The fallout from the latest Irish Cloyne report on clerical sex abuse continued this week so I have attempted here to provide a few key reports to show what has been going on.
My initial post last week on Cloyne report is here.
My initial post last week on Cloyne report is here.
This is the release of the full transcript of the homily given last Sunday by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in response to the most recent Cloyne report on clerical sex abuse in Ireland.
This article from the Irish Catholic by journalist Michael Kelly suggests Archbishop Martin cuts a lonely figure among some fellow Bishops for his outspoken comments. Extract below ....
"Martin has shown himself willing and able to face up to the sins of the Church believing that only full truth can help healing and renewal. He has suffered as a result. He is isolated at the level of the hierarchy here in Ireland. His stock has also reportedly dropped in Rome where his very public criticism of his fellow bishops has been seen as ‘just not the done thing’.
It’s not easy telling the truth to an institution that had become so wedded to concealing the truth. He recently acknowledged in a homily “the truth hurts”.
“The truth cleanses not like smooth designer soap but like a fire that burns and hurts and lances,” he continued.
Image via WikipediaThis is a report of the
Taoiseach ( Prime Minister) Enda Kenny's unprecedented attack on the Vatican and some of the responses from the Vatican.
In the article below Is Archbishop Martin a hero? (politics.ie) Tommy O'Brien has this to say about Archbishop Martin :
Diarmuid Martin was seen as the Church's biggest highflyers - tipped to become a cardinal and Secretary of State. One British magazine years ago even speculated as to whether he might be a future pope.
When he came to Dublin to "clean up the mess", he was shocked at what he found. He lost no time in overruling his predecessor, Cardinal Connell, on access to documentation, something almost unheard of in the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Victims and victims' organisations who met him were bowled over by his rock solid commitment to expose the truth, not cover it up.
Rome quickly began to back off, when Martin refused to bury cases and put a positive spin on things. Fellow bishops complained to Rome and got Rome's backing amid claims that he was too hard and unfair on incompetent bishops who exposed children to danger. Priests complained when he refused to be the quiet loyalist the Church was used to.
It has been obvious for some time that a man once seen as a certainty for the red hat is no longer popular in Rome. He has put loyalty to victims and the truth ahead of loyalty to the institutions and a willingness to cover up.
Yet again, today he applauded the Taoiseach's comments, speaking himself of cabals in the Church.
Martin, in my view, is a genuine hero. He has put his commitment to the truth and victims ahead of being a church loyalist, and in doing so has sacrified his own career. He could have been a prominent cardinal, dressed in scarlet, called 'Your Eminence', and treated as a prince of the Church. He could have been Secretary of State, or higher.
But in his commitment to the truth and victims he sacrified all of that. He will end his days a lowly archbishop ostracised by Rome and unpopular with fellow bishops. But he will end his days with something so many others in Rome and in bishops' palaces clearly lack- integrity.
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