Posted online: Jul 28th, 2010

By Lauren Harte
reporter

The newly ordained Bishop of Clogher has said the Catholic Church has been brought to its knees following recent revelations of clerical child sex abuse.
Speaking at his Ordination Ceremony, Bishop Liam MacDaid said society had forced the Irish Church to look into the mirror and “what we saw were weakness and failure, victims and abuse”.
He added: “The surgeon’s knife has been painful but necessary. A lot of evil and poison has been excised. There comes a time when the surgeon’s knife has done what it can, is put away and a regime of rehabilitation for the patient is put in place.”
The 65-year-old Bundoran native was ordained as the new Bishop of Clogher by Catholic Primate Cardinal Seán Brady on Sunday afternoon in St. Macartan’s Cathedral, Monaghan.
In his homily, the Bishop said those in the Church had been brought to their knees, adding that “maybe that is no bad thing”.
“While society keeps the mirror in front of us and rightly checks that we are sincere in our intentions and efforts towards rehabilitation, can I invite you, priests and people of the diocese of Clogher, to join
me in a repentant return to well of salvation,” he added.
Among those in attendance were Taoiseach Brian Cowen;Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Chairman of Bundoran Town Council, Cllr Sean McEniff.
Speaking afterwards, Cllr McEniff said it was a proud day for Bundoran: “It was a great day for the town and I was delighted to see so many people from Bundoran in Monaghan on Sunday. I always believed that Liam would go on to higher things and I’ve been proved right. I was Chair of the Town Council the year Liam was ordained
and I said to him that the next time I came back to the job
he would be wearing purple which he now is.”
A civic reception will be held in Bundoran later this year to mark Bishop MacDaid’s elevation when he is also expected to celebrate Mass in the seaside town.