Pope accepts resignation of Irish bishop who covered up abuse

Complete statement from Bishop James Moriarty of Kildare

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James Moriarty was auxiliary bishop in the Dublin diocese between 1991 and 1993.

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Pope Benedict XVI today accepted the resignation Irish Bishop James Moriarty of Kildare, who admitted he failed to challenge the Irish church's policy of covering up the sel abuse of children by pedophile priests.

Moriarty becomes the third Irish bishop to resignl. Two other prelates have submitted their resignations as well, as the Vatican moves quickly to rid the Catholic Church of clergymen who covered up for priests who sexually abused children in their care for years.

Moriarty said he was stepping down because he realized that "renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past."

On Wednesday, the Pope gave a signal that action was coming: He promised "church action" to address the scandal, and the Vatican has said it would do everything in its power to bring justice to abusive priests and to protect children.

Moriarty, 73, offered to step down in December after admitting he didn't challenge the Dublin Archdiocese's past practice of concealing child-abuse complaints from police. He served as an auxiliary Dublin bishop from 1991 to 2002.

"The truth is that the long struggle of survivors to be heard and respected by church authorities has revealed a culture within the Church that many would simply describe as unchristian," Moriarty said in a statement Thursday. "This has been profoundly dispiriting for all who care about the church."

Two auxiliary Dublin bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field, are also awaiting the Pope's decision on their resignations.

All three bishops were identified last year in an Irish government-ordered investigation into decades of cover-ups of child-abusing clergy in the Dublin Archdiocese. The report found that all bishops until 1996 colluded to protect scores of pedophile priests from criminal prosecution.

The November report did not directly criticize Moriarty. But the bishop offered his resignation after accepting he should have taken personal responsibility for challenging the bishops' practice of keeping abuse complaints within the church.

In March, the Pope accepted the resignation of Irish Bishop John Magee, who was accused of mishandling complaints against priests in his diocese of Cloyne. In December, Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick stepped down after an investigation into child sex abuse by clergymen accused him of ignoring reports of crimes by priests in his diocese.

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