A senior Catholic bishop has asked his congregation to pray for victims of clerical sex abuse as he stepped down to help a state inquiry probing allegations against some of his priests.Scandal-hit Bishop of Cloyne John Magee, a former Vatican aide, will keep his title but has relinquished the day-to-day running of his Cork parishes.
The beleaguered cleric, from Newry, Co Down, faced scathing criticism after the Church’s own watchdog found he took minimal action over accusations against two of his priests – and branded his child protection as inadequate and dangerous.
Bishop Magee (72) last night told his congregation that he was stepping down to dedicate his time to a Commission of Investigation inquiry.
Archbishop of Cashel Dermot Clifford has been appointed as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Cloyne.
Bishop Magee told his flock in St Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh: “This means that the governance of the diocese has been transferred to Archbishop Clifford and he has been given all the powers of the Bishop of Cloyne. I retain the title of Bishop of Cloyne and I will dedicate my time to the inquiry.
“I ask you to join with me as we continue to remember in our prayers any persons who have been so wrongly abused by priests of this diocese.”
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(Source: EH)