Wounded healer may be incapable of leading Church

A GENUINE exercise in humility and reflection? Or a cynical attempt to buy some valuable time to allow the clamours for his resignation to die down?

Judgment on the motive behind yesterday’s homily by Cardinal Seán Brady during a Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh will depend largely on one’s view of how senior clergy have already handled the numerous scandals that have dogged the Irish Catholic Church in recent years.

On face value, Dr Brady’s apology, delivered in humble tones, for the Church’s “hopelessly inadequate response” to the issue of clerical sex abuse appeared genuine. Such comments were not out of place for a cleric who is widely acknowledged as a gentle, caring man with little personal vanity or cunning.