Galway Parish Priest Criticises Comments of Dr Diarmuid Martin

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

A Galway parish priest has strongly criticised the Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin for “venting his frustrations in public” and, “pointing the finger of suspicion at innocent people.”

Fr Dick Lyng PP of Saint Augustine’s in Galway City said Archbishop Martin's address to the Knights of Columbanus in which he referred to the church's child sex abuse scandals was “dominated by a number of unfocused rants.” 

Fr Lyng referred to that part of Dr Martin’s speech where he said that “strong forces within the church wanted the truth about clerical abuse scandals to remain hidden.”

Speaking in his parish's weekly newsletter Fr Lyng claimed that Dr Martin's speech received “predictable media acclaim” but, “closer scrutiny of the text tends to dissipate one's enthusiasm.” 

In response to Dr Martin's statement that there is an unwillingness to begin renewal, Fr Lyng asked, “Where did Archbishop Martin find this unwillingness, this resistance?  Is it within his own diocese, among his fellow Bishops or in the Vatican itself?”

He said that “Dr Bill Murphy of the Diocese of Kerry has more or less stood up and asked is it I Lord?  Until this is clarified, the shadow of suspicion falls everywhere.” 

“This is now what I fear is characteristic of the Archbishop’s style: throw the grenade into the crowded room and then ask the intended targets to pull the pin themselves.  But he won't identify the targets.  He used the same ploy when lecturing his auxiliary Bishops to 'take responsibility’.”

Fr Lyng said that Dr Martin has refused “to name names but was careful to leave the deadly grenade lying on the floor at the same time.  It is understandable that he would vent his frustration in public, but surely he could do so without pointing the finger of suspicion at innocent people.”

by Sean Ryan