Archbishop Eamon Martin became Archbishop of Armagh and Ireland's primate following Pope Francis's acceptance of the resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady, who had turned 75.

According to The Tablet, during an address at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh on September 8, Archbishop Martin pledged to be a "servant leader" and cautioned against expectations of top-down leadership.

He called on the laity to take ownership of their vocation and mission to hand on the faith.

Outlining his vision for the future of the Church, the archbishop said it would not be about "building up some big edifice or some triumphalist Church or trying to make sure that it dominates politics and the state".

Archbishop Martin, 52, said he wanted "a Church that is humble . . . a Church on our knees, hopefully in prayer, recognising the terrible things that have happened in the past and the need to ask God's mercy and to ask forgiveness of people".

But he warned that he is only one person and cannot work miracles for the Church in Ireland.

He said the Irish Church found itself in a new context and must find ways of bringing the Gospel to the people.

Ireland was now a country of different Christian traditions and faiths, and quite a number of people who do not identify themselves with any faith, he said.

Even though people are living in a very fast world with many commitments, he believed "people still need God in their lives and they need their Church".

"There is still a lot of hope in people that they would like a renewal of their Church".

Referring to his episcopal motto, "Sing a New Song to the Lord", he indicated that the renewal he had in mind would not be revolutionary.

"I am not actually talking about writing new words but maybe a new way of singing the song of God in people's lives," he said, adding that he was inspired by Pope Francis's ideas about "pastoral ministry in a missionary key".

The archbishop said his priorities would be "to get to know my people and to facilitate a movement that will allow people to be confident in their faith without being polemical and condemnatory".

Sources

• The Tablet
• Belfast Telegraph
• Image: Scottish Catholic Observer

Cardinal Brady had turned 75 in August and according to Church law, bishops are asked to submit their resignations to the Pope at that stage.

The Pope can either accept or reject the resignation.

Cardinal Brady, who was primate of Ireland for 18 years, reportedly submitted his resignation in July.

His tenure was dogged by allegations of child abuse cover-ups, falling church attendance and strained relations with the Irish government.

Cardinal Brady publicly apologised for mishandling allegations of abuse after it emerged that in 1975 he was present at meetings with two teenagers who alleged they were sexually abused by Fr Brendan Smyth.

Instead of going to the authorities, the priests swore the alleged victims to secrecy, victims groups charged.

A BBC documentary in 2012 charged that Cardinal Brady had failed to ensure the safety of other victims.

In June, clerical abuse victim Marie Kane asked the Pope to remove Cardinal Brady from his post over the scandal.

This was on the same day that Francis held a Mass with adult victims.

Cardinal Brady has long maintained that he was just there to take the minutes of the meetings; as a young priest, he had no authority over Fr Smyth.

Cardinal Brady later said he was "shocked, appalled and outraged" to learn the Belfast priest went on to abuse others until the mid-1990s, when he was convicted of more than 100 charges of abuse.

Fr Smyth died in prison in 1997.

In his resignation statement, Cardinal Brady referred to the past abuse, saying he needed to apologise and to ask for forgiveness.

At the same time, he added, he must "trust in the mercy of God".

On learning of Cardinal Brady's resignation, another clerical abuse victim Marie Collins tweeted that she was unimpressed.

"If Cardinal Brady had resigned in 2010 when Brendan Smyth failures became known it might have meant something to survivors — meaningless now," she tweeted.

Ms Collins is a member of the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors, established by Pope Francis.

Cardinal Brady is replaced in Armagh by Archbishop Eamon Martin, who was appointed co-adjutor there last year.

Sources

• Religion News Service
• Sydney Morning Herald
• BBC
• Catholic Herald
• Image: RTE

Brendan Boland's memoir "Sworn to Secrecy" reproduces for the first time an oath of secrecy that he signed and that the then Fr Brady co-signed in the 1970s.

When he was an altar server, Boland had suffered horrific abuse from serial abuser Fr Brendan Smyth for three years.

After the teenager told a Dominican priest about the abuse, a secret canonical inquiry was convened, for which Fr Brady acted as notary.

The 14-year-old was required to attend the inquiry alone.

Mr Boland acquired transcripts of the inquiry through legal discovery procedures when he took a High Court action against the Archdiocese of Armagh and Cardinal Brady.

