IRELAND
Times of Malta
The Archbishop of Dublin said that a forthcoming international congress in Ireland will give a divided and unhealthy Church a chance to reform amid fresh allegations over child abuse.
The Eucharistic Congress in June will reflect “a Church which has faced and still faces enormous challenges, but… is alive and vital and anxious to set out on a path to renewal,” Diarmuid Martin told a Vatican briefing.
Archbishop Martin’s comments came amid a serious backlash in Ireland against the head of the country’s Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Sean Brady, following accusations in a television documentary that he had failed as a young priest to report abuse.
The Archbishop refused to comment on Cardinal Brady’s situation, but insisted that the congress would not be overshadowed by the scandal, saying: “The overall challenge is not just about sex abuse, it goes much deeper. There are divisions within the Irish Church and at times unhealthy divisions. We need a much deeper reform in the church”.
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