Dublin Report: 2 Interviews with a Bishop

[NPC]

Given the calls of some people for all of the bishops named in the recent Murphy Report into sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Dublin, I thought I would post these two substantial interviews with the bishop of Galway, Most Rev’d Dr. Martin Drennan - who was an auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1997-2005. I don’t know what to say about the other bishops, but having read the sections of the report concerning him & hearing these interviews, Bishop Drennan has my support…

galwaynews.ie/podcasts/Keith-Finnegan-Show

• Interview entitled “Keith Finnegan Show - Interview with Bishop Martin Drennan”. Aired on a local radio station in his own diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora

rte.ie/news/2009/1218/news1pm.html

• Interview entitled “Abuse report fall-out continues”. Aired by Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE.

 

[Yellow_Belle]

Given the calls of some people for all of the bishops named in the recent Murphy Report into sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Dublin, I thought I would post these two substantial interviews with the bishop of Galway, Most Rev’d Dr. Martin Drennan - who was an auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1997-2005. I don’t know what to say about the other bishops, but having read the sections of the report concerning him & hearing these interviews, Bishop Drennan has my support…

galwaynews.ie/podcasts/Keith-Finnegan-Show

• Interview entitled “Keith Finnegan Show - Interview with Bishop Martin Drennan”. Aired on a local radio station in his own diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora

rte.ie/news/2009/1218/news1pm.html

• Interview entitled “Abuse report fall-out continues”. Aired by Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE.

I agree that Bishop Drennan seems the least likely to resign or to have cause to resign.

However, Bishop Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin has just announced his resignation
which will put additional pressure on the three remaining bishops named in the Murphy report. I suspect, too, that if they don’t resign, Archbishop Martin will successfully petition Rome to have them removed. If that happens, it will be a further disaster for the Church in Ireland, already in free-fall.

While I am sorry for them all individually, especially Bishops Murray (who has resigned) and Walsh (who did sterling work while administrator of Ferns), I cannot see how they can continue in office without further damaging the Church’s reputation in Ireland (if that’s even possible )

 

[NPC]

I suspect, too, that if they don’t resign, Archbishop Martin will successfully petition Rome to have them removed. If that happens, it will be a further disaster for the Church in Ireland, already in free-fall.

This is actually what I am finding most disturbing at the moment. Archbishop Martin seems to be on a crusade to have these bishops - all of them - to resign. Now, Archbishop Martin is clearly an intelligent man, but it is troubling that he is willing to make scapegoats of some of his innocent brother bishops. He himself should be troubled by this. Everyone respects Archbishop Martin for thoroughly co-operating with investigations, but in his admirable zeal for getting justice for victims of abuse, he is completely disregarding the concept of justice for certain bishops. It is hypocritical to say the least to talk of justice for victims, yet victimise one’s own brothers (those who are actually innocent). I believe that the Archbishop has brought Bishop Drennan’s integrity into question - this is unacceptable; even moreso since it was done over the airwaves.

I cannot believe that Archbishop Martin (or any other civilised person) would agree that it’s ok to take a person off the street and give them a lengthy prison sentence without first having evidence that a crime had been committed. Yet this is apparently what he is attempting to do with Bishop Drennan…

 

[Yellow_Belle]

Archbishop Martin seems to be on a crusade to have these bishops - all of them - to resign. Now, Archbishop Martin is clearly an intelligent man, but it is troubling that he is willing to make scapegoats of some of his innocent brother bishops. He himself should be troubled by this. Everyone respects Archbishop Martin for thoroughly co-operating with investigations, but in his admirable zeal for getting justice for victims of abuse, he is completely disregarding the concept of justice for certain bishops

I believe that Archbishop Martin is a man on a mission, but I don’t think it’s one of his own making. Before he and Cardinal Brady met with the Pope and Vatican officials a few weeks ago, he seemed to be leaving it up to the conscience of each bishop whether or not to resign voluntarily (He cannot force them, in any case). Since returning from Rome, he has upped the ante, his comments uncharacteristically terse and cold for such an otherwise communicative and warm individual. I honestly believe he has been told by Rome to bring as much pressure as possible to bear on these bishops and I think he is deeply troubled by it. I’m not defending the Archbishop - just musing on why he is behaving so out of character (IMO, at least).

Why would Rome send him on such a mission? Perhaps it’s a case of five bishops being ‘sacrificed’ so that the Church in Ireland survives? That’s harsh and unjust, I know, but perhaps it’s the reality of the situation as seen from Rome? I dunno, I’m just speculating here.

