Sensation as Vatican overrules Dublin archbishop Diarmuid Martin

Reinstates two bishops after he had forced their resignations

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Read more: If abuse won't cost your job in the Church, what will? 

Read more: Pope Benedict rejects Irish bishop's resignation

Dublin abuse victim Andrew Madden has said he is “not surprised” at the Pope’s decision not to accept the resignations of two Dublin bishops despite the lack of confidence shown in them by their Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The two bishops resigned on Christmas Eve last after coming under immense pressure from media and the public in general not to mention their own Archbishop.

While many Irish American Catholics will be angry at the Church for essentially stirring up this whole abuse debate again with this controversial decision, there is a lot to chew on in this latest development. 

On one side of the argument is the camp that says an injustice was being done to the two bishops to satisfy a lynch-mob in the wake of the Murphy report.  This argument is strengthened by the fact that the Health Services Executive (HSE) here was dragged kicking and screaming to admit that over 25 children died in its care in the last 10 years.  However, the other camp will see this as the Vatican protecting its own and slapping down the liberal reforming bishop Diarmuid Martin who has such public support he could be the only person in the country with enough public goodwill to run for the Presidency next year!

There is a lot to back up the thinking that Archbishop Martin ran afoul of the Vatican for his very public dressing down of fellow bishops.

For instance, Archbishop Diarmuid  Martin came back from the Irish Bishops’ meeting with Pope Benedict last February, his first instinct was to meet and brief survivors. 

One of the survivors of abuse in Dublin, indeed the main whistle blower on the cover-up in Dublin of gross sexual misconduct by priests and mismanagement by Bishops, Andrew Madden, told waiting media that Archbishop Martin “was a changed man” since his return from Rome.  The implication was that Archbishop Martin had got a dressing down for his very public appearances here calling on fellow bishops to be accountable and to take responsibility.

Wednesday’s news that Pope Benedict has decided not to accept the resignations of the Archbishop’s two remaining auxiliary bishops appears to verify Madden’s statement.  Rome does not agree with Dr Diarmuid Martin’s approach of shoot first and ask questions later.  The fact that the Pope has not accepted the resignations, means that Dr Martin will have to sit across the table from two men he refused to express confidence in last December.

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