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Pope may seek Cardinal Sean Brady's resignation

Thursday, 25 March 2010

Cardinal Sean Brady answers questions from the press

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Cardinal Sean Brady's battle to survive as head of the Catholic Church in Ireland received a major blow after the Pope accepted the resignation of the disgraced Bishop of Cloyne.

The move has left the Irish church reeling amid renewed expectations that other heads are set to roll.

Speculation last night mounted that Pope Benedict would now seek Cardinal Brady's resignation.

Vatican insiders are tipping a tough Australian prelate to head a probe into the Irish Church which is expected to start next month.

A possible outcome of the Apostolic Visitation which Pope Benedict announced last Saturday is that Cardinal George Pell will propose Cardinal Brady's resignation or removal.

The Archbishop said he was ashamed he swore two children to secrecy after they were abused by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

But the Cardinal insisted he would not resign unless asked by the Pope. He set May 23, Pentecost Sunday, as the date on which he will announce his decision after a period of reflection and consultation.

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I went to Jesuit schools much of my life, and while some preists were a bit on the tyranical side, many were good honest men called by God to serve the community. We need to return to a time when the clergy could be trusted...we need to remove every and any priest, Bishop, Cardinal and Pope, who was in any way connected to this betrayal of a community and hand them over to civil authorities.

Posted by sean d | 25.03.10, 20:51 GMT

Brady should go he aided and abetted a crime after all. why no arrest by the psni.

Posted by mary | 25.03.10, 19:41 GMT

As an ex Catholic from South Armagh in Northern Ireland, but still a strong believer in Jesus, I find it galling that so many Catholics in Ireland North and South still want to put their heads in the sand and leap to the defence of the Catholic Church. The pastoral letter was a disagrace and a complete whitewash. Let's get rid of the erroneous idea that to be Irish is to be Catholic. The Catholic Church kept Ireland poor and backward.

Posted by Patrick Murphy | 25.03.10, 19:31 GMT

im just glad im part of the christian church and not the roman catholic church to many rules and regulations they put institution before God. God says thou shalt have no other god's before me.

Posted by stephen skimin | 25.03.10, 17:50 GMT

As a child growing up in Northern Ireland, one of my biggest fears was the catholic clergy, I had heard the stories of the "Christian Brothers" and their approach to education, I had read of the charity of the nuns in the homes for "fallen women", but I never heard of the child abuse, perhaps because I am not a catholic. But I was still frighten anyway. To me any institution that openly protects those members guilty of horrific crimes against children and determindly suppresses those very victims, should be thoroughly investigated by a law agency. Not one off its own who by all accounts is implicit in the very crimes he is to "probe". Any guily parties regardless of rank or office should then fell the full weight of the law.

Posted by Saddened | 25.03.10, 15:41 GMT

This pope must resign. A NEW pope is need and to then call VATICAN III to turn the RCC around.

Posted by phl | 25.03.10, 15:10 GMT

Pubs are allowed open on Good Friday in Limerick. The days of the catholic church interfering with the state are coming to an end. And about time too. The suffering religion has and continues to cause on this island will never be quantified.

Ghost stories is all it is. They should have no affect on the workings of a democratic state.

Posted by Éamonn | 25.03.10, 15:00 GMT

Perhaps the Pope should address his own personal inaction to concerns raised by American archbishops about Fr Lawrence Murphy abusing up to 200 boys in 1996 (see today's press), find himself and his clergy lacking in moral backbone, and purge the RC church from the top to bottom? Until an independent audit/inquiry of the RC church is conducted, they do not deserve any trust and all involvement with childgroups or schools should be withdrawn.

Posted by Bemused | 25.03.10, 14:00 GMT

That is right Grainne and it was all done in the name of religion.

Posted by fed up with it all | 25.03.10, 13:18 GMT

The church is dying out and some day (the sooner the better) we'll all be living in a secular society where these vile creatures cannot seek cover from the power crazy religious figures that rule the country. Then they'll be dealt with in just the same way as every other stinking paedophile!
Relgion is the root of all evil.

Posted by Mrs A Arbuthnot | 25.03.10, 13:16 GMT

Brady should go, but the 'purge' should not end there. Ratzinger was involved in the cover-up as well. This scandal goes right to the very top of the Catholic church.

Will someone attempt to arrest the Pope when he visits Britain?

What is a Citizen’s Arrest?

The law regarding citizen’s arrest is extremely complicated, changeable and open to interpretation. The law regarding citizens arrest is under Section 24A of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

The law states that:

Anybody can arrest a person who is committing an indictable offence;

Anybody can arrest a person if they have reasonable suspicion that they are committing an indictable offence;

Anybody can arrest a person if they reasonably suspect a person of having committed an indictable offence.

Source - inbrief.co.uk

Posted by WH | 25.03.10, 12:52 GMT

The men who committed, witnessed and hid these acts should ALL resign or be stepped down. No matter how high it goes and by all accounts it seems to go pretty high. However, for every evil priest and conspiritor, there are many good, decent and honorable priests who are true to their vocations and church and maybe character and not politics should play a bigger part in who is deemed worthy to lead the Catholic Church. Lets also not forget the Nuns who brutalized children they were teaching and charged with looking after, who thought demoralizing and removing any self confidence a child had was a legitimate form of learning.

Posted by Grainne | 25.03.10, 12:42 GMT

I wonder if the BT would continue to exist if the Catholic Church wasn't there to ridicule. But then there's always the Republic to fall back on I suppose.

All this self righteous indignation by the pure of heart is getting to be a bore. It truly is.

As a Catholic (until I die) I believe all guilty clergy up to and including the Pope should be in jail IF guilty.

But don't confuse Catholicism, (the ancestry of most all of you) with the INSTITUTE of the Church. Magnificent "product" - pity about SOME of the "sales force".

There are about 500,000 (yes, half a MILLION) Catholic religious spread throughout every country on earth. Fact.

Common sense alone suggests that the vast majority of them have done nothing wrong.

Also as Angela Merkel (not a Catholic) said it is "ludicrous" to single out the CC.

But enjoy your gloating lads. God knows you have little else to gloat about.

Posted by Observer 2 | 25.03.10, 12:12 GMT

Unfortunately the whole Roman Catholic Church seems to be stuck in a massive crisis....right from the top.
There is too much politics, arogance and hypocrisy in the apparatus of the Church and as long as that situation prevails there is little hope for the future of the RC Church.

Posted by sean gilmartin | 25.03.10, 11:52 GMT

Theres no other option for him. He should do the right thing and go, but then again doing the right thing isn't something a lot of priests know much about....!

Posted by Ed the mechanic! | 25.03.10, 11:48 GMT

If the Pope asked all priests and bishops involved with child abuse or covering up child abuse to resign, there might not be many left.

In fact, I might have to step in and conduct the Mass on Sunday, and I'm not even a Catholic.

Posted by Richard | 25.03.10, 10:21 GMT