A NUMBER of dioceses do not have a sitting bishop thanks to some high-profile resignations in the past six months. Five sitting bishops who were named and criticised in the Murphy Report came under intense pressure to resign. Just one refused to step down.
Last December, Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Limerick, Dr Donal Murray, who was found by Judge Yvonne Murphy to have "handled a number of complaints badly" when he was an assistant bishop in Dublin.
On April 22, the Pope also accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr James Moriarty.
Dr Moriarty (73) was assistant bishop in Dublin from 1991 to 2002 before being appointed Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. Although Bishop Moriarty was not directly criticised in the report, he offered his resignation on December 23 for not challenging "the culture of secrecy" prevailing under former Dublin Archbishop Cardinal Desmond Connell.
Two auxiliary Dublin bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field, resigned on Christmas Eve, but they remain in office as the Pope has not yet accepted their resignations.
Although Bishop Walsh didn't come in for heavy criticism, the Murphy Commission was not happy with his handling of four complaints against Fr Dante (a pseudonym). Similarly Bishop Field did not come in for personal criticism but was involved in a number of cases in which priests were accused of abuse.
However, Bishop of Galway, Martin Drennan, has refused to offer his resignation -- insisting he did no wrong as a Dublin auxiliary bishop.
He was aware of allegations against Fr Guido (a pseudonym) and recommended that he attend the Granada Institute for treatment.
Separately on April 24, the Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop John Magee of Cloyne. Dr Magee (73), the most prominent casualty so far of the church abuse scandals, stepped down in March last year after an independent report found that his diocese put children at risk.
And earlier this month, the Vatican named Monsignor Liam MacDaid to succeed Bishop Joseph Duffy (76) whose resignation as Bishop of Clogher on age grounds was accepted by the Pope.
SIC: II