Canon Tom Deenihan ordained Bishop of Meath
Canon Tom Deenihan was ordained Bishop of Meath today at a ceremony in Mullingar Cathedral.
The Chief Ordaining Prelate was Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, assisted by Most Reverend Michael Smith, Bishop Emeritus of Meath and Most Reverend John Buckley, Bishop of Cork and Ross. The Apostolic Mandate from Pope Francis was read by Father Padraig McMahon, who serves as Cathedral Administrator and was ordained to the priesthood the same year as the new Bishop. The homily was preached by Father Denis McNelis, Parish Priest of Laytown and Mornington. while Cardinal Séan Brady, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh also presided at the Mass.
In attendance at the Mass was the family and friends of Bishop Deenihan; representatives of Church groups in the Dioceses of Meath and Cork & Ross, colleagues of the new Bishop from Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth and representatives of civic society.
Pope Francis appointed Father Tom Deenihan as Bishop of Meath on 18 June 2018. The Diocese of Meath includes the greater part of counties Meath, Westmeath and Offaly. The Patron Saint of the diocese is Saint Finian. According to the Irish Catholic Directory 2018 the diocese has a Catholic population of 270,000 and consists of 69 parishes and 149 churches. There are 86 diocesan priests in active ministry in the diocese and 24 others who are currently working in other dioceses, retired, on study or on sick leave. Living and working in the diocese, from religious congregations, there are 95 priests, 18 Brothers and 150 Sisters. The Bishop of Meath is patron of 198 primary schools, and there are 38 voluntary secondary schools and State schools in the diocese.
WATCH: The ordination of Tom Deenihan the new Bishop of Meath
Address by Bishop Tom Deenihan at the Mass of Ordination
I officiated at a wedding recently where I commented during the homily that there was a tendency to see a wedding more as the end of a journey than the beginning of one! That quotation also came to mind when I was preparing these few words.
The last few weeks have been memorable in many ways.
For the priests and people of the Diocese of Meath, they have signalled the end of the episcopacy of Bishop Smith. There has been much affection, and justifiably, for Bishop Smith who served this Diocese faithfully as a bishop since 1984. Today, I would like to thank him for his pastoral care of this diocese and for his kindness to me over the past few weeks. May his retirement be long and happy and blessed with good health and I hope that he will always feel welcome here in the Cathedral and at Diocesan celebrations. I know that I will be relying on his counsel too in the months ahead and I thank him for being one of my co-consecrators.
For me, this summer has been remarkable. From my contact with the Papal Nuncio in June, until today, I have experienced a range of emotions: fear, unworthiness, apprehension and a certain calmness that comes from a combination of faith and the support of family, friends and colleagues in the priesthood both in Cork and in Meath. The words in the Papal Bulla or Mandate of Appointment, ‘do not let undue anxiety deter you...’ have been a reassurance and important for me.
I would like to thank Archbishop Okolo for his kindness over the past few months. His wise counsel and sense of joy was very much appreciated as is his presence here today as Pope Francis’ representative amongst us.
I would like to thank Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Metropolitan, for Officiating at today’s Ordination. Archbishop Eamon is a man of tremendous energy and commitment with a huge workload. I appreciate his time, encouragement and the effort he put into today’s liturgy.
For fifteen years now, I have worked with Bishop Buckley in Education and as Diocesan Secretary in Cork and Ross. He has been a remarkable pastor and I hope I will bring some of his pastoral concern for the people of the Diocese with me to the Diocese of Meath.
I appreciate the presence of Cardinal Brady and the other Bishops who concelebrated today. Over the past few weeks, I have received many letters and kind words from those who have travelled this road before – they were appreciated.
Since my appointment on 18 June, I have been blessed with the support, friendship and hospitality of Fr Padraig McMahon, Fr Paul Crosbie, Fr Joe Campbell and Ms Irene Connaughton in Bishop’s House.
Today’s liturgy was uplifting, joyful and has been the result of much work and preparation.
I would like to thank Will Woods and Dervilla Conlon for organising today’s music. Their input, along with the Cathedral Choir, the Cathedral Choristers and that of Mr. Gerard Lillis has ensured that today’s celebration was uplifting and joyful.
I have been an admirer of the liturgical music of Fuamlaoi and, specifically, Ronan McDonagh for a long time. Ronan volunteered his talents today and as well as having composed many of today’s pieces, his playing of the Uilleann Pipes was riveting and added hugely to the beauty of our liturgy today. Ronan is overdue in launching his next CD of Irish Church music and I will be insisting, insofar as I can, that it takes place here in Mullingar.
Thanks too to Fr. Denis McNelis for his Homily today. I encountered Fr. Denis over the years when he was Vice-Chair of CPSMA.
I have the joy of officiating at a priestly Ordination in three weeks. Our Deacon today, Fergal Cummins, will be ordained on September 30th. That will be a day of great rejoicing for the Diocese because an Ordination means a priest for a parish. We must all keep vocations to the fore in our prayers and in encouraging those who may be called to priesthood or religious life. If Christ personally invited his followers to follow him, why should we think it would be different in our day? We must, all of us, give that word of invitation and encouragement.
So many others contributed in terms of serving, stewarding, volunteering and in so many other ways. I cannot thank you all but you are all very much appreciated.
I want to welcome those who have travelled to Mullingar this afternoon. Foremost, I want to welcome my own family, particularly my mother, sisters, brother, niece and nephews. I am delighted that my mother, Phil, has been part of our celebration. We are missing my father today but the communion and litany of the saints is a consolation. I must acknowledge also the presence of my uncle, Brendan, who is a priest in South Africa and who is home on holidays.
