Bishop of Limerick steps down

WEEKS of speculation concerning Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray ended on Thursday last when Pope Benedict accepted his resignation with immediate effect. Meanwhile, Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora Martin Drennan, who is also mentioned in the Murphy Report, has said his conscience is clear and he has no intention of resigning.

Bishop Murray announced the Pope had accepted his resignation to his Limerick congregation in St John’s Cathedral last Thursday.
“I have heard the views of many survivors, especially in the days following the publication of the Murphy Report. 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. I humbly apologise once again to all who were abused as little children.
“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.
“A bishop is meant to be a person who seeks to lead and inspire all the people of the diocese in living as a community united in the truth and love of Christ.
“ 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 said.
Bishop Murray was one of a number of auxiliary bishops criticised in the Murphy commission report into the handling of allegations of child sexual abuse in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004 and in particular his handling of a case involving Fr Tom Naughton.
Naughton was sentenced last week to three years in prison with one year suspended, for abusing a boy at least 70 times in Valleymount, County Wicklow, between 1982 and 1984.
Although Cratloe, Parteen and Meelick are situated in County Clare they are included in the Limerick Diocese for ecclesiastical purposes.
A spokeswoman for the Bishop of Killaloe, Willie Walsh said he wasn’t making any comment on Bishop Murray’s resignation.
Bishop Drennan, who’s diocese extends into South Galway and North Clare, was  auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1997 to 2005. The Murphy Report into the Archdiocese of Dublin says there were “suspicions and concerns” regarding a priest given the pseudonym of Fr Guido. The Commission’s assessment was that “the archdiocese acted correctly in immediately addressing the concerns and suspicions in this case”.
After the report was published Bishop Drennan claimed he was ‘deeply upset’ by ‘the double trauma’ survivors of sexual abuse endured.
“First, there was the enormous damage done to them through sexual abuse. Then there was the added pain of feeling they were dealing with a self-defensive management system when they brought their plight to the attention of the Church. Their suffering was compounded. I humbly offer my apologies to all who suffered in these ways,” he stated.
Bishop Drennan held a meeting last Thursday with the priests of the diocese during which he explained his role in the Dublin archdiocese. He claimed he “got huge support”.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio on Friday, Bishop Drennan said he didn’t intend to resign. “As a bishop, I need to be a source of unity for the people in the diocese. If I can be that for the people and priests of the diocese then I should stay on. If I couldn’t be that, I wouldn’t stay on and I wouldn’t want to stay on, if I didn’t have credibility with the people,” he asserted.
Bishop Drennan, who wasn’t called to give evidence before the commission, described 1996 as “a significant watershed” as the new guidelines for the Catholic Church were published. He said, “from then on, all allegations were reported to the HSE and to the gardaí.”
Bishop Drennan claimed his integrity had been brought into question and stated that it would “be helpful” if Archbishop Diarmuid Martin publically cleared his name.
Bishop Drennan recognised that people were angry but said this must be “channelled into positive directions”.
He said it was forgiveness and not revenge that would lead to peace and that getting “forced resignations is not necessarily going to bring any healing”.