British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's often quoted dictum that 'a week is a long time in politics' has an uncanny resonance in the ecclesiastical spat between Cardinal Desmond Connell and his successor as Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin.

The week began with the 81-year-old Cardinal's High Court application to block a Government-appointed Commission of Investigation from examining sensitive diocesan files relating to his handling of clerical sex abuse allegations being characterised as a desperate cover-up attempt.

In contrast to this demonisation of the former Professor of Metaphysics and expert in angels, Archbishop Martin, groomed for three decades in the Vatican's diplomatic service, was lauded as a shining knight striking a blow on behalf of the victims of abuse for full transparency of documentation in a traditionally highly secretive Irish Catholic Church.

However, towards the end of the biggest week of high-profile public conflict in recent times between two senior prelates in the Irish Church, the matter unexpectedly tilted towards the unpopular Prince of the Church as he was presented as a silent and misunderstood martyr for principle.

On Thursday, a thunderbolt exploded in the leafy trees and cloistered grounds of Archbishop Martin's Palace in Drumcondra when the Irish Catholic newspaper claimed that the Cardinal had confided some 18 months ago to friends in Rome that he was prepared to go to jail rather than break promises of confidentiality which he had given to some victims who did not want to inform the Gardai and the health authoritites of their allegations against some unnamed priests.

This sensational front-page story by editor Garry O'Sullivan was accompanied by a hard-hitting commentary which challenged a public perception that the Cardinal was unwell and a maverick, and instead questioned Dr Martin's leadership by suggesting that he was more responsible for a break-down in communications with his predecessor.

On reading this tirade in the 'Catholic Bugle', Bishops bristled and one social commentator moaned about "Catholic dinosaurs mired in the past". The pressure is now on the incumbent. Since becoming Archbishop four years ago, Diarmuid Martin has been nick-named "St Martin of Tours" by his clergy on account of his frequent visits to Rome and high-profile speaking engagements in Britain, Europe, America and Africa.

Irked by this sobriquet, he told The Tablet, the international Catholic weekly: "When I have been somewhere abroad, some people think that I, as they would do, spend part of a trip sight-seeing. When I travel to a meeting, I come straight back to Dublin when the business is over. I would often go for a half day and be back in Dublin late that evening. There is no touring on my travels."

But this has not stopped his clergy believing that he is desperate to get the Commission of Investigation's work completed quickly and thoroughly so that he can return to high office in the Roman Curia.

Pointedly, the Archbishop also told The Tablet: "I work long days. I am very attentive to the needs of my diocese. I have given a lot of attention to the Priests' Council and I am preparing the ground for a Diocesan Pastoral Council."

The reality is that the bespectacled, slowly greying and slightly chubby Archbishop, who will be 63 in April, is in huge demand internationally to speak on justice and peace issues. But his honeymoon period may be over. There are rumblings among his priests over his policy of removing a priest from his parish when an allegation of sex abuse is made. Last year, too, he came under angry criticism from the Christian Brothers for his decision to release a report compiled by a former chaplain to the Artane Industrial School.

He is unlikely to abandon his policy of open cooperation with the State Investigation on behalf of victims. Leadership sits more easily on his squat shoulders than on the stooped frame of Cardinal Connell. He is a good social mixer. He displays no pomposity, but is impatient of waffle. His sermons, especially at funerals, are well-crafted and excellently delivered. He carries the authority of his office with a humane, smiling face and a warm handshake.

A social progressive, he is doctrinally conservative, defending the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI and the late John Paul II against the ordination of married men and women.

In his tenure to-date, he has established himself as a breath of fresh air in a demoralised Hierarchy, which under the Archbishop of Armagh and President of the Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Sean Brady, has been regaining public confidence and enjoying a revival in religious attendance.

Clearly, Dr Martin is smart enough to know that he will have to live with the new found celebrity focus which the media has conferred on him as one of the most interesting and professional churchmen in the world, as well as with the uncomfortable fall-out from his disagreement with Cardinal Connell.

As both sides closed the shutters in Drumcondra and nearby Glasnevin, where the Cardinal lives in retirement with his books and brooding solitude, their legal teams are frantically searching for a face-saving compromise before the High Court reconvenes on Monday.

But tonight Demot will enjoy his favourite dish, saltimbocca a la romana

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/martin-and-connell-1285834.html