BY NOEL O’DRISCOLL
THE resignation of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Dr James Moriarty last Thursday has been greeted with sadness and disappointment by priests in the diocese.
Bishop Moriarty resigned last week in the wake of the report into the handling of sexual abuse cases in the Dublin Arch Diocese where he served as an auxiliary bishop before taking over as Bishop in Kildare and Leighlin. Just a week before his resignation Bishop Moriarty had insisted that there were no grounds for his resignation.
The Murphy Commission found that Bishop Moriarty could have asked Archbishop Connell to research the files on Fr Edmondus after complaints about the priest had been received by the Diocese. The parish priest of Newbridge Fr Joseph McDermott said he was disappointed that Bishop Moriarty had to resign.
“He decided himself to resign and I respect his decision. Like all the priests in the diocese I would have got to know him quite well over the years and I had great respect for him and I am disappointed that he felt he had to resign. Bishop Moriarty’s announcement that he would be resigning came as a surprise to me when I heard about it.”
Fr Adrian Carbery PP Kildare town said: “It is terrible sad to lose such a good man. I have no sense that Bishop Moriarty had personally done anything wrong. It was the way things unfolded. He was there when terrible crimes were covered up. In a way he was unfortunate but he was there. I think his statement said it very well when he set out why he took the deci¬sion to resign,” he said.
Fr Carbery said Bishop Moriarty was well liked within the diocese. “The news has been greeted with sadness because he was so well liked and so available to local priests and groups in parishes throughout the diocese.”
“His resignation wasn’t due to any¬thing he personally did wrong. Bishop Moriarty took a very courageous and generous decision to resign,” he said.
Kilmeade based priest Fr Colm O’Siochru who has been a priest in the Dublin Archdiocese for the past 44 years and who is a close personal friend of Bishop Moriarty said that he felt the bishop’s resignation was unnecessary. “I know Bishop Moriaty personally.
“I didn’t feel he should have had to resign, I feel that none of the auxillar¬ies should have resigned. The matters that arose should have been dealt with by the ArchBishop of Dublin. The auxiliaries, including Bishop Moriarty, spoke with the arch Bishop and related all matters to him. All matters were in the hands of the archbishop and they would have never thought of question¬ing the work or the ability of the arch¬bishop,” he said.
“In my view Bishop Moriarty did his duty and I am personally very disap¬pointed that he has resigned. I wish him well and I hope he finds a role where his many abilities and talents will be utilised. The job of a bishop is a tough and difficult role and I wouldn’t take it if it was offered to me”.
Bishop Moriarty issued his resigna¬tion statement at a meeting of priests of the diocese in Portarlington last Thursday. It is believed that about two-thirds of the priests of the 56 parishes were in attendance.
After the bishop read his statement, there was a standing ovation for some minutes from the priests who were said, by the bishop’s spokesman, to be relieved that he had met them in advance of the public announcement of the resignation, as well as grateful for his seven and a half years’ ministry in Kildare and Leighlin.
The following night the bishop attended, but did not officiate, at mid¬night mass in Carlow Cathedral. There he read his statement to the congrega¬tion, which responded with “a hearty round of applause”. He also appeared at a midday mass in the cathedral, where Fr John Cummins officiated, and again read his statement to the congregation.
Bishop Jim Moriarty, who will retain the title ‘bishop’ is likely to remain in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, after his resignation is accepted by Pope Benedict XVI. Retired bishops and those who resign are given the title ‘Bishop Emeritus’ and continue to be priests. The bishop’s spokesperson said that the bishop’s duties within the diocese have “all to be worked out” but that the priests of Kildare and Leighlin want him to stay “if it is his own wish”.