The Catholic Church in Ireland has been authoritarian and has to change, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said today.
The 58-year-old successor to Cardinal Desmond Connell will be formally made Dublin's Archbishop-in-waiting, coadjutor, tomorrow. He will replace Cardinal Connell when he resigns or passes away.
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Asked about the abuse scandals in the United States Archbishop Martin said the number of cases was "stunning" and the response by the Church "wasn't adaquate or quick enough".
"New measures have been put into place . . . which I think begin to address the question," he added.
Addressing similar scandals in Ireland he said: "There must be a way of ensuring that lawyers don't determine the pastoral practice of the Church.
He went on to say that the Church in Ireland had been authoritarian and that many women, for example, felt that they were not understood and did not feel fully welcomed into the Church.
"The Irish Church must learn to be a different sort of church," he said.
