**There is intense speculation in Ireland that a bishop criticised in a report into clerical sex abuse is likely to resign on Thursday.**Bishop Donal Murray was criticised in the Murphy report for the way he dealt with a paedophile priest while he was an auxiliary bishop in Dublin.
Bishop Murray travelled to Rome last week along where he held discussions with the Pope.
On Saturday he released a statement saying he was “awaiting developments”.
The Murphy report into abuse in the Irish capital’s archdiocese damned the church hierarchy’s handling of priests suspected of being child abusers.
The report said many bishops were more concerned with preserving the reputation of the church rather than protecting children.
It said Bishop Murray did not deal properly with the suspicions and concerns that were expressed to him in relation to one priest, Fr Tom Naughton in 1983.
“Inexcusable”
A short time later, factual evidence of Naughton’s abusing emerged in another parish.
The Murphy report found Bishop Murray’s failure to reinvestigate the earlier suspicions was “inexcusable”.
In May 1998, Naughton pleaded guilty to six counts of indecently assaulting three boys in 1985 and 1986. He was jailed for three years, reduced on appeal to two and a half years.
On Wednesday Naughton was jailed again - this time for three years for sexually abusing an altar boy between 1982 and 1984.
Bishop Murray did accept in 2002 that he had not dealt well with the situation.
On Sunday, a former doctoral student of Pope Benedict, Father Vincent Twomey said it was a ‘scandal’ that bishops criticised in the Murphy report had not resigned.
The theologian, who is still close to the Pope, said delays in resignations were causing damage to the church.