Churchman of the Year

To me, there is one clear answer: Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin.

During a turbulent year in Ireland, with report after report detailing the appalling record of abuse and cover-up within the Irish church, archbishop Martin has been unwavering in his call for reform and victim support. His policy of transparency led to the bizarre situation of his predecessor, Cardinal Connell, suing him in an Irish court. He made no secret of his disgust with his fellow bishops and chancery officials who perpetuated the cover up and ignored the problem of predator priests. And now, after the Murphy report into his own Dublin diocese, Martin publicly called for the resignation of four bishops, two of them his auxiliaries, and two of them former auxiliaries – this came after the resignation of bishop Murray of Limerick, another ex-Dublin auxiliary. Martin said that these four did not resign, he would petition the Congregation of Bishops to remove them. Since then, one of the four has resigned.

This is the kind of leadership sorely needed by the Irish church. One of Martin’s great themes is that the Church has lost the confidence of the Irish people, especially the young people. He knows the Church needs to regain their trust, and that this will be an uphill battle. He realizes that the Irish Catholic Church must not only confront the grave errors of the past, but also engage openly on the pressing cultural issues of the day. It needs to cast off the cultural Jansenism that has enshrouded it for decades.