The Front Pages
Both the Irish Independent and Irish Times have decided to devote their front page headlines to yesterday’s surprising news that Pope Benedict XVI had rejected offers of resignation by auxiliary bishops Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field. The Irish Times featured the headline ‘Archdiocese confirms bishops’ resignation rejected’ while the Independent instead ran with ‘Storm as Pope lets bishops keep jobs’.
The Independent called the decision a ‘severe blow’ to the authority of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin as the Pontiff made his long-awaited decision yesterday. Bishops Walsh and Field had been named in cover-ups of paedophile clerics and Archbishop Martin had called for each to take responsibility for their actions.
The paper also spoke to abuse survivor Andrew Madden, who said that the announcement ‘shows how utterly meaningless the instruction was that Pope Benedict gave to Irish bishops to identify steps that would bring healing to victims of clerical child sexual abuse.’
The Times claims that senior Vatican figures had been worried of a possible ‘domino effect had it emerged other Irish bishops had mishandled allegations of clerical child abuse, and that the pope had opted ‘to differentiate between sins of “omission†and sins of “commissionâ€â€™ in relation to the scandals.
Tales from the Tabs
‘She’s behind you! Photo of father looking for his long-lost daughter reveals her in the background’
Well, that wasn’t so easy to find, was it? The Daily Mail today reports on the curious case of Michael Dick, who had not seen his 31-year-old daughter since he separated from his first wife over ten years ago. Traveling to Sudbury, Suffolk, where he was told she had moved, he brought along his other daughters, Shannon and Samantha, to help with his search.
Ironically, after contacting the local newspaper to aid him in his search, it was a photograph he posed in for the newspaper that pinpointed his daughter, above the left shoulder of his daughter, with his long-lost daughter walking in the background. Naturally, when the photo was published in the local paper the following week, Michael could not have known, but his 31-year-old daughter Lisa instantly recognised her dad, and herself and mother, in the printed photo.
Lisa said: ‘I was just completely shocked. Me and my mum had been standing in the exact place where the picture was taken about a minute earlier, and you can see us in the picture walking away. It is incredible.’
Both are now reunited and Lisa stunned her long-lost father by revealing that she has three children of her own. This heartwarming story appears in the Daily Mail this morning – though many online readers have apparently discovered that the story is actually three years old, so perhaps it’s already a slow news day at the Mail already.
The Sports Pages
There’s a ton of fallout from last night’s friendly international football matches, with the Irish Independent calling Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Argentina in their inaugural tie at the Aviva Stadium ‘an opening night to forget’. In the British press, Fabio Capello is coming under fire by revealing in a TV interview that David Beckham may be ‘a little bit too old’ to get called up against for the English senior side, and that the former England skipper ‘will play one friendly to say bye bye’ (The Sun).
In transfer news, unsettled Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland is putting his move to Aston Villa, as part of a player-plus-cash swap for James Milner, on hold. Apparently Ireland is holding out for the slim possibility to play in the Champions League for Tottenham Hotspur (Daily Mirror).
In other Villa news, the Daily Mirror today reports of an ambitious triangle of moves, which would bring Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer to Arsenal, Arsenal’s Manuel Almunia to Villa Park, and Villa’s Brad Friedel to the Craven Cottage. Stranger things have happened.
Finally, Liverpool have been told they have no hope of singing West Ham’s Carlton Cole as a second striker unless they match the Hammer’s price tag of £20m for the striker (The Sun). The Anfield club have also been linked to two moves for Aston Villa stars Stephen Warnock and Stiliyan Petrov, as part of a £14m double swoop (Caught Offside).
