Call to pinpoint end of Church ‘cover-up’

THE date after which the Catholic Church’s culture of covering up clerical abuse of children ended must be made known, a Catholic newspaper has written.

Bishop Martin Drennan has refused once again this week to step down from his position as Bishop of Galway, citing his belief that he did nothing wrong when dealing with child abuse complaints at the Dublin Archdiocese. He has constantly stated that the “culture of cover up”, unearthed in the Murphy Report, had changed when he took up office as auxiliary bishop.

In today’s Irish Catholic, editor Garry O’Sullivan says Bishop Drennan should resign if it is deemed he was part of a culture of cover-up of child sexual abuse, but that, equally, he shouldn’t have to resign if he is not found part of this culture.

“This crisis now needs a shape and logic to it, a consistency which it hasn’t had to date. If some measure is not brought to bear on this, it could be argued that every bishop who was part of the bishops conference prior to 2002 was part of the collective culture of cover-up and obfuscation, and as a result should resign. This is why it is so important now to determine when the culture changed, when the ‘Moriarty principle’ ceases to have effect, that is when collective responsibility ceases.

“If it is agreed that Bishop Drennan came after the culture changed, then he should not resign, and neither should Bishop Field... Whichever it is, a credible argument needs to be made for it, if the Church leadership want to get a hold of this crisis as we enter the new year.”