DR JOHN MAGEE RETIRES TO MITCHELSTOWN
A number of locals have expressed reservations at the news that the former Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee, who resigned earlier this year, is to spend his retirement in Mitchelstown.
Parish priest, Fr Michael Fitzgerald made the announcement that Dr Magee was to retire to the North Cork town at Mass last Sunday.
“I want to welcome Bishop Magee to our community here in Mitchelstown. He will be moving into the parochial house and I am sure he will feel very much at home in Mitchelstown,” Father Fitzgerald told The Avondhu.
Calls to resign Bishop Magee resigned from his post in March after criticism over his handling of child abuse cases in the diocese of Cloyne. The bishop had faced several calls to resign after a report, published late last year, found his diocese had responded inappropriately to sex abuse allegations and had put children at risk of harm.
LOCALS CONFUSED
However, many locals are confused as to why the former bishop has chosen Mitchelstown as a location to spend his retirement, “I don’t have or want much to do with the Church and I know there is nothing I or the community can do about it but I am not happy with this announcement. I would prefer if he did not come to my community,” Sean O’Mahony (42) told The Avondhu.
“Will he be saying Mass? Or is he just going to live up in the canon’s house? I have no problem with Bishop Magee coming to Mitchelstown at all,” Nora O’Brien (73) said.
GAVE UP
“I don’t care really, I gave up going to Mass long before all the controversy started. I think that Bishop Magee like many others in the Catholic Church has a lot to answer for and if I know the Church and this country they will never be held responsible for what they covered up and all the young lives they helped destroy over the years. If he wants to come to Mitchelstown, fine, but I hope the people remember how he failed the people of Cobh and the diocese of Cloyne,” Robert Mulhern (27) told The Avondhu.
When asked if Bishop Magee would be celebrating Mass in Mitchelstown, Fr Fitzgerald said that these details had yet to be worked out. “It is my understanding that Dr Magee is coming to Mitchelstown as part of his retirement and that is all I know at the moment,” the parish priest concluded.
Published:
Thursday 24th June 6:23pm
