DUBLIN (AP) — Catholic Cardinal Sean Brady of Ireland says he won't resign despite admitting he helped the church collect evidence against a child-molesting priest — but never told police about the crimes.
Brady is the most senior Catholic official to be snared in Ireland's 16 years of revelations of abuse cover-ups inside the church.
The cardinal is a defendant in a Dublin lawsuit by a victim of Brendan Smyth, one of Ireland's most notorious pedophiles. Brady admits he interviewed two of Smyth's victims in 1975 and had them sign oaths promising not to discuss their allegations with anyone outside the church.
Smyth's 40-year catalog of abuse in Ireland, Britain and the United States was exposed in 1994.
Brady said Monday he would resign only if Pope Benedict XVI requested it.
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