Ireland’s newest and youngest Catholic bishop has used his appointment to weigh into the abortion controversy.

The bishop-elect of Kerry yesterday said he was “totally surprised” when Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown advised him of the appointment ten days ago.

“A clean pair of hands” is how the retired bishop of Derry, Dr Edward Daly, summed up Monsignor Eamon Martin, the future head of the Catholic Church in Ireland — a reference to the fact that the young prelate isn’t tainted by the abuse scandals and is a valued director of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

A Dublin-born theologian, named yesterday by Pope Benedict as the next Bishop of Limerick, said he prayed at “this delicate time” that politicians would be inspired to know how best to protect the lives of mothers and their unborn children.