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Ireland: Pope appoints new Bishop of Meath


Bishop-elect Thomas Deenihan

Bishop-elect Thomas Deenihan

Source: Irish Catholic Media Office

Pope Francis has appointed Canon Thomas Deenihan (a priest of the Diocese of Cork & Ross) as the new Bishop of Meath. This news of the appointment was made public at noon on Monday in the Vatican.

Bishop-elect Tom Deenihan was born in the parish of Blackpool in Cork city on 20 June 1967. He attended the North Monastery Christian Brothers School in the city. After completing post-primary education, he studied in the national seminary of Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth. Bishop-elect Deenihan was ordained a deacon by Bishop Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, in Maynooth on 1 April 1990. On 1 June 1991 he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Cork & Ross by the late Bishop Michael Murphy.

Since Ordination, Bishop-elect Deenihan worked in Glanmire Parish (1991-1994), taught in Saint Goban's College Bantry (1994-2003) during which time he also worked in the parishes of Schull, Kealkil and Bantry. During that time also he undertook a Masters and Doctoral Degree in Education. In 2003, Bishop John Buckley, Bishop of Cork & Ross, appointed him as Diocesan Advisor for Post-Primary Catechetics and, in 2006, as Diocesan Secretary and Diocesan Education Secretary. He currently hold these positions.

On a national level, Bishop-elect Deenihan served as General Secretary of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association from 2013 to 2016, and as acting-executive secretary to the Council for Education and to the Commission for Catholic Education and Formation of the Irish Episcopal Conference from 2016 to date.

Bishop-elect Deenihan is a member of: the Honan Governors at University College Cork; a member of Mercy Care South, a Diocesan Public Juridic Person for the Mercy University Hospital in Cork; and is chair of the Board of Directors of the Christian Leadership in Education Office. In 2017 Bishop Buckley appointed him a Canon and a member of the Cathedral Chapter in Cork.

Archbishop Eamon Martin said: "I warmly welcome the appointment today by Pope Francis of Canon Thomas Deenihan (Cork and Ross) as Bishop of the historic diocese of Meath, which is situated in the metropolitan province of Armagh.

I offer my sincere congratulations and prayerful support to Bishop-elect Deenihan on what is a joyous day for him, his family, friends and for the faithful of the 69 parishes of Meath."Bishop-elect Deenihan's background in education, serving as General Secretary of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association from October 2013 and as Acting Executive Secretary of the Council for Education of the Irish Episcopal Conference from July 2016, as well as his role as Diocesan Secretary in his home dioceses of Cork & Ross highlights some of the rich experiences that he will bring to the people of his new diocese.

I look forward to working alongside Bishop-elect Deenihan in the Irish Bishops' Conference and I pray that his new patron, Saint Finian, will guide him in his ministry."

Archbishop Martin continued: "On this day I also wish to express my deep gratitude to Bishop Michael Smith, Bishop Emeritus of Meath, the longest serving bishop in Ireland. For almost fifty years, Bishop Smith has made an outstanding contribution to the work of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, as its first Executive Secretary, and then as a highly committed Episcopal Secretary and member. He is highly respected by his brother bishops, and, as a relative newcomer to the Conference myself, I have valued highly his contributions and his warm personal encouragement. His wisdom and insights into recent ecclesial history in Ireland are unparalleled, including his first-hand experience of the Second Vatican Council and of the planning for the 1979 visit of Pope St John Paul II. I pray God's blessings on him and wish him good health and happiness in retirement."

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