A priest who expressed his surprise at Cardinal Desmond Connell's court action against the Dublin child abuse commission during a weekend sermon, has said there are only "two things" the church should say on the issue.
Fr Martin Dolan, curate of the St Nicholas of Myra Parish in Francis Street, Dublin, said the church should condemn child abuse and apologise to its victims.
"Child abuse is wrong, there are never mitigating circumstances and we are to blame for what happened within our institution, and we're asking for forgiveness," he said.
Fr Dolan said that for the cardinal to have intervened at this stage of the process was "incomprehensible" because the commission is a powerful symbol for people who have been abused that there was real change taking place inside the diocese.
He told RTÉ News that the cardinal is perfectly entitled to feel he has rights surrounding the issue but that it is not the way the Catholic Church should operate.
"We are not a company, we operate out of the gospel and the gospel tells us we should put other people first, even if that means your personal reputation or your position is at risk."
Fr Dolan also said that although a statement had been issued on the archdiocese website, he was disappointed by the response of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to the cardinal's actions.
"People won't challenge one another and they won't point out what they see as wrong and that's precisely what allowed all of this to happen in the first place," Fr Dolan said.
