Sir, – The Archbishop of Dublin, Most Revd Diarmuid Martin, has admitted to The Irish Times (Home News, December 19th) and the media at large of his feeling of having been abandoned in the carrying out of some of his painful duties.
The sex abuse of young persons and the vulnerable had raised its ugly head within first century Christianity, as witness the letters of St Paul to some of the earliest Christian communities. Archbishop Martin should not feel that he is the first to have to deal with this tragic problem.
Has he reflected on the feeling of abandonment that Cardinal Desmond Connell experienced, especially when it seems he was coerced by the Catholic Primates of Armagh and Dublin to violate his conscience after he had begun High Court legal proceedings to safeguard his integrity?
Was it a just decision to disclose to the media unproven allegations against the late Archbishop John Charles McQuaid, some of which were mere journalistic hearsay, and thus add to the destructive pyre around his predecessor?
Have the bishops violated the most basic human rights and natural justice in dealing with many dubious allegations in relation to innocent priests, as was seen in the Fr Kevin Reynolds case. Did Bishop Jones of Elphin ever publicly apologise to Fr Reynolds, who as a religious order priest had generously volunteered to work in the bishop’s diocese, for having removed him from priestly ministry? Priests should not be thrown into the jaws of consuming public anger as a solution to the irresponsibility of the past.
Irish priests have been whipped, lashed, hounded and battered by their prelates and the media to the point where they are now very greatly demoralised.
In the present code of Canon Law, unlike the law of the land, nobody has any real rights except the Pope. It was not always so. This seems to escape the attention of present canon lawyers who it would seem, have never studied the ancient canonical legislation, particularly the Decretum Gratiani, which extended rights and procedural justice to all Christian people, irrespective of their place within the church.
The pertinent question is, how did Jesus treat people and advise his followers to treat each other? Was it not with love, compassion and forgiveness for all concerned? What Jesus had to say in His Gospel is still entirely relevant.
Should I be banished from Dublin or silenced by my Order and rusticated for speaking the truth, I will inform your readers. – Yours, etc,