Reluctance to enact X-case law understandable, says bishop

THE reluctance of politicians to enact legislation in the wake of the X case was “understandable”, a Catholic bishop said yesterday.

Bishop Leo O’Reilly, who chairs the Bishops’ Commission for Education, was commenting on the claim made by a Church of Ireland bishop that the legislature had failed to address its responsibilities.

The Bishop of Ossory, Rt Rev Michael Burrows, accused politicians of “systemic spinelessness” in failing to clarify the law on abortion.