Sunday, April 08, 2012

Most bishops didn't see Visitation report

A majority of bishops contacted confirmed that they have not seen a copy of the full report of the Apostolic Visitation into the Church in Ireland.

Remarkably, while the four archbishops have received the full report presented to the Pope, all of the other bishops confirmed that they had only seen the same seven-page summary that was made public.

In all, 11 of the 18 serving diocesan bishops — which exclude the four archbishops and the four dioceses currently without a bishop — confirmed they only had the summary document. 

Four bishops were unavailable while a further three did not return calls. 

The full report is understood to be over 200 pages long and contains a detailed critique of the Church in Ireland, while the shorter synthesis is acknowledged to be diplomatic in tone.

On the seminary, the synthesis contains only 385 words whereas the report of Cardinal Timothy Dolan is thought to have been much more detailed and strident in tone and content.

Report type viewed by diocese

Down and Connor (summary only)

Dromore (summary only)

Ardagh & Clonmacnois (summary only)

Meath (summary only)

Ferns (summary only)

Ossory (summary only)

Cork and Ross (summary only)

Kerry (summary only)

Clonfert (summary only)

Kilmore (summary only)

Waterford and Lismore (summary only)

Killaloe (unavailable)

Achonry (unavailable)

Clogher (unavailable)

Elphin (unavailable)

Raphoe (no response)

Killala (no response)

Galway (no response)

Limerick (no bishop)

Kildare and Leighlin (no bishop)

Cloyne (no bishop)

Derry (no bishop)