A Co Antrim priest has called on Cardinal Desmond Connell to follow the example of the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, and resign over his handling of clerical sex abuse cases.
Father Patrick McCafferty of St Patrick's parish, Lisburn, accused senior clerics of showing contempt for the abused. He is understood to be the first Irish priest to call for the Dublin archbishop to step down.
Cardinal Connell has already admitted mistakes in dealing with complaints of abuse.
In a letter published in the Irish News, Father McCafferty said the Catholic Church had shown "wicked contempt" for survivors of clerical sex abuse. By trying to address the issue publicly, through the pulpit and the media, he had proved unpopular, he said. "Often, I was regarded as a trouble-maker by certain ecclesiastical grandees, but I did not let this influence me. These men, who moved paedophiles around from parish to parish, who later on refused to listen to stories of immense and incalculable harm visited upon little ones, have absolutely no excuse. I hope they all resign now."
"These men, like Bernard Law, whoever they are, wherever they are, get out. You are not fit to lead the people of God, you are not fit for office. Get out, take his example and get out."
He said an account earlier this year of how an abuse victim, Ms Marie Collins, was treated by Cardinal Connell left him "so weak with sorrow and rage that I did not think I had the strength to celebrate 12 noon Mass". He said he took his cue from Ms Collins who stood outside Archbishop's House in Dublin after news of Cardinal Law's resignation, demanding that Cardinal Connell follow suit.
"If someone like her, who has been so appallingly treated, thinks he should resign, he should do it almost in reparation for what he hasn't done for her. Just as there is no place for paedophiles in the Church, there is no role for these people who so breathtakingly mishandled these cases.
"Ultimately, this is a matter for his own conscience but I have stated clearly that I hope they all resign now. They should all take their cue from Bernard Law." Survivors of abuse needed "love, healing, peace, gentleness and acceptance", he said.
"All these are to be found in the real Church, not the false Church of ecclesiastical politics, privilege, titles and sinful ambition. The real Church of the Lord is about humble service."