Irish Bishop Resigns Over Dublin Sex-Abuse Scandal

[GodlessBiker]

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- A Roman Catholic bishop in Ireland has resigned after an investigation into child sex abuse by clergymen accused him of ignoring reports of crimes by priests in his diocese, the Vatican said Thursday.

The one-line announcement that Bishop Donal Murray had resigned did not mention the scandal.

But a statement that Murray read to colleagues and curates in the western Irish city of Limerick left no doubt that he was going because of an Irish government investigation's damning findings about his time as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1982 to 1996.

''I know full well that my resignation cannot undo the pain that survivors of abuse have suffered in the past and continue to suffer each day,'' the 69-year-old Murray said. ''I humbly apologize once again to all who were abused as little children.''

Murray had been widely expected to resign following last month's report from a government-appointed commission. It ruled that Murray had handled reports of child-abusing priests ''particularly badly'' -- and condemned his failure to crack down on one particular abuser, the Rev. Thomas Naughton, as ''inexcusable.''

Murray transferred Naughton to new parishes despite receiving reports that he was molesting children. Naughton since has been convicted twice of raping altar boys.

The investigation found that four other serving bishops and five retired bishops, including Cardinal Desmond Connell, played a role in a decade of cover-up.

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NYTIMES: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/17/world/AP-EU-Vatican-Ireland.html

[GodlessBiker]

1. There once was a bishop from Limerick... eom

[asjr]

2. . . .who drowned all his woes in a gimlet . . .

[benld74]

3. He stated, "For I must now resign,,,"

[GodlessBiker]

5. Before I re-pine...

[GodlessBiker]

6. for the dear little lads I have been with.

[Angry Dragon]

4. I find the ones that cover-up

are really worse than the abusers. That is why it is past the time to hold everyone in the Roman Catholic Church accountable, arrest them, and throw them all in jail.