Pope accepts Bishop Murray's resignation
Pope Benedict today accepted the resignation of a under-fire Bishop of Limerick Dr Donal Murray over his “inexcusable” mishandling of a child sex abuse case.
Bishop Murray has faced severe criticism since his failure to deal with a paedophile priest in the Dublin Archdiocese was exposed in a state inquiry.
In a statement the Vatican said the pontiff agreed the bishop should stand down.
“His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick,” the Church said.
Bishop Murray, who spent 10 days with senior Catholic churchmen in Rome as he weighed up his future, apologised in person to mass-goers in St John's Cathedral in Limerick.
“I humbly apologise once again to all who were abused as little children,” he told the congregation, which included priests of the diocese.
“To all survivors of abuse, I repeat that my primary concern is to assist in every way that I can, on their journey towards finding closure and serenity.”
The senior cleric was found by a State inquiry to have let down child sex abuse victims’ families by mishandling complaints and his failure to reinvestigate suspicions against one paedophile priest was branded inexcusable.
Bishop Murray, who will leave day-to-day diocesan duties in Limerick but retain his title, is the first senior churchman to step down following the Murphy report on the church's handling of child sex abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese.
The inquiry, based on a sample 46 priests, uncovered a catalogue of paedophilia and subsequent cover-ups over three decades because the Catholic hierarchy, obsessed with secrecy, was granted police immunity.
Bishop Murray told mass-goers he offered his resignation to Vatican officials on December 7.
“I have heard the views of many survivors, especially in the days following the publication of the Murphy Report,” he told the congregation.
“Some expressed the wish that I should resign; others asked me not to do so.
“I know full well that my resignation cannot undo the pain that survivors of abuse have suffered in the past and continue to suffer each day.”
Bishop Murray added: “I asked the Holy Father to allow me to resign and to appoint a new bishop to the Diocese because I believe that my presence will create difficulties for some of the survivors who must have first place in our thoughts and prayers.”
he statement from the Vatican gave no explanation for the bishop's resignation and did not mention the child abuse scandal.
Andrew Madden, one of the first clerical abuse survivors to go public, welcomed the resignation, exactly three weeks after the Murphy Report.
But the campaigner also called for the immediate resignation of bishops Jim Moriarty, Martin Drennan, Eamon Walsh and Ray Field, who were all based in Dublin in the period investigated, yet remain in the hierarchy.
“Their continued presence in office is an insult to every child sexually abused by a priest in the Dublin Archdiocese. They display a contemptible level of arrogance and a shocking lack of humility,” said Mr Madden.
“The Catholic Church in Ireland has totally failed to respond at all appropriately to the findings of the Murphy Report.”
Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Sean Brady, who travelled to Rome last Friday with Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to discuss the report with the Pope, is to make a statement on the resignation later today.
It is understood Bishop Murray resigned under Canon Law, allowing him to stand down after becoming “unsuited” to his post.
