A SENIOR priest in a west of Ireland diocese has called for the resignation of bishops criticised in the Dublin Archdiocese report for covering up or mishandling clerical child abuse complaints.He did not mention beleaguered Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray and Dublin auxiliary bishops past and present by name.
But Fr Brendan Hoban, of St Muirdeach's Cathedral in the diocese of Killala, Co Mayo, said: "While no one would want to dance on the grave of any individual reputation, resignations will be necessary."
Resignations, Fr Hoban, were "necessary not just because the enemies of the Church -- and there's no doubt but that they're taking the tide offered them -- are demanding it but because the good of the Church and the Gospel requires it.
"Because unless the Church walks the walk and not just talks the talk, its credibility will continue to be damaged, even in the long-term."
Fr Hoban, a prolific author and newspaper columnist, said: "What we didn't know was that so many auxiliaries in Dublin, some of them now serving bishops in other dioceses, had colluded with the policy."
Secrecy
He said that the general justification for the secrecy policy was "the good of the Church".
He said lies were justified on the grounds that bishops' positions allowed them, for example, to use the concept of 'mental reservation' -- to mislead people while believing themselves that they weren't lying.
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SIC: II