THE BISHOP of Limerick Dr Donal Murray travelled to Rome yesterday to discuss his future. It is believed Bishop Murray departed from Cork airport in the afternoon and that he intends offering his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. However neither Bishop Murray nor his secretary were available for comment last night.
Earlier yesterday, Bishop Murray told parishioners he was “reflecting on the decision he now has to make”, in a statement read out at Masses across the diocese.
Calls have been made for Bishop Murray’s resignation since the publication of the Dublin diocesan report which criticised his handling of complaints against clergymen who were later found to have been involved in the sexual abuse of children.
The pressure increased on Bishop Murray on Saturday when Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady said he was confident Bishop Murray “would do the right thing”.
He went on to say that he would resign himself if a child had been abused as a result of a failure on his part. “I would remember that child sex abuse is a very serious crime and very grave and if I found myself in a situation where I was aware that my failure to act had allowed or meant that other children were abused, well then, I think I would resign,” he told RTÉ.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Cardinal Brady confirmed yesterday that he and Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin would be travelling to Rome later this week, although the date of their departure had yet to be finalised. They intended conveying "the anger and dismay among the people" at findings in the Dublin diocesan report.
He also criticised the lack of response by the Vatican and the papal nunciature in Ireland to correspondence from the commission.
“It was unfortunate that requests from the commission didn’t get the courtesy of a reply” from the Vatican when it wrote to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in September 2006.
On RTÉ's The Week in Politicslast night, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin expressed his "deep disappointment" at the lack of a response by Pope Benedict to the Dublin diocesan report. "The pope has not responded yet to the appalling revelations of the Murphy inquiry."
The papal nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, has been asked to visit the department this week to explain why there had been no response from the nunciature to correspondence from the commission
“I think we will be pointing out that we need such a substantive response,” Mr Martin added, “and it is the view of the Irish Government that there has to be co-operation . . . not just with the investigation into Dublin but also the Cloyne diocese,” which is ongoing.