Two more bishops resign over Irish child sex abuse

DUBLIN - Two more bishops said Friday they were offering their resignation to Pope Benedict XVI in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal in Ireland.

Auxiliary Bishops of Dublin Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field said in a statement they had informed the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, on Christmas Eve of their intention to quit.

According to The Telegraph, four bishops have now resigned following a damning report last month by judge Yvonne Murphy on the Dublin archdiocese - the country’s biggest - that found the Roman Catholic authorities concealed abuse of children by priests for three decades.

“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,” Walsh and Field said in their statement.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have so bravely spoken out and those who continue to suffer in silence,” the statement added further. (ANI)