Irish Cardinal to consult Holy Spirit

In the wake of child sexual abuse allegations that have rocked the Irish Catholic church to its foundations, the primate of all Ireland is “ashamed”, reports the Irish Times. In his St Patrick’s Day address to the faithful at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, Cardinal Sean Brady spoke of his role in inquiries into allegations of child sex abuse in 1975, in which the two child victims were made to sign an oath of silence to the Catholic church. Cardinal Brady apologised “for failing to remove the (accused) priest permanently from exercising his ministry” and for not “reporting the allegations to civil authorities”. Faced with widespread calls to resign his office, the Cardinal, the Dublin daily reports, plans over the coming weeks “to reflect on what he had heard from those who had been abused and discern the will of the Holy Spirit.”