Bishop: Murphy report findings 'misread'

Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh today hit out over calls for a colleague to resign in the wake of a sickening report into clerical child sex abuse and cover-ups.

Bishop Walsh refused to back growing demands for senior clergy named and shamed to stand down and claimed damning findings were being misread.

Pressure has mounted for Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray to resign after an inquiry into the handling of child abuse cases in the Dublin Archdiocese branded his failure to investigate a paedophile priest inexcusable.

But Bishop Walsh said: “I do know that there has been gross misreading of the Dublin report in relation to Bishop Murray. There has been very serious misreading of that.”

Judge Yvonne Murphy found hundreds of child abuse allegations were covered up by senior churchmen over a 30-year period because they were obsessed with secrecy and upholding the reputation of the Church.

And Bishop Walsh went on: “I’m quite uncomfortable with this kind of public trial.

“I’d have to ask: is it about healing of survivors or is it about some sort of desire that we need to get a head on a plate?”

Amid calls for his resignation, Bishop Murray told parishioners in Limerick yesterday that he would be a guided by the priests and people of his diocese.

Rank-and-file clergy, survivors of abuse and opposition politicians have said churchmen implicated in the report who still hold a position of power should resign.

Defence Minister and Limerick TD Willie O’Dea said he was sure that Bishop Murray, who he knows personally, was examining his position and would take the appropriate action.

But Taoiseach Brian Cowen refused to be drawn into the controversy and said it was for institutions and their members to determine the appropriateness of any individual to hold ecclesiastical office.

Bishops have also refused to call for resignations.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who has been credited for opening secret church files to investigators, said he had no authority to ask anyone to resign over the scandal but revealed that a bishop could be removed if criminal proceedings are brought.

Senior gardaí have launched an investigation into the handling of allegations.

Bishop Walsh questioned whether celibacy, the absence of women in handling child abuse cases and the Church’s entire approach to sexuality may have played a part in senior churchmen making mistakes.

“We have to go back. It’s really not about protecting the Church, it’s about protecting children,” the Bishop said.

“If the Church structures have to fall, so be it.

“What we are about is the example and teaching of Jesus Christ.

“If some structures which we have put up over the years and over the centuries have to be taken down then so be it.”