The Bishop of Kerry Dr Bill Murphy has said that he has done his level best to ensure that he has responded to allegations of child sexual abuse in his diocese. Bishop Murphy made his comments on Radio Kerry this week and his remarks come at the half point of the Let's Listen sessions which are currently been held throughout the twelve pastoral areas of the Diocese of Kerry.
The sessions give people from the diocese an opportunity to express their feelings towards the church at the moment and each session has been attended by Bishop Murphy.
He said that from the recent sessions he felt the huge anger and frustration of the people in his diocese however, he said, “we're light years ahead of where we were 20 years ago. We have put in place procedures that, in so far as possible, will ensure that it would be most difficult for what happened in the past to happen again in the future. If it does it will be responded to quickly and adequately.”
Bishop Murphy added that despite the anger at the Let's Listen sessions, many people expressed huge confidence in their own priests and he claims that this positive feedback was entirely unexpected.
He added, “Quite frankly I was a little surprised that so much of the feedback was positive. People did of course express their anger and confusion but that did not surprise me because I knew that people were angry and confused.”
SIC: CIN