The Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, Dr Colm O'Reilly is to officially tender his resignation over the coming months, but a long established church custom which may result in the Colmcille cleric staying on in his position well into 2010. Under present guidelines, a bishop is required to formally submit his intention to retire upon reaching his 75th birthday.
And while Bishop O'Reilly confirmed that he will follow such a protocol when reaching the age of 75 next January, retaining his position beyond that landmark is not being ruled out.
"It is true that I will be 75 (in January) and I will tender my resignation but that doesn't necessarily mean it will be accepted. In most cases it actually isn't but it is something that is out of my hands and whether the Pope accepts it or not," he said.
The fact the former St Mel's pupil has yet to formally reach the Church's customary retirement age for bishops would appear to dispell speculation that his successor has already been identified.
In a statement the Catholic Communications Office re-iterated the transparent nature of how new and existing bishops are assigned to their positions with the final say resting solely at the doors of the Vatican.
"Under Church law when a bishop reaches his 75th birthday, the bishop submits his resignation as bishop of the diocese to the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. It is entirely in the hands of the Holy Father as to when he accepts the Bishop's resignation.
"When the time comes for the Holy Father to accept the resignation, the Pope announces the name of the bishop's successor. The retiring bishop will continue to remain a bishop for the remainder of his life."
In a separate development, Bishop O'Reilly said encouraging greater involvement from the lay community under his novel "parish clustering" idea was continuing apace after a dramatic fall in the number of vocations was reported.
"The only thing I will say about it is that it's a learning process. We see great potential in it (lay involvement) although there may have to be some reforming done," he added.
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