Cardinal lost his way somewhere between angels and fallen priests

Connell’s emergence as a headline-maker once again in the last few weeks is a reminder that he was appointed Archbishop of Dublin at a time when he was the last person the Catholic church needed precisely because he was inflexible and driven by his belief in absolute truths

WHEN he taught metaphysics at UCD, and wanted to highlight a point, Prof Desmond Connell used to give “Fido the dog” as an example.

On his appointment as Archbishop of Dublin in 1988, his students presented him with a glass figurine of Fido under which were engraved the words “Metaphysics made clear”.