Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Seán Brady, the leader ofthe Catholic Church in Ireland.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady, the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The Irish representative on the Vatican’s new child protection council said "it would have been better" for the survivors of abuse by Brendan Smyth if Cardinal Sean Brady had resigned two years ago.

One of the two Irish victims of clerical sex abuse who had a private audience with the Pope told him that senior cardinals involved in covering up child abuse should be removed from their positions.