Reply to bishop's resignation now expected before Easter
The resignation of James Moriarty from his position as Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin has yet to be accepted by the Vatican.
It had been thought that the meeting last week with the Pope would see the resignations of the former auxiliary bishops of the Dublin Archdiocese mentioned in the Murphy report, but the Vatican has since explained that the resignations are not a matter for the Pope, but for the Congregation for Bishops.
Bishop Moriarty, in a letter to the Kildare faithful at the weekend, said he believed it would happen before Easter.
"Separate from the general meeting, I had a private meeting with Cardinal Re, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, who is dealing with my resignation.
"The acceptance of my offer of resignation is proceeding," he explained.
"It is not a question of 'if' but 'when'. It will not happen immediately but should not go too far beyond Easter," he said.
Unique amongst the bishops who were involved, Bishop Moriarty has attracted praise for the way in which his resignation statement accepted that he had not challenged "the prevailing culture" when he was an auxiliary bishop.
And it was a theme he returned to during the meeting with the Pope last week, where he explained how "my offer of resignation came about and spoke about the need for unity and a deeper sharing of the mission 'that transcends the kind of clerical culture that led us here".
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Weather for Naas, Ireland
Thursday 17 May 2012
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