Irish Bishops should stand down over child sex abuse report
December 18, 2009
A recent report illustrating wide spread child sex abuse by the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland has caused the resignation of sixty-nine-year-old Bishop Donal Murray. He is the first senior cleric to stand down because of the report but it is unlikely that he will be the last.
Murray apologised in front of a congregation to all those who had suffered at that hands of priests. He had been forced to stand down after it was revealed that he had mishandled a number of allegations brought against clerics who were abusing young children. The report shows that cover ups have been going on over the action of Irish clerics for the past thirty years. There are now calls for all Bishops who have served in the Archdiocese of Dublin since 1974 to quit their posts immediately.
Executive director of One In Four, Maeve Lewis said that Bishop Murray was only one of a number of senior clerics who knew full well that their were child sex offenders amongst their ranks. She went on to say that their lack of action had resulted in many children suffering sexual abuse and called for them to resign so that the church could retain a shred of credibility.
Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin admitted that the sex abuse revelations had greatly harmed the church in Ireland. He went on to say that healing the problems could only be done if there were radical changes made. He pointed out that those who had been placed in authority whilst the abuse was happening would have to take responsibility.
Random Posts
Comments
Advertisement
