Bishop Jim Moriarty's resignation as Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin is expected to be accepted by Pope Benedict XVI and is the first of other resignations expected in the coming weeks. Sources have confirmed that the resignation, tendered in the wake of the public anger over the Murphy Report released last November, will be announced in Rome.
While Bishop Moriarty, who served as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1991-2002, was barely criticised in the Murphy Report itself, he announced on December 23 that he was tendering his resignation to Rome accepting: ''I should have challenged the prevailing culture.''
Bishop Moriarty's departure leaves just Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, who resigned on Christmas Eve, awaiting a decision on their fate.
Galway's Bishop Martin Drennan, who was also named in the Murphy Report though not criticised, has refused to resign insisting it would be an injustice.
A K&L spokesman declined to confirm the timing. However, he confirmed that Bishop Moriarty will be issuing a statement when the time comes which will follow on from what he told the Pope during the bishops' Rome summit on February 16.
In a statement released to this newspaper, the spokesman confirmed that during the Rome meeting Dr Moriarty told the Pope and his brother bishops that the decision to resign was ''the most difficult decision of my ministry. I did not anticipate resigning when I first read the Murphy Report because I was not directly criticised. However, renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that we needed a new beginning and that I could play my part in opening the way''.
''I believe that the goal should be a new fellowship (Acts 4: 42-47); a deeper sharing of the mission that transcends the kind of clerical culture that led us here,'' Bishop Moriarty told the Rome meeting.
Following the publication of the Pope's March 20 Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, Bishop Moriarty hosted a series of public meetings in the diocese to hear from parishioners. Further meetings are planned in coming weeks.
In a radio interview in December with Marie Collins, a victim of Fr Edmondus, Bishop Moriarty praised her role and apologised for all she has had to endure.
He agreed with her assessment that it was now about wider issues than what individual bishops did or did not do.
Marie Collins stated that she was not saying that Bishop Moriarty covered up abuse but that the investigation into Fr Edmondus in 1993 should have been more thorough. Bishop Moriarty fully accepted and agreed with this point.
Unless Rome appoints an Apostolic Administrator, the Diocesan College of Consulters will now meet to elect a priest who will act as diocesan administrator and run the day-to-day affairs of the local Church, while a replacement bishop is awaited.
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