Examining consciences ‘not good enough’

IT was not good enough for Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to ask bishops implicated in the horrific report into child sex abuse to examine their conscience, founder of One in Four Colm O’Gorman said yesterday.

The Dublin archbishop said the people named in the Murphy Report for having negative responsibility should examine themselves and the first decision as to whether they should resign should be theirs.

Dr Martin said he had no authority to ask anyone to resign over the scandal, but that a bishop could be removed if criminal proceedings were brought.

Gardaí are still examining the report that found senior clerics shielded paedophile priests when they were based in Dublin.

Mr O’Gorman described as disingenuous the remarks made by the archbishop on RTÉ, that bishops who had stood down previously made the decision themselves.

He pointed out that the Vatican requested the resignation of former Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey. “This is up to the Pope and nobody else,” he stressed.

Mr O’Gorman said the archbishop seemed to be suggesting that the Murphy Report was contrary to natural justice – that people had not had an opportunity to defend themselves before a finding was made.

“That is a complete red herring and it would be disingenuous to suggest it,” he said. Mr O’Gorman said anyone named in the report would have seen it before it was published.

Canon Law expert, Fr Tom Doyle, said the Vatican only fired bishops if it was beneficial to it; if there was enough opposition and if it would make it look really bad to allow them to stay in place.

“I have had instances in my career where bishops have been absolutely horrendous. Where there has been a landslide of opposition to them. Where there have letters to the Vatican, letters to the Pope about the man’s incompetence or cruelty and nothing has happened,” he said.

Archbishop Martin said the bishops might have something else to say that was not in the report and he would not like to judge them before they had a chance to do that.

“In a public trial that is being investigated and evidence gathered you always allow the accused to say something,” he said.

“The setting this time is public opinion. Public opinion can be sharper than the sword of the law,” he said.

Andrew Madden, who in 1995 became the first person on Ireland to go public about his abuse by a priest, said that both the Ryan and Murphy reports were a testament to an absolute failure to protect children and nothing had been done to correct that yet.

Mr Madden said he could not help noticing how articulate the bishops were in apologising for the abuse and then using “very flowery language” when describing their own role.