Cardinal chooses to make a virtue of necessity

IT looks like the Catholic Church has chosen to make a virtue of necessity in Cardinal Seán Brady’s declaration of faith in Bishop John Magee of Cloyne who is refusing to step down despite outpourings of disgust and disappointment by parents and clergy throughout the State.

Now the cardinal has decided to do the only thing open to him rather than risk a refusal had he the courage to ask for Bishop Magee’s resignation.

It will be interesting to see if the church can sweep this sorry mess under the carpet and convince the faithful it has learned a lesson, made the necessary changes and remedied past errors to prevent the sexual abuse of children by clerics from happening again.