42 Facts About Diarmuid Martin

Diarmuid Martin was born on 8 April 1945 and is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland from 2004 to 2020.

Diarmuid Martin became a bishop in 1999 and an archbishop in 2001.

Diarmuid Martin was raised and educated in Dublin, at the Oblate school in Inchicore, the De La Salle School situated on the Ballyfermot Road in Ballyfermot, and Marian College, Ballsbridge.

Diarmuid Martin went to University College Dublin, where he studied philosophy, and then went to the Dublin Diocese's seminary at Holy Cross College, where he studied theology.

Diarmuid Martin entered Clonliffe seven days before the opening of the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962.

Diarmuid Martin was ordained a priest on 25 May 1969 by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid.

In 1976, Diarmuid Martin entered the service of the Holy See, working for the Pontifical Council for the Family.

Diarmuid Martin later worked on the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, was appointed Under Secretary in 1986 and Secretary in 1994.

Diarmuid Martin led the delegations of the Holy See to the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

Diarmuid Martin represented the views of the Holy See to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where he advocated for debt relief for less developed countries.

Diarmuid Martin was appointed Coadjutor to Cardinal Desmond Connell on 3 May 2003 and was installed on 30 August.

On 26 April 2004, following the acceptance of Cardinal Connell's resignation by Pope John Paul II, Diarmuid Martin automatically succeeded him as Archbishop of Dublin.

In 2005 Diarmuid Martin said that being gay should not prevent a man becoming a Catholic priest.

Diarmuid Martin addressed this topic again on Holy Thursday 2009, saying that the two biggest problems facing young people were the Catholic Church's condemnation of gay couples and the question of suicide.

Diarmuid Martin said that these were causing "a disconnect" which was causing "a dramatic and growing rift" between the Church and the younger generation.

Diarmuid Martin accepted that this was partly the Church's fault because young people were much more questioning today than previously and he urged his priests to offer services in the parish that would be geared more towards their particular concerns.

Diarmuid Martin said that young people "see through the superficial answers we give".

On 25 May 2009, Diarmuid Martin stated in the Irish Times :.

Diarmuid Martin said on 1 December 2009 that he was writing to Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray, a former auxiliary bishop of the Dublin diocese who was strongly criticised in the report but who, while saying he regretted his actions, did not immediately resign from his Limerick post, and to all other auxiliary bishops who served in Dublin and who were named in the report.

Diarmuid Martin said he was "not satisfied" with some of their responses so far.

Diarmuid Martin pointed out that those bishops named in the report, but no longer serving in the Dublin archdiocese, could not tailor their responses to people in their current dioceses.

Diarmuid Martin said they, as well as the dedicated majority of priests, had been betrayed by their leaders.

Diarmuid Martin came in for criticism among other high ranking clergy for calling for the resignations of bishops mentioned in the Murphy report.

Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Dublin Dermot O'Mahony said Diarmuid Martin had failed to support priests in the Dublin diocese following publication of the Murphy report.

Diarmuid Martin circulated his own correspondence with Martin to the Council of Priests.

Diarmuid Martin said the pope acknowledged the suffering and betrayal experienced by survivors of clerical abuse.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin then made what victims said was the most explicit apology to date for the role of the Church hierarchy in enabling the abuse.

Three of the victims held hands and sobbed as Diarmuid Martin poured water on their feet and Cardinal O'Malley dried them with a towel.

In May 2011 Archbishop Diarmuid Martin emphasised he was not criticising Pope Benedict, but was encouraging a sense of urgency on the part of the Pope's "collaborators" in the Roman Curia.

In March 2010, Diarmuid Martin welcomed an announcement by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe that his department "will shortly be providing an initial list of about 10 urban areas that can be used to test the concept of reducing the number of Catholic schools".

Diarmuid Martin said that solutions would have to be found to respect the rights of teachers "who do not wish to be involved in religious education".

Diarmuid Martin welcomed the fact that "the Minister has indicated that there will be consultations with parents, teachers and local communities".

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said on reading his report that his "first emotion that came to me was anger".

Diarmuid Martin said the Vatican, in responding to the findings of last week's report on child abuse cases in the Cloyne diocese, should reiterate its support for the Irish church in applying existing "norms", or rules, on child protection.

Diarmuid Martin acknowledged that people could feel deceived by the church.

Diarmuid Martin said the norms set down by the present pope in 2001 had been ignored in the Cloyne diocese.

Diarmuid Martin said six elderly priests were verbally abused at a colleague's funeral this week when someone challenged them, claiming they "should be ashamed of themselves".

Diarmuid Martin gave a speech at the Synod and said later that the bishops' Synod on the Family must show that church teaching can develop so it can respond to the difficulties faced by ordinary Catholics.

On 2 December 2014 Archbishop Diarmuid Martin offered to house some of the city's homeless people in church property, after a homeless man was found dead metres away from Leinster House, one of the parliament buildings.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said one of his diocesan buildings could be made suitable before Christmas to provide shelter for between 30 and 40 homeless people in the inner city.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said that 2016 comments by Raymond Cardinal Burke on Islam's supposed desire to "govern the world" are unhelpful at a time when Europe reels in the aftermath of a spate of terror attacks.

On 6 January 2019, Diarmuid Martin called for caution in constructing anti-abortion protests outside of abortion clinics.