BISHOP of Clonfert Dr John Kirby said yesterday he was “shocked and saddened” by the findings of the Murphy report, which he described as “horrible”.However, Dr Kirby said he did not support calls on Bishop of Limerick Dr Donal Murray to resign.
A south Galway priest in Dr Kirby’s Clonfert diocese was among those calling for the resignation of Dr Murray and others yesterday.
Dr Kirby said Dr Murray was a man of “huge integrity”, who had been a very helpful colleague at “difficult times”.
Dr Kirby was speaking to The Irish Times in Clonfert, southeast Galway, yesterday where he visited victims of Shannon flooding.
“It is not for me to call for his resignation,” Dr Kirby said. “I just hope that the structures set up in the last six to seven years, such as child safety committees, ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
At Mass in Portumna, south Galway, yesterday, Fr Abe Kennedy, chaplain at Portumna Community School, said he believed any archbishop or bishop in receipt of knowledge, or who knew of priests abusing children, should “resign immediately”. “They were as bad as the priests who committed the crimes,” Fr Kennedy said.
“I feel quite strongly about it,” he told The Irish Times afterwards, adding that his comments had received a “round of applause”.
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