THE CATHOLIC Bishop of Down and Connor and the former Northern Ireland police ombudsman have supported Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway.Bishop Noel Treanor said yesterday that in the Murphy report Dr Drennan was “not referred to as somebody bearing guilt”.
Speaking on the BBC Northern Ireland Sunday Sequence programme he said that, where the issue of collective responsibility in the Dublin archdiocese was concerned, “Bishop Martin Drennan is not burdened by guilt”.
On the same programme Baroness Nuala O’Loan said Dr Drennan “did nothing wrong”.
She said “auxiliary bishops have no power. They are quite simply subject to the autonomy and authority of the archbishop . . . so we can’t talk about collective responsibility.”
Last Friday, following a meeting with abuse survivors, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said of collective responsibility: “People took part in meetings. Each made their own contribution. You are responsible for the consequences of that. I’m not saying that all decisions were taken collectively but people were there when matters were discussed.”
He said: “I’m very impressed by the simple honesty of the Bishop of Kildare Leighlin, Jim Moriarty.
He said: ‘I don’t want to overestimate my responsibility. I don’t want to underestimate it when I should have challenged it earlier.’ That’s a very honest response . . . Accountability [is about] recognising the part one plays and assuming responsibility for that.”
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