I do feel for the individuals, though. I’ve met and spoken with Bishop Eamonn Walsh, a good, gentle and genuinely kind man who had to be tough when he was appointed to ‘clean house’ in Ferns diocese. He brooked no opposition there and operated a zero tolerance policy with regard to any accusation of clerical abuse, suspending a priest immediately on receipt of accusations. Yes, that policy might seem harsh, even unjust from an innocent-until-proven-guilty point of view, but it allowed Catholics in Ferns to regain confidence in their local Church and in its child protection procedures. Perhaps Rome thinks that it is impossible for that to happen on a national scale while five bishops named in the Murphy report continue in office? It’s both sad and ironic, though, that one of them should be Eamonn Walsh.

 

[Yellow_Belle]

The two serving auxiliary bishops for Dublin named in the Murphy report have announced their resignations:

HERE

The decision by Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field brings the number of bishops serving here who have stepped down to four after being named in the Murphy Report on the cover-up of clerical child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

These latest resignations were announced in a joint statement close to midnight.

…

The bishops expressed the hope that, on Christmas Day, their action might help to bring Christ’s peace and reconciliation to the victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to whom they again apologised.

 

[ConfusedTim]

I have little/no sympathy for any of the Bishops named in the report and to be honest i wonder about other bishops who served at the time. Clearly there was a problem in the church and everyone seemed to know about it so why would the men in power choose to say and do so little?

 

[NPC]

I have little/no sympathy for any of the Bishops named in the report and to be honest i wonder about other bishops who served at the time. Clearly there was a problem in the church and everyone seemed to know about it so why would the men in power choose to say and do so little?

Have you read any of the report? I have read bits of it myself - I don’t know the intricate details of all the cases, but am familiar with what it says about Bishop Drennan, since he is my bishop. If you listen to the interviews - especially the one from the local radio station - Bishop Drennan explains his situation very clearly. In fact, I have come to greatly admire Bishop Drennan precisely because he is a straight-talking person; he gives concise answers & doesn’t go off the topic. He answered all the questions which were put to him in a very clear and honest manner.

The fact is that Bishop Drennan’s case is different from all the other bishops named in the report (and, by the way, “named” doesn’t mean “named and shamed” - the Murphy Report is very clear that Bishop Drennan acted correctly in the one case he was involved in & the Archdiocese did all it could to put Fr Guido on a new path when it was ascertained that he did not have a future in priestly ministry. And, for the record, no allegations of abuse were made against Fr Guido - there were concerns of “grooming” raised by another priest). As I have said before, timing is the crucial element in Bishop Drennan’s case - new guidelines for dealing with complaints were implemented in 1996, where all cases were referred to (i)The Archbishop (ii)A special panel (mainly of laypersons) (iii)The Police. It was the panel - not the bishops - who decided how complaints were to be handled by the diocese. Bishop Drennan was appointed Auxiliary Bishop in 1997 - so he entered a system which demanded more accountability and serious consideration of cases than when his predecessors were appointed.

Bishop Drennan says that the Archbishop was free to accept or reject the recommendations of the panel which had been appointed, but that he is unaware of the Archbishop ever going against their advice. So, the people with ultimate responsibility were actually the panel, followed by the Archbishop, followed by the Auxiliaries. Perhaps the Archbishop should have over-rulled some of the panel’s decisions, but it is understandable that he didn’t because he trusted them. So while some people are calling for the heads of those who clearly acted correctly - such as Bishop Drennan - the panel, which examined each and every case individually, is not being pursued. In fact they are not being mentioned at all by survivors groups - even though their own well-being was actually in the hands of this panel. This does not sit right with me.

By the way, well over 90% of the comments which came in to Galway Bay FM after the interview were in support of Bishop Drennan. Granted, that does not settle the issue in itself, but it is very telling, given that it’s normally the people with all the negative comments who shout the loudest.

There is a lot of talk at the moment of “collective accountability” - this has shown itself to be nothing other than an exercise in scapegoating. If people were really interested in accountability, they would be seeking explanations from the advisory panels as well as the eminent psychiatrists and social workers who told the bishops (in good faith, they believed) that certain priests were “cured” and they could be merely shipped off to a different parish…

 

[sidbrown]

Have you read any of the report?..

I have not read the report, but I have been concerned about the news reports coming from ireland recently. In the past, Ireland set a good example for Catholics all over the world. I believe that it is still a beautiful country and has many wonderful people.