Letters signal deep divisions in archdiocese

A SERIES of strongly worded letters between Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and a former auxiliary bishop of the Dublin Archdiocese are pointing to deep divisions among clergy in the archdiocese over the fallout from the Murphy report.

The letters, which were obtained by the Irish Catholic newspaper and published in full today, reveal strong anger on the behalf of retired auxiliary bishop, Dermot O’Mahony, over Archbishop Martin’s ready acceptance of the Murphy Commission’s conclusion that a culture of cover-up dogged the archdiocese’s handling of abuse complaints.

According to the newspaper’s editor, Gary O’Sullivan, the former auxiliary bishops have been “trying to garner support for their assertion that they were operating in a very different context and doing the best they could”.