A BISHOP who sensationally resigned his post in 2002 over his failure to control paedophile priests, is set to make a spectacular comeback as a spiritual guru of the human condition. Some 53 people have already registered to attend a seven-day course of lectures being given by Brendan Comiskey next June, at the luxurious Grace Dieu Manor and Retreat House in Waterford, and at an overall cost of €25,440.
Last night, the director of the exclusive retreat house, run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Fr Michael Serrage, confirmed to the Irish Independent that Bishop Comiskey's talks were already a sell-out.
Fr Michael also confirmed that this would be the first time Bishop Comiskey has conducted a retreat at the secluded house.
But he declined to give any information about who would be attending, as he said a retreat was a time for individuals to reflect in privacy.
Each of the 53 people who have signed up for Bishop Comiskey's talks on "Becoming Real -- wrestling with our human condition" have paid the booking fee of €480.
In the mid-1990s the then-Bishop of Ferns hit the national headlines when he fled Wexford for America, where he received intensive treatment for his alcoholism.
Alcoholic
Now a reformed alcoholic, Bishop Comiskey, who retains the honorary title of Bishop Emeritus, has been counselling alcoholics in Dublin and studying psychiatry.
The former Bishop of Ferns was strongly criticised by the government-appointed inquiry into the horrendous child clerical abuse scandals in his Wexford-based diocese, which was published in October 2005.
Former Supreme Court judge Frank Murphy found the Monaghan-born bishop's investigation into the rapes of children by his clergy as "an inappropriate and inadequate response", and concluded that he had "failed to recognise the paramount need to protect children, as a matter of urgency, from potential abusers".
Damning
After the report's damning condemnation, Bishop Comiskey was reported to have gone into hiding but issued a statement asking for "forgiveness".
Two years ago he made his first public appearance since his resignation, when he said Mass in Inishkeen, Co Monaghan, at the funeral of Dr Peter Kavanagh, the brother of the poet, Patrick Kavanagh.
Last night, a clerical friend said that Bishop Comiskey, had been making a steady recovery and rediscovering his inner strengths and weaknesses.
On the website trailer for his Waterford talks, Bishop Comiskey says he believes that people do not take the human condition seriously enough.
But he notes that St Paul often wrestled with two selves which worked at cross purposes: his true self and his false self.
"During this retreat we will try to coax the false self to join us, and attempt to bring the light and peace especially the healing of Christ to our whole human condition."
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