Low opinions among priests in Dublin about church leadership had improved considerably since 1997, the chairman of the Dublin Diocese Council of Priests, Father Martin Cosgrove, said yesterday.
A survey of Dublin priests published that year found the greatest source of stress in their lives was the "general church leadership".
The second most important cause of stress was "clergy scandals", the survey showed.
Stress related to the image of the church and to the media ranked number five and six respectively, while celibacy ranked 11th.
The survey was conducted between February and June 1996. Questionnaires were sent to 578 priests in the archdiocese, of whom 323 replied.
Father Michael Breen, who analysed the returned questionnaires, said then he felt the stress findings could be related to the time at which the survey was conducted, when there was much publicity surrounding child sex abuse cases involving priests.
Father Cosgrove said yesterday that much had been put in place by the church in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland concerning the child sex abuse problem since 1997.
At meetings he had seen how Cardinal Connell "agonised" over the child sex abuse issue particularly, and how Dr Connell was the first person to acknowledge shortcomings in dealing with the problem.
Not many others "have been as proactive as our man over the past 10 years or less", Father Cosgrove said. He was commenting following a statement issued by the Council of Priests on Monday.
Signed by Father Cosgrove, it rejected recent calls for the resignation of Cardinal Connell.
Cardinal Connell is president of Dublin Diocese Council of Priests and attends their meetings. The council is made up of approximately 20 priests, including the archdiocese's auxiliary bishops, who normally number five.
