Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has been a shining beacon to his colleagues in his response to clerical abuse, in sharp contrast to his predecessors in Dublin, and to so many bishops elsewehere. So, his thoughts on the bigger picture are worth taking seriously - and they are not optimistic. The Irish Times reports that he believes there are powerful "dark forces" within the Church that are working to prevent the full truth becoming known.
AN emotional Diarmuid Martin claimed last night that "strong forces" in the Catholic Church wanted the truth about clerical sex abuse scandals to remain hidden.
The Archbishop of Dublin revealed he had never felt so disheartened and dejected since assuming the post six years ago.
His remarks could be interpreted as a broadside at the Vaticanand Irish hierarchy.
In a deeply personal but sombre address, the 65-year-old church leader indirectly hit out at Cardinal Sean Brady and other bishops for failures to fully protect children from paedophile clerics.
Dr Martin was speaking at Ely Place in Dublin, the headquarters of the archly conservative church group the Knights of Columbanus, on 'The Future of the Catholic Church in Ireland'.
Almost six months after the publication of the Murphy Report on abuse cover-ups in the Dublin diocese, Dr Martin revealed the most obvious reason for his discouragement was "the drip-by-drip never-ending revelation about child sexual abuse and the disastrous way it was handled".
"There are still strong forces which would prefer that the truth did not emerge," he said.
(Read the full report)
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