Princes of the Church left to wait for Vatican endgame
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LIKE schoolboys waiting to see the headmaster, a gaggle of Irish bishops in their white robes and purple zuchettos assembled in Rome last night ahead of a showdown summit with the Pope.
The bishops filed in to St Patrick's Cathedral for the Month's Mind Mass in memory of the late Cardinal Cahal Daly, whose leadership was blighted by the notorious Fr Brendan Smyth and the later torrent of child clerical sex abuse scandals. As they waited, they sat and chatted about the looming summit.
The explosive fallout from the damning Murphy and Ryan reports has brought Cardinal Sean Brady and his episcopal troops to Rome for today's summit with Pope Benedict XVI, the first such extraordinary gathering in eight years since Pope John Paul II addressed the clerical paedophile crisis that hit the US.
In the hallowed setting of St Patrick's Cathedral, Cardinal Daly's successor Cardinal Brady was looking forward to the two-day engagement with the pontiff.
Speaking to journalists, Cardinal Brady said the Vatican talks would be an important step on the "journey of repentance, renewal and conciliation" for the Irish church. He said the bishops were singing off the same hymn sheet in their determination to address the abuse scandals and enforce high quality child protection procedures in all 26 dioceses.
At times the smiles on the faces of bishops seemed to suggest they were attending a beatification ceremony -- or present at what they believe will be a renewed Irish church.
The cardinal had the air of a headmaster with colleagues such as Bishop Jim Moriarty, who awaits the Pope's acceptance of his resignation.
A relaxed Cardinal Brady said the bishops were united on the challenge of bringing people forward into an era of renewal for the Irish church. If anyone said the Irish bishops were not united, they were wrong, he added.
Back in their old Roman habits were former members of religious orders, the Carmelite Philip Boyce, now Bishop of Raphoe, and the Pallotine Seamus Freeman, now heading the diocese of Ossory in Kilkenny.
Bishops also familiar with the Roman scene -- Bill Murphy of Kerry, John McAreavey of Dromore, Noel Treanor of Down and Connor -- attended the service and mixed at a reception afterwards.
It was as if the trouncing in the media and the angry laity vanishing from the pews in the weeks of preparing for the Rome summit were washed away on the banks of the Tiber.
With two cardinals from the Roman Curia, Cardinal William Levada of the Doctrine of the Faith and Giovanni Battista Re of the Congregation of Bishops, taking part in the liturgical ceremony, there was a feeling of Rome and the Irish bishops being at one.
In their relief that no dressing down is expected from Pope Benedict, the bishops were readying for the fray to heal the wounds of the victims and survivors. But the absence of both Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Bishop Martin Drennan of Limerick meant that the victims' champion and their bete noir were not there last night to enjoy the calm before the storm.
Today and tomorrow it is down to business when the 24 bishops will be the sole representatives of the Irish church at the summit which has excluded priests, laity and women.
And above all the victims.
- John Cooney
Irish Independent
