Obituary: Fr Kit Cunningham page 38


Connell took action against abusive priest


Sarah Mac Donald. In Dublin


A NEWLY RELEASED chapter of the Murphy report reveals that a priest of Dublin Archdiocese may have abused more than 100 children while the church authorities failed to take action against him. An account of how Tony Walsh was allowed to continue to molest children for more than a decade is given in Chapter 19 of the report published last month. Its release had been delayed due to legal proceedings against Walsh, referred to as “Fr Jovito” in the report. The case concluded in December with his conviction for the abuse of three boys in Ballyfermot in the 1970s and 1980s, for which he was sentenced to 16 years.


■Cardinal Seán Brady, the Primate of All Ireland, has declared that last month’s European Court of Human Rights ruling does not oblige the Irish Government to introduce legislation authorising abortion, writes Sarah Mac Donald. “The direct destruction of an innocent human life can never be justified, however difficult the circumstances,” he said in a


The Archbishop of Dublin, later Cardinal, Desmond Connell emerges well from the report and is described by the Murphy Commission as “one of the first bishops in the world to initiate canonical trials in the modern era”. Pope Benedict XVI as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith is said to have acted swiftly when Archbishop Connell issued a direct appeal to Pope John Paul II in November 1995 to have Walsh removed from the priesthood. The then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger issued a decree confirming the dismissal of Walsh from the clerical state within two months. In a statement, the current Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said Chapter 19 showed how Walsh “wriggled his way through every attempt that was made to contain him” and expressed regret that “some priests mis- takenly supported his remaining in ministry“. Identified in the report as instrumental in the cover-up was the late Mgr Gerard Sheehy, chancellor in the archdiocese between 1964 and 1975 and later judicial vicar and legal adviser. According to the report, he was “mis- guided in his views and more concerned with avoiding scandal than helping victims”.


statement. “We are always obliged to act with respect for the inherent right to life of both the mother and the unborn child.” The court found that


Irish legislation banning abortion had violated the rights of a cancer sufferer who had to travel to the UK to have her pregnancy terminated. She was one of three women who sued the Irish state after being denied abortions.


Abortions are only permitted in Ireland when there is deemed to be a substantial risk to the mother’s health. Irish Senator Rónán


Mullen has called for the public to be given the chance to reaffirm the state’s constitutional protection for all human life – including the unborn child – through a referendum. (See Conor Gearty, page 16.)


Nichols supports renewal of traditional piety


TWO MOREbishops have called for a revival of traditional devotions and visible signs of the Catholic faith, writes Sam Adams. The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has said he expects Catholic families to have a crucifix in every bedroom, along with statues of saints and the Virgin Mary. The Bishop of Nottingham, Malcolm McMahon, has suggested that Catholics make a new year resolution to pray the Angelus at noon every day.


Both echoed the message of the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Kieran Conry, who recently called for Catholics to return to Friday fasting as a visible sign of their faith. Archbishop Nichols said families should pray together and should support the act with holy


images. “Your home is a blessed place. God lives there,” he wrote in a pastoral letter for the Feast of the Holy Family. “I trust there are signs of that presence – a crib for Christmas, a crucifix in each bedroom, a statue of Our Lady or a favourite saint. These are reminders of our wider family of the Church and the divine love we share.” In his pastoral letter to mark the Feast of


the Holy Family, the Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith, urged readers to welcome into the Church families affected by separation or divorce. “For these especially, we must all have the greatest love and respect, gentleness and compassion. These are our brothers and sisters, deeply wounded and suffering,” he wrote.


IN BRIEF


Job threat over abortion leaflet A Catholic woman is facing possible dis- ciplinary action after giving two colleagues a leaflet warning of the physical and psy- chological dangers of abortion. Margaret Forrester was suspended from her job as a psychological well-being practitioner at the Central and North-West London Mental Health Trust in Westminster and accused of “distributing materials some people may find offensive”. Her case was due to be heard by the trust’s internal disciplinary panel and she could lose her job.


Commons to debate Settlement Act An MP is attempting to overhaul the Act of Settlement, the law that bans the monarch from marrying a Catholic. Keith Vaz, a Labour MP and Catholic, is pro- posing a Private Member’s Bill that would also change the 309-year-old act’s require- ment that men take precedence over women in the succession. The Succession to the Crown Bill is due to be debated in the House of Commons on 18 January. A spokesman for Cardinal Keith O’Brien described the law as a “serious barrier” to tackling sectarianism and anti- Catholicism in Britain.


Bishops’ seats in Lords under threat Anglican bishops have lodged an official protest against plans to reform the House of Lords, according to The Times. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is draw- ing up proposals to cut the Upper House’s size by half and make all its members stand for election. There are currently 26 Anglican bishops who sit in the House of Lords. However, refusing all bishops a seat in the reformed House could lead to constitutional difficulties as it would effec- tively disestablish the Church of England. Mr Clegg is aiming to publish his plans in February or March.


Ordinariate gets extra cash The Catholic League will give £65,000 to the Anglican ordinariate in England and Wales. The league, an ecumenical society founded in England to promote unity among Christians, will give £35,000 this year and £30,000 in 2012. The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has already pledged £250,000 to the Anglican ordinariate, a structure to receive Anglicans into the Catholic Church en masse, which is to be formally erected in the coming months. The plan is that, even- tually, the ordinariate will be self-funded.


1 January 2011 | THE TABLET | 37


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