The Irish Times – Tuesday, December 29, 2009
PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent
THE “HONOURABLE thing for the Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan to do is to resign,” Maeve Lewis, chief executive with the One in Four group, has said.
Calls have been made for the bishop’s resignation also through newly-launched online and Facebook petitions.
Ms Lewis said that the bishop “has to take collective responsibility”.
She asked: “How many children were abused in Dublin between 1997 and 2005 when he was in a position of authority?”
She said:
“It will be immeasurably damaging to both survivors and the Catholic Church if this process is dragged out indefinitely. We call on all concerned to provide real moral leadership by finding the courage to acknowledge responsibility for their actions and inactions and to resign immediately.”
At this Christmas time, she called on “members of the Catholic Church to stand up for the survivors of clerical abuse and to find ways, either individually or as congregations, to convey your feelings to the leadership of the church”. Reflecting on 2009, she described it as “a terrible year for Ireland.
The Ryan report and the Murphy report have revealed a horrifying world where vulnerable children were tortured and abused. The children were not invisible, but many people stood aside and failed to intervene.
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