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8 August 2016

Vatican's man an enigma among his own

No man has done more to ensure that the Catholic Church in Ireland retains credibility than Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. It's a reputation that he has sometimes paid a heavy price for, but also one that he's been loath to claim credit for. A career Vatican diplomat, Martin (71) was thrust into the maelstrom in 2003 when Pope John Paul II handpicked him to return to his native Dublin to manage a Church in crisis. Cardinal Desmond Connell - then at the helm of the country's largest diocese - had been mortally wounded by the punishing revelations in Mary Raftery's 'Cardinal Secrets' documentary which exposed a corrupt culture that put the avoidance of scandal and the reputation of the Church ahead of the needs of children.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/vaticans-man-an-enigma-among-his-own-34943149.html