Cardinal Desmond Connell appears to be totally isolated from his fellow Irish bishops over his legal action to block secret Church files detailing the extent of clerical child sexual abuse. Senior West of Ireland bishop, Dr John Kirby, who heads the diocese of Clonfert, yesterday became the second member of the Irish Episcopal Conference to voice his public support for open disclosure of files relating to paedophile priests.
Asked for his reaction to the stand-off between the retired cardinal and his successor as Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, over the release of files, Bishop Kirby said it is sad when "people you respect are in serious disagreement with each other".
But he added: "The bottom line is that we [the Catholic bishops] are going to do all we can to ensure maximum transparency to get this issue out, and open and clear, once and for all.
"That for me, and I think for all the bishops, is the bottom line."
Bishop Kirby also said that he did not think Cardinal Connell's High Court action would thwart this open policy.
On Monday, Cardinal Sean Brady re-affirmed that the Irish bishops were "united and determined" in their efforts to get to the truth of the scale of sexual child abuse by clergy.
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