A priest who was himself a victim of clerical sexual abuse has said the position of the Bishop of Limerick is ''untenable''.Dr Donal Murray has faced a barrage of criticism after the Murphy Report described his mishandling of allegations of sexual abuse against a priest as ''inexcusable''.
Fr Paddy McCafferty, a priest of the Down and Connor Diocese told The Irish Catholic this week: ''I think his position is untenable as a Christian leader.
''The way in which he responded, describing someone making an allegation as a 'crank' is in no way consistent with the way Jesus Christ would act,'' Fr McCafferty said.
Fr McCafferty also said he thought there needed to be ''some form of public protest''.
''There is a great deal of anger among the ordinary Catholic people, it's not just the opportunists who are jumping up and down, ordinary Catholics up-and-down the country are angry and the bishops just don't get this,'' he said.
Fr McCafferty described the refusal of the Papal Nuncio, Dr Giuseppe Leanza, to answer a letter from the Murphy Commission as ''outrageous''.
''The nuncio needs to remember that he is first-and-foremost a priest and as such he needs to put diplomacy aside and consider how Jesus Christ would respond''.
''These bishops are doing irreparable damage to the Church's mission, I don't think they get that, I don't think they realise that they are barriers to the Gospel,'' Fr McCafferty said.
''There is a massive dysfunction at the heart of the Church and what we need now is not a change of strategy, we need a change of heart. The fact that Rome is silent and remote is appalling,'' Fr McCafferty said.
However, Fr Eamon Conway, a Limerick-based theologian said ''there are many respects in which Bishop Murray has served the Irish Church and its people well, and this should not be forgotten when the focus is on his failings and when resignation is being considered''.
Fr Conway questioned whether ''it is the accepted view that an episcopal resignation at this time would make it easier for the media circus to move on?''
A meeting of some priests and lay people in the diocese have also given their support to Dr Murray.
However, an online poll conducted by The Limerick Leader newspaper found 82pc of respondants in favour of his resignation.
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