Desmond Connell

Desmond Connell (24 March 1926 – 21 February 2017) was an Irish cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church.

He was an Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland.

Cardinal Connell was one of a number of senior clergy to have been heavily criticised for inaction, making misleading statements and covering up clerical sex abuse in Dublin.

Connell was born in Dublin on 24 March 1926, the son of John, a civil servant and Mary Lacy, a telephone operator.

He was educated at St Peter's National School, Phibsboro and the Jesuit Fathers' second-level school, Belvedere College, and studied for the priesthood at Holy Cross College, Clonliffe.

He later studied Arts at University College Dublin (UCD) and graduated with a BA in 1946; he was awarded an MA the following year.

Between 1947 and 1951, he studied theology at St Patrick's College, Maynooth for a Bachelor of Divinity.

Connell was ordained priest by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid in 1951 and consecrated by Archbishop Gaetano Alibrandi, Titular Archbishop of Binda in 1988.

He also had an academic career, with a post at the Department of Metaphysics in University College Dublin.

He continued his studies at the Pontifical University of Leuven, Belgium, where he was awarded a doctorate in Philosophy in 1953.

He was appointed Professor of General Metaphysics in 1972.

All bishops submit their resignation to the Pope on their 75th birthday.

Connell's was accepted shortly after he turned 78.

In 1981 he was awarded a D.Litt. degree by the National University of Ireland.

In 1983, he became the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology.

Archbishop Kevin McNamara died unexpectedly in April 1987 but Connell's appointment was not formally announced until January 1988.

The favoured bishop for the post was Bishop Donal Murray.

Murray was reportedly blocked by the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Gaetano Alibrandi, who wanted to transfer Archbishop Dermot Clifford from Cashel to Dublin.

However that was opposed by Dublin priests (and many of the bishops), who saw Clifford as an outsider in Dublin.

Concerns were raised that Clifford was not popular with his own priests in Cashel.

When it became clear that Bishop Murray was the papal nuncio's chosen candidate, conservative elements in Dublin told their contacts in Rome that the auxiliary bishop accepted "unorthodox practices" in his area of the archdiocese, such as allowing altar girls in Bray, at the time an uncommon practice, and the conduct of absolution services there.

A news report on the subject was broadcast on RTÉ.

Rome withdrew Murray as a candidate.

In autumn 1987 Connell's name emerged as a contender for Dublin.

Connell was 62 and dean of the faculty of philosophy and sociology at UCD but had little pastoral experience.

He had been a close friend of both previous archbishops of Dublin, McNamara and Dermot Ryan, and had ministered to the dying Dr McNamara.

By December 1987, rumours from Rome indicated that Connell was to get the appointment.

On 21 January 1988, it was announced he was archbishop-elect.

Connell was appointed Archbishop of Dublin by the Holy See on 21 January 1988.

He was consecrated in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin on 6 March 1988.

Connell began to speak out on social issues, particularly on unemployment, Travellers, and the disadvantaged generally.

In 1996, Connell refused to help Marie Collins, a victim of Paul McGennis and did not pass on what he knew to her or to the police.

He had been a supporter of the Holy Office's declaration Dominus Iesus in 2000, applauding its opposition to relativism.

He was created Cardinal-Priest by Pope John Paul II at the Consistory in Rome on 21 February 2001 with the Titulus S. Silvestri in Capite.

He apologised six years later, in April 2002.

In October 2002, a RTÉ Prime Time program was broadcast detailing cases of sexual abuse among the clergy within the Dublin diocese.

On 26 April 2004, Connell retired as archbishop, handing the diocese to the coadjutor, Diarmuid Martin.

Connell was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

He attended the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June 2012 and concelebrated at the Statio Orbis Mass in Croke Park Stadium.

He died on 21 February 2017, aged 90.