Message for media in Bishop's last interview

Editorial Department • Published 22 Jul 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Retiring after 31 years, Bishop Duffy and Bishop-elect Monsignor Liam McDaid. The ordination ceremony takes place this Sunday.

In his last interview as serving Bishop of the Clogher Diocese, the Most Rev Dr Joseph Duffy issued a strong message largely aimed at the media and the role they have to play in ensuring effective communication between the Catholic Church and the public.

As the longest-serving ordinary in Ireland, Bishop Duffy's 31-year role in office will come to an end this Sunday when his secretary, Mgr Liam MacDaid is ordained. Bishop Duffy offered his resignation to the Holy See after turning 75 in February of last year; an act in accordance with cannon Law.

In March Bishop Duffy received criticism centring on the way in which the Catholic Church handled clerical sex abuse. This concerned his admission to making a mistake almost 20 years ago when he kept a case of abuse secret at the request of a victim's family. Despite the surrounding facts having entered the public realm when the case was brought to court almost 15 years ago, the tabloid press seized on an opportunity to regurgitate the story.

Public confidence in the Church has since plummeted, yet many - including Pope Benedict XVI - have argued that sensationalist and superfluous coverage has exacerbated the problem. It's against this background that Bishop Duffy issued his remarks on Monday concerning the Church's right to the "positive attention" of the media.

"We've admitted that we've been slow and have dragged our feet," said the retiring Bishop. "But, having said that I'd like to think that we're doing our best to communicate what we're trying to say.

"We have to acknowledge the fact that the media have done a service to society; exposing sin and corruption. That's a great service. But getting to the facts of it is different. Your commercial interests are different to our interests."

Discussing the much-changed nature of his role, Bishop Duffy was quick to praise the media's treatment of him but suggested more can be done to provide heightened transparency.

"To put it in a nutshell it's a lot more difficult for a Bishop to put his point across these days. One example of this concerns the relationship with the media. Where media direction has moved away from local management, Bishops have more difficulty in being heard and reported fairly."

"I appreciate that not everything I say is newsworthy, but there are positive messages in the Gospel that need to be said; encouraging people to think positively and to think about serious issues."

Asked about how the church can communicate with the public following the scandal, Bishop Duffy replied promptly: "It's showing that there's human interaction and that we're human too. I'm not expecting you to agree with what I say, but I am expecting to be heard. I need to be heard and I want to be heard."

Largely at ease for the majority of the conference, the Bishop only became significantly impassioned when asked what message he would give to those feeling disillusioned in their faith following the tragic crash in County Donegal on July 11.

"My initial reaction to the crash was one of anger; that in this day and age of communication that these things can still happen," he said. "I'd like those people affected to know that we care about them. We need to be more serious about life and that's a comment on our education system."

Asked about his plans post-retirement the Bishop laughed: "I have no plans to disappear."

Pat Drury a friend of the Bishop and Co-ordinator of Safeguarding Children Training quipped: "I'll be relieved to see Bishop Duffy go; as much for him. It's been a long old stint."

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 22 Jul 10

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