They show he was asked about any sexual encounters he might have had with other men, masturbation and confession.

Brendan Boland and his father were assured in 1975 that Fr Smyth would be dealt with.

But the priest continued to abuse other children for two decades before he was convicted on dozens of counts.

Mr Boland said he "knew that the quizzing about confession was all about me and my fault".

"Then I was just terrified and scared.

"Today I am angry, furious. Even as I am recounting this, I want to smash my fist against the bloody wall beside me," he said.

Mr Boland's case was settled in 2012 for €100,000 plus costs, after Cardinal Brady had offered €10,000 compensation in 2011.

Mr Boland told The Tablet Cardinal Brady might like to consider resigning immediately.

The cardinal is due to submit his resignation to the Pope when he turns 75 in August.

Marie Kane, who was one of six survivors of clerical abuse who met Pope Francis two weeks ago, has threatened to write to the Pope if Cardinal Brady does not offer his resignation now.

Similar calls for Cardinal Brady's resignation were made several years ago, when Mr Boland took part in a TV documentary outlining the way his complaints were handled by the Church.

The apostolic nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown, said he had not read the book, but expressed confidence in Cardinal Brady.

In 2010, Cardinal Brady apologised to those who had been hurt by Fr Smyth's abuse.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Irish Independent
• Belfast Telegraph
• Telegraph
• Image: Telegraph

Archbishop-elect Martin has been appointed coadjutor archbishop of Armagh, making him the designated successor to Cardinal Sean Brady, who has been under pressure to resign.

Cardinal Brady will turn 75, the age at which he must submit his resignation to the Pope, in August 2014 but commentators are predicting that Archbishop-elect Martin will replace him before then.

The editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper, Michael Kelly, described the appointment as an "exit strategy" for Cardinal Brady.

The new coadjutor, currently adminstrator of Derry diocese, told the media there is "need for renewal in the Church, so that the message of Christ, in all its richness, is presented in ways which engage a new generation".

"There is a need for a mature relationship between Church and society, in both parts of this island, and people of faith have a vital role to play," he said.

"It would hugely impoverish our faith if we were expected to 'leave it at home' or 'keep it for Sundays', excluding it from our conversations and actions in daily life."

Cardinal Brady's tenure as primate of all Ireland and president of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference since 1996, has been marked by controversy over clerical sex abuse.

Advocates for abuse victims have called for his resignation since 2010, when it emerged that he had failed to inform civil authorities about an abusive priest who went on to molest children in several countries.

The former Bishop of Derry, Bishop Edward Daly, said Archbishop-elect Martin was seen as "a clean pair of hands" after the Church's abuse scandals.

"He does not carry any baggage from the past with him," Bishop Daly said.

The archbishop-elect is a former executive secretary of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference.

Sources:

BBC

Irish Times

Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference

Image: Business Post

"It is my own personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority," Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament.

The Deputy Prime MInister was referring to a BBC programme which aired last week. The documentary accused Cardinal Brady of failing to act in 1975, when he was in possession of names and addresses of children being abused by notorious pedophile Brendan Smyth.

However, Cardinal Brady said the documentary was seriously misleading, as it had exaggerated his role in the inquiry. "I had absolutely no authority over Brendan Smyth. Even my Bishop had limited authority over him. The only people who had authority within the Church to stop Brendan Smyth from having contact with children were his Abbot in the Monastery in Kilnacrott and his Religious Superiors in the Norbertine Order."

He said he was only a note-taker in the investigation and not the "designated person" responsible for reporting the matter to the civil authorities.

He had trusted his superiors to deal with the matter, which they had failed to do. He also noted that the Church did not fully understand the impact of the abuse at the time.

Columnist David Quinn defended the cardinal, as he was "being held to a higher standard than even the most up-to-date children protection standards of the State require today, let alone back in 1975."

But Quinn also noted that the cardinal's moral authority had been badly compromised. "He has to ask himself whether he is a net asset or a net liability to the Church in terms of it restoring some portion of its moral standing in the eyes of society."

One of Ireland's most notorious paedophiles, Brendan Smyth died in 1997, just one month into a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to 74 charges of indecent and sexual abuse of boys and girls for more than 30 years.

Image Irish Times