BISHOP of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh yesterday revealed that he and other bishops he has spoken to would have no difficulty with state inquiries into clerical child sex abuse in their own dioceses."I would certainly be quite happy to have an inquiry into my diocese," Dr Walsh said at his residence in Ennis yesterday.
"I would certainly co-operate fully with it.
"It would be painful, but I would be quite happy to have it."
Dr Walsh said he has had talks with some colleagues in recent days and not one had reservations about a full-scale investigation.
"But that is something for the statutory authorities to decide to do so or not," he added. "If there were an investigation of all the dioceses, bishops that were there in the past would be criticised. It would be judged that they dealt with this issue inappropriately and that their response wasn't the appropriate one.
"Ultimately, it is not my call. Certainly, if any of the statutory authorities wish to carry out an investigation into this diocese they will receive the fullest co-operation from me."
He added: "I have no difficulty with it and I don't think any bishop could object to a full-scale investigation and I don't think any bishop would object."
Dr Walsh said that as far as he knew, practically no diocese had escaped complaints of abuse. "No diocese is in the position of not having dealt with complaints, though the situation varies from one or two to a large amount," he said.
"I think the Church has lost its moral authority and it is something that will take a long time to recover. You can build trust over years, but you can lose it in a day and I think it will take a long time to rebuild that trust."
Trust
Asked to comment on Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's decision to write to the bishops named in the Dublin diocesan report and seek clarification from them, Dr Walsh said: "I think that Archbishop Martin and his team have handled this issue extremely well. It has been very difficult for them. He has been very courageous in the whole thing and that is really all I want to say at the moment."
Referring to his colleagues, Dr Walsh said: "I think that all of my colleagues at the moment are looking at what they should be doing and I trust my colleagues and that all of them will do what is right."
Dr Walsh intends to issue a formal apology for his remarks on RTE radio on Monday when he warned against a desire to get "a head on a plate" over calls for the resignation of the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray. "My comments showed poor judgment on my part and I would like to acknowledge that and apologise for the distress caused," he said.
"I have listened to many, many victims over the past 15 years and I have some idea of the depth of pain that has been caused to them. The last thing in the world I would want to do would be to add to that pain and it is clear from the reaction that I did add to that pain."
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