Relentless Decline: Six Irish Dioceses Reduced to Three
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The six western dioceses will be left with three bishops. Archbishop Francis Duffy, 65, of Tuam takes over the diocese of Killala, while Bishop John Fleming, 76, of Killala retires.
Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin is appointed Apostolic Administrator of Achonry. The present Bishop of Achonry, Mgr Paul Dempsey, 52, is deposed and demoted to Auxiliary Bishop in Dublin.
Already in May 2022, Bishop Michael Duignan, 53, of Clonfert, became also Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh.
The Irish nuncio, Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, sugar-coats the massive decline in the formerly Catholic country by talking of "new challenges" and "pooling resources" to "increase vitality". A full merger will take place "if this process evolves still further".
Bishop Doran spoke sarcastically (?) of "the possibility of a new spring" (Independent.ie). Until the Second Vatican Council, Ireland was a hotbed of vocations. After that, the Church of the country became tepid, mediocre and boring ("liberal").
Picture: Luis Mariano Montemayor © wikipedia, CC BY-SA, #newsWlliyrrfzs
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