Home // May 7-11 2012 > Irish Deputy PM says Cardinal should resign

Make Text Larger Make Text Smaller Email this Article to a Friend Print this Article

Irish Deputy PM says Cardinal should resign

Published: May 03, 2012

Ireland's deputy prime minister said yesterday he thought the head of the Irish Catholic Church should resign after a TV documentary reported the cleric had failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused by a priest in 1975, according to a Reuters report published on Yahoo7News.

A BBC documentary broadcast on Tuesday said that Cardinal Sean Brady was given the names and addresses of children being abused by notorious pedophile Brendan Smyth during a Church investigation but had failed to act to ensure their safety.

"It is my own personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority," Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament, when asked about Brady's response to the BBC program.

The ABC reports that Cardinal Brady has branded the claims "false and misleading", saying that he was not leading the investigation but was only asked to be a "note-taker" to more senior priests on a one-off basis.

"With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence I gave them," Cardinal Brady said.

"However, I also accept that I was part of an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church, which thankfully is now a thing of the past."

The Kerryman reports that there will be no knee-jerk decision on whether to launch a police investigation into the latest claims levelled against the Catholic Church, a senior commander in Northern Ireland has insisted.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton said allegations made in a TV documentary on the secret internal Church inquiry in 1975 into paedophile priest Brendan Smyth would be reviewed by specialist detectives first.

FULL STORY

Irish Deputy PM says Cardinal Brady should resign (Yahoo7)

Ireland's top Catholic rejects abuse cover-up claims (ABC)

No knee-jerk reaction, say police (Kerryman)

RELATED COVERAGE

Irish Cardinal Brady accused of cover-up (SMH)

 

Response to articles is welcome. Simply follow the prompts to post your comment. No posting of more than 250 words will be published. While critical comment on stories and issues is welcomed, postings that descend to personal attacks on or impugn the integrity of other commentators will be blocked. Please use your own name, or initials, eg John Brown, or JB, or JAB, or Johnny. You are also required to add your location - as in, Sunshine, Victoria. Please provide your email address in the line supplied, followed by your contact phone number. These are requested for identification purposes only and will not be published. If you have any problems, please email news@cathnews.com


 


Recent Comments

  1. It's Northern Ireland.

    Posted By: Frank

  2. What do you mean, Frank?
    There are no borders with the problem, no borders with the solution.
    The Archbishop of Dublin has supported the call for an inquiry.
    He was referring to the fact that Fr Smyth (1927-97), a member of the Norbertine order, is alleged to have abused more than 100 children in Ireland and others in the USA, during a 40-year period, and Church authorities failed to stop him.
    He said the Commission should look “North and South”, and at “Church and State” in the whole island.

    Posted By: Clifford Baxter

  3. Clifford: Frank was referring to the inaccuracy of the headline and the first line. There is no such person or office as 'Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister' or 'Irish Deputy PM'.
    The office in the Republic of Ireland which is roughly equivalent to the Prime Minister in Australia is called the Taoiseach (pronounced approximately tee-shark).
    Mr Gilmore is the deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom constituent state of Northern Ireland (which occupies only six counties of the historic country of Ireland) and he was addressing that state's parliament.

    Posted By: Sharon

^ Page Top

Bookmark and Share

More from this section

  1. Middle-East expert believes Arab Spring is 'no more'

    One of the Catholic Church’s leading experts on the Middle-East says the Arab Spring is “no more," reports the Catholic News Agency.

  2. Filipino Catholic radio broadcaster killed

    The Philippines Church in and a media watchdog have called for justice after an anchorman of a Catholic-run radio station was killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen in the southern Philippines, reports AP in a story published in Newsday.

  3. CEO welcomes family payments, laments postponed funding

    The Catholic Education Office Sydney has welcomed some of the Federal Government’s 2012 budget measures for education but is disappointed at the postponement of funding for trade training centres, the CEO said in a media statement.

  4. CHA chair addresses Vatican conference

    The chair of the Catholic Health Australia Stewardship Board has addressed a Vatican conference about the physical and spiritual care of people with visual impairment living in Australia, CHA said in a statement.

  5. Irish priests call for end to celibacy

    Hundreds of Roman Catholic priests have been meeting in Dublin to call for an end to compulsory celibacy for the priesthood, reports SBS.

Church Resources provides a range of services for the Church and not-for-profit sector, including aggregating buying power for a wide range of products and services used by health, welfare, aged care, education and parish organisations. More »

Mass streamed live daily

From Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara, in the Broken Bay Diocese.
Weekdays live at 9.30am
Saturdays live 9.30am (followed by Adoration and Benediction)
Sundays live 9.30am
Click on this link at the appropriate time to connect.

Subscribe

To receive headlines from our faith-based news services, please subscribe below.

Email address

Newsletter

 

News Feed

Subscribe to the CathNews RSS feed to get the daily edition automatically delivered to you.
Subscribe to Faith Project RSS.