By Patsy McGarry
Irish Times
February 15, 2010
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0215/1224264467127.html
ROME -- IRELAND'S CATHOLIC bishops "have a responsibility to be as frank and as open and as candid as is possible for them" at their meetings with Pope Benedict and senior curial figures in the Vatican today and tomorrow, Bishop of Clogher Joseph Duffy said yesterday in Rome.
"I think each bishop will speak out of his own experience, how he has found things and where he feels things could be improved. And certainly there's room for improvement everywhere, we all admit that," he said.
 |
| Bishop Joseph Duffy, chairman of the communications commission of the Bishops conference, waiting for the start of the press conference at the Irish College in Rome yesterday afternoon. Photo by Cyril Byrne |
Chairman of the Communications Commission of the Irish Bishops' Conference, he was speaking at a press briefing in the Irish College .
The meetings between Ireland's Catholic bishops and Pope Benedict were "not just a cosmetic exercise. They are serious," he said and would be "a complete flop if seen as a formality or a glossing over of difficult points."
Pope Benedict will attend each of the three sessions throughout the two days at which 24 Irish bishops are expected to speak for up to seven minutes each. As Primate, Cardinal Brady will speak first, he said.
Accompanying the pope at his meeting with the Irish bishops will be leading members of the Curia, including Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Bertone, prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Levada, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops Cardinal Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy Cardinal Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life Cardinal Rode, prefect for the Congregation for Catholic Education Cardinal Grocholewski, and the president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Archbishop Coccopalmerio.
Bishop Duffy said he and his fellow bishops would "be keeping survivors at the top of the list of priorities" in addressing the pope and the curial cardinals. Each bishop had been invited "to account directly to the Holy Father", he said, and referred to "the failure of all of us, including bishops, for not doing what we were expected to do."
He said "we'll be trying to chart a way forward in terms of more accountability and more honesty and more acceptability really. We appreciate that our moral authority is in question here and that the truth is an issue, the fullness of truth."
He said the resignation of Bishop Drennan of Galway was "not on the agenda. It is not our business as individuals to discuss resignations publicly, except possibly one's own resignation."
He admitted "quite frankly, what everyone else knows, the Church is seriously wounded and it has done immense damage to the authority of the Church".
He agreed wounds were "self-inflicted, you could say that" and that the bishops had "a major disaster on our hands".
He agreed there had been "a clerical culture" and that canon law had to be changed to allow greater involvement of laity in the church.
There had been "tensions" among the bishops over the fallout from the Murphy report "but to describe them as 'divisions' is another matter. Last week at Knock we had a very cordial retreat. Things were thrashed out fully and frankly."
What was needed now in the Irish Church was "a renewal in faith and commitment to Christian values. We are not a political party. This can only take place with the help of the Holy Spirit".
He said he expected the pope's pastoral letter to the Irish faithful would take account of these things and of what took place over the coming two days and what the bishops would have to say.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.