New Bishop of Nottingham ordained

Mgr Patrick McKinney in 2014

Monsignor Patrick McKinney was ordained tenth Bishop of Nottingham today, Friday 3 July 2015, in St Barnabas' Cathedral, Nottingham. The Ordination Mass drew people from across the Diocese of Nottingham, which includes most of the East Midlands, together with civic leaders, representatives of other Christian churches, priests, deacons and religious sisters from the Diocese of Nottingham and the Archdiocese of Birmingham, where Bishop McKinney worked as a priest before his appointment as Bishop of Nottingham.

At the beginning of the Mass, which was attended by Sir John Peace, the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Councillor Jackie Morris, and the Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, Councillor Sybil Fielding, a minute's silence will be held in memory of the victims of the recent terrorist atrocities in Tunisia.

Bishop McKinney was ordained by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, assisted by the Most Rev Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool and Bishop McKinney's predecessor as Bishop of Nottingham, and the Most Rev Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Liverpool. Also present was His Excellency Antonio Mennini, the Apostolic Nuncio (the Pope's representative) in Great Britain, Bishops from across England and Wales, and members of Bishop McKinney's family.

In his homily, Cardinal Nichols spoke of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 'which is much needed in our troubled world': ..'It calls us to proclaim fundamental values which have to be found at the heart of the kind of society to which we all aspire. These are the values, the principles, of a transcendental humanism. They both underpin and reach beyond the pragmatic values of today and rest on a hope that we of ourselves cannot fulfil. Jesus is the vision of this humanism for he is the one human being who has reached fulfilment and who makes that fulfilment attainable for every person. In the face of all the threats we face, this is our salvation. The forgiveness shown by the Christians of Charleston, Alabama, robs terrorism of its power. The mercy of Christian humanism, a mercy to be shown to all, shows up the darkness of ideologies of death and why they are to be rejected by all who believe in the mystery of God at the heart of life. These are difficult days, yet our message of mercy and of eternal life, and our witness to them, has never been more relevant.'

Patrick Joseph McKinney was born in Birmingham on 30th April 1954, the eldest son of Patrick and Bridget McKinney, originally from Ireland; his family moved to Buncrana, in Co Donegal, Ireland, when he was still very young, before returning eventually to Birmingham.

Patrick began his studies for the priesthood at in St Mary's College, Oscott, the Archdiocese of Birmingham's seminary for the training of priests, in 1972, and was ordained to the priesthood on 29th July 1978 in St Mary's Church, Buncrana, where his family lives.

After his Ordination, Father McKinney was appointed assistant priest in the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Yardley Wood, Birmingham, and chaplain to St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, Kings Norton, Birmingham. Between 1982 and 1984, he was a student at the Pontifical Grregorian University, where he gained a Licence in Sacred Theology.

Returning from Rome to the Archdiocese of Birmingham, he taught fundamental theology in St Mary's College until 1989, when he was appointed Rector of St Mary's College, a post he held for nine years, during which period he was also a lecturer in ecclesiology, the theology of the Church. He was made a Prelate of Honour in 1990 and a member of the Metropolitan Chapter of St Chad in 1992.

Monsignor McKinney left Oscott in 1998, becoming parish priest of St John, Great Haywood, and Episcopal Vicar for the north of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He left the parish in 2001, remaining as Episcopal Vicar until 2006, when he was appointed parish priest of Our Lady and All Saints, Stourbridge and Dean of the Dudley Deanery. He has also served for a time as Chair of the Birmingham Archdiocesan Ecumenical Commission.

Pope Francis appointed Monsignor McKinney as tenth Bishop of Nottingham in succession to the Most Reverend Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool, on 14th May 2015. On 3rd July 2015, he was ordained to the sacred Order of the episcopate by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, in St Barnabas' Cathedral, taking as his motto 'Seek the Face of Christ'.

Source: Diocese of Nottingham