THE TEENAGE daughter of abuse victim Peter McCloskey, who died tragically following a meeting with the Limerick Catholic diocese, says she does not think Bishop Donal Murray should resign.The late Mr McCloskey alleged that Fr Denis Daly, a priest ordained for Sydney who served in Limerick from 1978 until his death in 1987, abused him in 1980/81.
His brother Joseph claimed the 37-year-old, who was found dead on April 1st, 2006, was “devastated” by the mediation process with the diocese.
Following the publication of the Dublin diocesan report last week, Peter McCloskey’s mother Mary repeated calls she made for Bishop Murray’s resignation following her son’s death three years ago.
However, the late Mr McCloskey’s 17-year-old daughter Amy said she did not blame the Limerick bishop for her father’s death, and believed her father’s story was being used to “get at” Bishop Murray after the Dublin report.
According to the 17-year-old, Dr Murray had been a huge support to her mother and her two younger sisters since her father’s death. Cathy McCloskey, who separated from her husband six years before his death, is also concerned that the story of Peter McCloskey’s death is being used to get Bishop Murray’s “head on a plate”, and is worried about the effect this was having on her children.
Meanwhile, the Jesuit priest and social justice campaigner Fr Peter McVerry said Dr Murray would go up in the public estimation if he took responsibility for his past mistakes and resigned.
Fr McVerry said Dr Murray was not a bad man and should not be demonised or defined solely by his handling of paedophile priests, but, nevertheless, there had to be accountability among bishops who failed in their duties. “As a church the bishops should be giving a lead in saying that they made misjudgments and should resign,” he said.
He also described the Vatican’s failure to deal with the commission as “absolutely appalling”.
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