VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict has accepted the resignation of Bishop James Moriarty, the Vatican said Thursday, bringing to three the number of Irish bishops who have stepped down due to the sexual abuse crisis. Moriarty tendered his resignation in December, after an official report named him among Church leaders in the Dublin archdiocese who had covered up cases of child sex abuse by priests for 30 years. He was auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1991 until his appointment as bishop of Kildare and Leighlin in 2002.
Hundreds of cases of sexual and physical abuse of youths in recent decades by priests have come to light in Europe and the United States in the last month as disclosures encourage long-silent victims to finally go public with their complaints. Pope Benedict, under criticism from victims for not taking more energetic steps to counter the sex abuse scandal, pledged Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Church would take action.
In a statement released in Ireland, Moriarty said he was part of the Dublin hierarchy "prior to when correct child protection policies and procedures were implemented." "I accept that from the time I became an auxiliary bishop, I should have challenged the prevailing culture," he said. "I apologize to all survivors and their families."
Two other bishops named in the report have also offered to resign, but the Vatican has not yet announced any decision in their cases. Cardinal Sean Brady, the primate of Ireland, has come under heavy pressure to resign because he was involved in having abuse victims sign secrecy agreements decades ago. He has said he would not step down…
DUBLIN — The abuse scandal that has swept through the Catholic Church in Europe cost the head of an Irish bishop Thursday as its leaders in England and Wales offered a full apology to victims. Irish bishop James Moriarty apologised to those who suffered child abuse committed by priests after his resignation was formally accepted by Pope Benedict XVI, and admitted he should have challenged a culture of secrecy. In a significant day in the scandal, the leaders of the five million Roman Catholics in England and Wales said the crimes had brought "deep shame" to the whole Catholic Church and there were "no excuses" for paedophile priests…
Moriarty, the bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, had offered to stand down in December in the wake of a damning investigation into the Church’s role in covering up abuse over three decades in predominantly Catholic Ireland. Moriarty, who was auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1991 to 2002, said although he was not directly criticised in the report by judge Yvonne Murphy, "renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past". "Again I accept that from the time I became an auxiliary bishop, I should have challenged the prevailing culture. Once more I apologise to all survivors and their families," he said.
The investigation found Church leaders in the Dublin archdiocese failed to report abuse to police until the 1990s as part of a culture of secrecy and an over-riding wish to avoid damaging the reputation of the Catholic Church. One priest admitted to sexually abusing more than 100 children, while another confessed he had abused children on a fortnightly basis over 25 years. The report came after another landmark study which horrified Ireland by revealing widespread sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children in Catholic-run institutions dating back to the 1930s…
I believe it’s the first time that I’ve heard any of them address the center of the thing. There was a culture, a prevailing culture, that covered up for abusive priests. And even though there was such a culture, a person of integrity should’ve stood up to that culture and said, "No!"
The evidence that there WAS a culture of coverup is beginning to emerge. In addition to this admission from Moriarty, there is the letter written by Cardinal Hoyos in 2001 to a bishop who had been convicted of covering up abuse crimes by refusing to inform the police of a priest who allegedly raped children.
Hoyos’ letter praised the bishop who he said “I am please to have as a colleague who “chose prison” rather than “denounce” a fellow priest..
Further, Hoyos has said that Pope John Paul II approved of the letter and told him to send it out to bishops world wide.
Is there any other possibility than a culture of abuse and coverup?