspiracy. Speak to them, as I have done, then ask if why we, and they, are making "such a big thing of this". I suspect they will regard your question as an indication of indifference to their stories. The media in Ireland are used to being accused of stoking this crisis, of over-egging it, of overstating, over-covering and over-boiling it. Victims like Marie Collins have stated that the media's constant questioning is the reason why we now know the truth.
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Comment number 3.
At 8th Dec 2009, mccamleyc wrote:William I think Rusticatus's point was that Desmond Connell is already retired as Archbishop of Dublin and is already no longer eligible to vote in a papal election so you'd be forcing him to resign from an emeritus position. but he will always be an archbishop - he was ordained and that's not the same as being a union leader, or a journalist or a teacher. If Bishop Murray resigns he will still be a bishop.
It may be right for Des Connell to resign, or it may look like vindictiveness.
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Comment number 4.
At 8th Dec 2009, Rusticatus wrote:My question was to you, William, about your relentless pursuit of a broken old man who has paid a very high price for his ineptitude. As you say, we now know the truth. It is not my impression that the victims want vengeance as well. Thank you, by the way, for wheeling out the Presbyterian Moderator on Sunday to express his glee.
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Comment number 5.
At 8th Dec 2009, MarcusAureliusII wrote:It seems to me there should be calls for more resignations. The University of East Anglia has proven to be as intellectually corrupt through the deceit and dishonesty of Jones and Briffa as the University of Leeds is incompetent through the retention of Andy McIntosh. One has to wonder if Jones and Briffa had any mental reservations ie. pangs of guilt about deliberately lying in the papers they presented as the foundation of evidence of global warming.
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Comment number 6.
At 8th Dec 2009, Scotch Get wrote:What does a Bishop do after having resigned? It's not as if they're qualified to do anything else.
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Comment number 7.
At 8th Dec 2009, Will_Crawley wrote:Rusticatus -- you and I seem to be talking to different victims and survivors. Every one I have spoken to has called for all the bishops implicated in the report to resign from their current positions, and for the cardinal to resign from the college of cardinals. In the case of the cardinal, they realise of course that he is no longer a voting member of the college; but he continues to enjoy this honorific status, and resigning from it would be a sign that he is accepting some responsibility.
Mccamleyc -- I realise that Cardinal Connell will continue to have the status of archbishop (my point was that he is no longer the archbishop of dublin) and that all the bishops who resign will maintain the status of bishop in church law.
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Comment number 8.
At 8th Dec 2009, Rusticatus wrote:Really, William, I can't imagine Des Connell enjoying anything ever again in this life. We were taught that the adornment of Baptism leaves an indelible mark on the soul which remains as an eternal badge of shame on the souls of the damned, and Holy Orders all the more so. Some may find this a consoling doctrine.
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Comment number 9.
At 8th Dec 2009, Scotch Get wrote:#6
Oops! I'd completely forgotten about the former Scottish Episcopalian Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway.
I withdraw the question.
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Comment number 10.
At 8th Dec 2009, graham veale wrote:"Victims like Marie Collins have stated that the media's constant questioning is the reason why we now know the truth."
I hate to bang on about this, but in the US **conservative** Catholic journalists had to engage in the same constant questioning. And they often expressed a greater frustration and bewilderment with their bishops.
This really isn't a liberal, secular plot. Of course there will be secularists who will use this episode as a rod to beat all Catholics - all religions in fact. That doesn't mean that every criticism of the behavior of the Bishops is a criticism of Roman Catholicism, or of conservative Catholic beliefs.
I usually rush to the defence of Religious bodies that are criticised in the secular media. But in this case it **seems** that the Bishops behaved like the worst secular politicians.
Of course the Roman Catholic church has had corrupt Popes. But the office transcends the character and behavior of the person who holds that office. The Truth Claims of Roman Catholicism are not directly challenged simply by pointing out corrupt individuals who have held high office in the Catholic Church.
Conservative Catholic commentators in the States (and I mean extremely conservative) realised this and felt free to criticise their Bishops.
GVeale
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Comment number 11.
At 8th Dec 2009, MarcusAureliusII wrote:Three fingers of Scotch neat please;
What does a Bishop do after having resigned? It's not as if they're qualified to do anything else.
Maybe he could convert to Judism and become a rabbi. He supposed to know the training manual by heart already.
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Comment number 12.
At 8th Dec 2009, graham veale wrote:Slow business the last few days. Maybe we need a thread on Tiger Woods.
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Comment number 13.
At 8th Dec 2009, Scotch Get wrote:#11 LOL
Yeah, but that would require the services of a Mohel.
And lest we forget, the Rabbi gets the salary, the Mohel gets the tips!
>8-D
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