Éamonn Oliver Walsh BA, STL, BL (born 1 September 1944) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishop and is one of the two Emeritus Auxiliary Bishops of Dublin, the other being Raymond W. Field. From Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Dr. Walsh, studied for the priesthood at Clonliffe College and at the Lateran University. He received a BA Degree in Philosophy and a Licence in Theology. He is also a qualified Barrister-at-Law. He was ordained a priest for the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

on 13 April 1969. He served as a secretary to

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Kevin McNamara during his tenure as Archbishop of Dublin. He served as Dean of

Clonliffe College Holy Cross College (also known as Clonliffe College), located in Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra was founded in 1854 as the Catholic diocesan seminary for Dublin by Cardinal Paul Cullen. History The College was founded in 1859 by the then Archbish ...

from 1977 to 1985. On 7 March 1990

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed Walsh as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of '' Elmhama''. He was ordained bishop on 22 April with Archbishop

Desmond Connell Desmond Connell (24 March 1926 – 21 February 2017) was an Irish cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He was an Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. Cardinal Connell was one of a number of senior clergy to have been heavily criticised ...

as consecrator and

Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland The Apostolic Nunciature to Ireland the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Ireland. It is located in Dublin. The position of Apostolic Nuncio is currently vacant. The Apostolic Nunciature to Ireland is an ecclesiastical office of the Cathol ...

Emanuele Gerada Emanuele Gerada KC*HS (18 May 1920 – 21 January 2011) was a Maltese prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, a Vatican diplomat and titular Archbishop of Nomentum. One Maltese obituary recalled him as "a generous, well-read and intelligent man. ...

and Bishop James Kavanagh as principal co-consecrators. After the publication of the 2009

Murphy Report The Murphy Report is the brief name of the report of a Commission of investigation conducted by the Irish government into the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin. It was released in 2009 by Judge Yvonne Murphy, only a few ...

into child abuse in the Dublin Diocese, Bishop Walsh said in an interview:

Resignation

As an auxiliary bishop and secretary to Archbishop McNamara, Walsh was interviewed in the Murphy Report investigations. The Report refers to one particular allegation in one instance where he advised a woman to write to the chancellor, and he was subsequently asked: "Did you report that to the Garda?" He replied: "... it took about six months for the woman to actually get the name of the complainant and you can't go to the guards with a third-party concern. So the spin that was put on that yesterday morning (in an article in

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

by One in Four founder

Colm O'Gorman Colm O'Gorman (born 15 July 1966) is the executive director of Amnesty International Ireland. He is founder and former director of One in Four. He is a survivor of clerical sexual abuse, and first came to public attention by speaking out agains ...

) was most disingenuous and outrageous." Bishop Walsh and Bishop Ray Field offered an apology to child-abuse victims as they announced their resignations during Christmas Midnight Mass on 24 December 2009. There are therefore no currently active Auxiliary Bishops to assist Archbishop Martin. This is in addition to this month of two other bishops, Donal Murray of Limerick and James Moriarty of Kildare, who have also resigned following the publication on 26 November of a three-year investigation into why so many abusive Dublin priests escaped justice for so long. In a joint statement, Walsh and Field said they hoped their resignations "''may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims (and) survivors of child sexual abuse. We again apologise to them''". Archbishop

Diarmuid Martin Diarmuid Martin (born 8 April 1945) is the retired Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. Martin was ordained a priest in 1969 and represented the Holy See at major United Nations International Conferences before becoming th ...

had called for his two auxiliary bishops to quit , but both initially refused. In his Christmas sermon, Martin said the church for too long placed its self-interest above the rights of its parishioners, particularly innocent children. He said they, as well as the dedicated majority of priests, had been betrayed by their leaders. "''It has been a painful year," he told worshippers at St Mary's pro-Cathedral in Dublin. "But the church today may well be a better and safer place than was the church of 25 years ago – when all looked well, but where deep shadows were kept buried.''" In their joint resignation speech, they said they had that "evening informed

that we are offering our resignation to

His Holiness The title His Holiness (and the associated form of address Your Holiness) is an official title or style referring to the pope; this use can be traced back several hundred years. It is also an official title for Oriental Orthodox patriarchs or ...

, Pope Benedict XVI, as Auxiliary Bishops to the Archbishop of Dublin. As we celebrate the Feast of Christmas, the Birth of our Saviour, the Prince of Peace, it is our hope that our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. We again apologise to them. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have so bravely spoken out and those who continue to suffer in silence."

Return to ministry and retirement

On 11 August 2010, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI did not accept Bishop Walsh's resignation and that he would return to ministry within the archdiocese along with Bishop Raymond Field. He retired on 30 September 2019, at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Eamonn Oliver 1944 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland 21st-century Roman Catholic titular bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Alumni of Clonliffe College Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Ireland Auxiliary bishops of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin Ecclesiastical passivity to Catholic sexual abuse cases 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland

Resignation

Return to ministry and retirement

See also

References