I appreciate the presence of so many priests from the Diocese of Cork and Ross where I worked for the last 27 years. I enjoyed my time in the Cork and Ross presbyterate and appreciated the friendship and kindness that I experienced there.
I acknowledge too the presence of the clergy from Meath and I must record the kindness, words of welcome and hospitality that I encountered here since June.
I welcome the presence of my colleagues from Maynooth, both from Saint Patrick’s College and the Columba Centre led by the President Professor Michael Mullaney.
And I appreciate the prayers and good wishes of the representatives of the other Christian Denominations, particularly Bishop Pat Storey of Meath who is unavoidably absent and Bishop Paul Colton of Cork, Cloyne and Ross as well as Canon Alastair Graham and Father Kyrillos of the Romanian Orthodox community.
I have been fortunate in my parochial appointments – I spent much of my time attached to the vocational school and parish of Bantry and Kealkil. There I encountered a faith community and friends that were supportive, appreciative and had a healthy mixture of faith and wit. Until last June, It was my hope to finish there as Parish Priest. I particularly appreciated the friendship and hospitality I experienced there over the years and to the present in Bantry and Kealkil from former parishioners, friends, school colleagues and Past pupils, many of whom travelled today.
I, and I hope you, have found today’s celebration to be joyful. That word ‘joy’ is critical to what we are and to what we believe as Christians.
Be it as Bishops, Priests or Deacons, our Ministry must be joyful. Pope Francis referred to this in Evangelii Gaudium (85) when he stated that one of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism that can turn us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists, sourpusses’!
As I begin my new Ministry as Bishop of Meath, pray with me and for me that I and all who minister in this diocese will treasure and foster that sense of Joy that transcends our own worries, failings and shortcomings and enables us to reach out to others.
I am particularly conscious of my role in supporting, as best I can, that spirit of joy in the priests of the Diocese. They are the men who minister in so many different places, in so many different contexts and in oft difficult circumstances reaching out to those whom they minister to. It is not always easy being a priest today, like the parable, the priests of Ireland have worked in the noonday sun. They deserve support from their Bishop and Parishioners.
I am reminded by a line in the address by Pope Francis to the Irish Bishops at the end of the World Meeting of Families last Sunday, ‘Whenever you and your people feel that you are a ‘little flock’ exposed to the apparently irresistible onslaught of a culture so often alien to our deepest beliefs and values, do not grow discouraged. As Saint John of the Cross teaches us, it is in the darkest night that the light of faith shines purest in our hearts.’
As I mentioned at the beginning, which is now becoming too long ago, there may be a temptation to see an Episcopal Ordination, like a wedding, as the end rather than the beginning of a journey. A new chapter begins for me and, I suppose for the Diocese today.
Can I conclude by quoting a sentence from Saint Augustine of Canterbury that was mentioned to me recently by a colleague, let us ‘take care of each other in love on the journey’.
May God be with us!
Archbishop Eamon Martin’s words of welcome for today’s Episcopal Ordination of Monsignor Thomas Deenihan as Bishop of Meath
Dear Brothers and sisters,
As I stand here and look out at this great congregation gathered in the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, I cannot help but think back to exactly this time last week when I stood on the sanctuary near Pope Francis at the beginning of the closing Mass for the World Meeting of Families. That gathering was truly a family of families; people from all over Ireland and from more than one hundred countries of the world gathered to praise and worship God with our Holy Father himself.
Our gathering today is also a family of families – I think especially of Canon Deenihan’s immediate and extended family members as well as Bishop Buckley and those gathered from the parishes and dioceses of Cork and Ross and of Bishop Smith and all the representatives here from the Diocese of Meath. Today this family of families rejoices and prays together as we prepare for the Episcopal Ordination of Canon Deenihan.
Last Sunday, when speaking to the bishops of Ireland at the end of his visit, Pope Francis encouraged us, as bishops, to be fathers and shepherds of our people. He reminded us to be fathers and shepherds of prayer, of hope and of mission so that we can lead the family of families that is the people of God with wisdom, faith and charity. In today’s ceremony I encourage you to pray for your bishop elect. Being a bishop today, conscience of our own personal unworthiness and simpleness, we realise that is only by God’s grace that we can be true fathers and shepherds. During our Mass today let us pray in thankfulness for the Episcopal Ministry of Bishop Michael Smith who has led the faithful in this diocese as a bishop, for forty-five years.
I wish to express my deep gratitude to Bishop Smith, the longest serving bishop in Ireland. He is highly respected by his brother bishops and I know, that you the people and priests of this diocese, have greatly valued his commitment and leadership and personal warmth and generosity of spirt as your father and shepherd.
As a relative newcomer to the Bishops’ Conference I myself have valued highly his great wisdom and his warm personal encouragement. I pray God’s blessings on him and wish him good health and happiness in his retirement.
I hope and pray that your new bishop will have good health and wisdom to guide you in a similar way in the years to come.
Brothers and sisters I welcome Cardinal Seán, my brother bishops and priests, diocesan and public representatives from Meath and Cork and Ross dioceses and representatives of other Christian traditions and, above all, I welcome you the faithful people of this diocese.
Yesterday on the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation Pope Francis reminded us of the importance of water, particularly the water of life which Jesus Our Saviour has promised all those who follow him. Thinking back to our patron Saints Patrick and Finian, who first came to baptise the faithful in this region, and united as a family of families baptised in Christ, let us call to mind our sinfulness and God’s mercy and compassion during the right of the sprinkling of water.