Catholic World News News Feature
British Cardinal Says He Didn't Do "Anything Wrong" December 17, 2002
LONDON, Dec 17, 02 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor yesterday defended himself against new allegations of mishandling the treatment of a priest accused of child abuse in his former diocese and rejected calls for him to resign.
Following allegations in yesterday's The Times newspaper he had failed to report the activities of a second pedophile priest in his former diocese of Arundel and Brighton, the cardinal held a press conference at which he repeatedly claimed he had behaved correctly.
He said he wanted to respond to what he described as "inaccurate" reporting and refused to draw parallels with Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston who was forced to resign last Friday for covering up abuses by priests.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said: "I have never thought I should resign, because I did not think I did anything wrong. There has been no pressure from my fellow bishops and priests, and the Catholic people of this country want me to stay."
The cardinal was forced into the public response following new allegations about the handling of the case of Father Christopher Maxwell-Stewart, accused seven years ago of abusing a young girl in his parish in Leatherhead, Surrey.
The cardinal said that the files of 10 priests in his former diocese against whom allegations had been made in the past, including Father Maxwell-Stewart, had been sent for assessment by an independent Catholic solicitor following the conviction of Father Michael Hill on pedophilia charges and in each of the other cases the Church was found to have acted correctly in alerting police and social services.
The cardinal said, "[Father Maxwell-Stewart] did not confess to me he had abused any child. I had to decide what to do with him ... At the end of our interview I still had concerns ... I think the action I took was fair: I sent him away."
He added, "I need to see what we can do to be more supportive of victims. For as long as I am supposed to continue, I will do that."
