A PARISH priest has been temporarily appointed to manage the diocese of Limerick following the resignation of Bishop Donal Murray.Fr Tony Mullins said he would be surprised if he was included, long-term, in a short list to be appointed the new bishop.
"I have taken this on a temporary basis," he said. "I am not interested in the permanent position. First of all, it is not for me and I haven’t been offered it and don’t expect it to be offered. If it was I would have to consider it."
Fr Mullins said it came as a huge shock to him that senior priests in the diocese had selected him to take on the temporary role as administrator of the diocese.
The 50-year-old, parish priest in Dromin-Athlacca, is a native of Ardagh. He said it will take at least a year to appoint a successor to Dr Murray.
Fr Mullins said all Confirmation dates already set would go ahead but, at this point, he did not known whether he would be officiating at Confirmation ceremonies in the absence of a bishop.
Fr Mullins, a former secretary to Bishop Murray, is also a former administrator at St John’s Cathedral.
As temporary administrator, Fr Mullins said his role will be to oversee the administration of the diocese and ensure the business of the Church continues.
"We will be having meetings around the pastoral areas, the schools, the diocesan finances, the care of priests, diocesan appointments and so on," he said.
Part of his inheritance from Dr Murray, he said, was a new diocesan structure through parish councils and pastoral areas that saw lay people increasingly involved in how the Church was run in Limerick and this would be of "enormous benefit".
"If we are ever going to close off the possibility of this (clerical child abuse) ever happening again, it has to be through the involvement of ordinary people in child protection and everywhere else. Bishop Murray was very much a lay person’s bishop, giving voice to those who had never been heard before."
Fr Mullins said he would be increasingly relying on lay people in his own parish of Dromin-Athlacca, as well as on retired priest, Fr Patrick Howard.
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