IRELAND
Irish Central
Patrick Counihan @irishcentral September 09,2014
Cardinal Sean Brady has asked victims of clerical sex abuse in Ireland for their forgiveness after Pope Francis finally accepted his resignation as leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Victim support groups have welcomed the decision after the 75-year-old sought retirement at the age of 75 last month.
He had been heavily criticized for his part in the Fr Brendan Smyth case when he swore two victims of the pedophile priest to secrecy during an internal church inquiry in 1975.
State broadcaster RTE reports that their evidence was never handed over to police. Smyth continued to abuse children until he was finally jailed in 1994.
Cardinal Brady has insisted his role in the canonical inquiry was as a notetaker but victim groups have campaigned against the priest who has held the role of Archbishop of Armagh since 1996.
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