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Archbishop Martin on Cardinal Brady controversy: Abusive priest ‘should have been stopped’

March 17, 2010

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said that the nationwide extension of the Murphy commission may be “the only way” to uncover the whole truth about the extent of abuse by priests and religious in Ireland.

“What I'm trying to do above all is listen to what people are saying in the parishes,” he added. “People want the entire truth to come out.”

Referring to the controversy over Cardinal Sean Brady’s decision decades ago not to report an abusive priest to police, Archbishop Martin said that “Brendan Smyth should have been stopped from the very first time it was known that he was abusing."

“How a person would have abused and continued to abuse for so long-- 18 years after [Brady's evidence-gathering]-- and God knows how many years before.”

The Dublin archbishop said that he would not issue a call for Cardinal Brady’s resignation.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Dublin archbishop: Catholic Church must tell truth (AP)
• Archbishop Martin: Country-wide inquiry may be only way forward (Ireland Online)
• Irish primate charged with abuse cover-up under pressure to resign (CWN, 3/15)

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