There is a growing perception among many of the hierarchy that collegiality among bishops has been sacrificed in the wake of the Murphy Report it has been claimed.Speaking to The Irish Catholic on a strictly off the record basis, a senior placed source within the Bishops Conference told of deep unease among some clergy and bishops about how the auxiliary bishops have been treated.
''There is a strong sense that he [Archbishop Martin] was initially with the auxiliaries but when he saw they were a liability he dropped them. Bishop Eamonn Walsh sat with Archbishop Martin at the initial press conference after Murphy was released but within days was persona non grata.''
It is believed that there is concern that Bishop Eamonn Walsh's letter to priests was met so rapidly with a public statement by the Archdiocese, that it left Bishops Walsh and Field with no option but to resign.
Impression
''Some bishops also feel that they have devoted hundreds of man-hours in tackling this crisis, but Archbishop Martin gives the impression that they did nothing before he arrived. It is very easy for Archbishop Martin to damn the entire culture that went before him, he wasn't there and there's no risk to himself in a blanket statement of condemnation. The bishops accept that a lot of errors were committed, but wonder whether Archbishop Martin would have acted differently if he was around.''
Not willing
There is a perception that as long as the Dublin Archdiocese looks good, a 'one Church' approach doesn't matter...Some bishops feel he is not willing to dialogue, but simply wants to plough ahead with his own approach regardless of consequences or casualties...if one of the consequences of the abuse crisis is a lack of priests' trust in bishops, this has now migrated to a level where bishops no longer trust each others' bona fides. The [Bishops]Conference is fractured not on substance but on approach.''
A spokeswoman for Archbishop Martin said ''Archbishop Martin is prepared to respond in public or in private to any 'senior placed source within the Bishops Conference' if that source has a sense of accountability to come forward and use their own name''.
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