The House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland meeting today appointed
the Very Revd Patrick W. Rooke as the new Bishop of the United Dioceses
of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, to succeed the Rt Revd Dr Richard
Henderson, who recently moved to the Diocese of Carlisle in the Church
of England.
Announcing the new appointment, the Most Revd Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, said:
‘I
am delighted to be able to announce that at a meeting of the House of
Bishops in Portmarnock today, the Very Revd Patrick Rooke, Dean of
Armagh, was elected to succeed the Rt Revd Dr Richard Henderson as
Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry. It gives me great personal pleasure
to welcome the election of the Dean to be the next bishop. I very much
look forward to Dean Rooke taking leadership of the Church of Ireland
people in the geographically very large diocese of the West. He brings
many gifts of leadership, imagination and spirituality to the task. He
has made a notable contribution in his time as Dean of Armagh and the
people of Tuam, Killala & Achonry can look forward to receiving as
their bishop a person of great pastoral sensitivity and effectiveness.
As a member of the House of Bishops I know he will bring very many
insights to enhance the consultations of the bishops and of the wider
Church.
‘I particularly note his long engagement with the Hard
Gospel project and its emphasis upon inclusivity and the fostering of
good relations amongst people of goodwill and I know that this interest
will be sustained and developed in his new diocese.’
Dean Rooke
said he was delighted to accept the appointment and looked forward to
leading the clergy and people of Tuam, Killala and Achonry at this
important time for the Dioceses.
He said that he took heart from the
Special Meeting of the General Synod held last month, which had given
almost unanimous support for the appointment of a new bishop to the
numerically small diocese, but that it had also highlighted some of the
issues that would need to be addressed.
The Dean said he would take his
time to consider carefully the implications for himself as bishop and
for the United Dioceses, and that he would encourage the clergy and
people to share that journey with him.
Dean Rooke knows the West
well. His mother’s family came from County Mayo and his sister and other
family members live in the Diocese.
‘Having spent the past thirty-three
years in Northern Ireland, returning to the Republic will be
different,’ he said.
‘However, I have found throughout my ministry that
the experience gained growing up in a rectory family in Dublin has
prepared me for most things.’
The Dean said he would be sorry to
leave Armagh.
‘To have had the oversight of St Patrick’s Cathedral and
of Armagh Public Library for the past five years has been a real
privilege and we will be saying farewell with heavy hearts.’
Dean
Rooke is married to Alison and they have three grown-up children, Emily,
Nicholas and Susanna.
Details of the new bishop’s consecration will
follow in due course.