Having reached 75 years of age, the mandatory age for Bishops
retirement on June 6, the Bishop of Kerry Dr Bill Murphy has said that
he ''is ready to go.’’
''I'm ready to go. I'm 75 and I haven't the energy I had before.
I've done 16 years as Bishop and a year before that as Administrator of
the diocese and I feel I have now done my bit'.”
Bishop Murphy, who celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination,
recently, added that he was, “ready to hand over the reins to a younger
and more energetic person.’’
He said that he had, “enjoyed the job over the past number of years.
It's really not very challenging, maybe the physical size of Kerry is
an issue but the priests here have been very easy to work with. But it
will become more difficult due to priest numbers , so experience and a
capacity to make tough decisions will be needed.”
Highlighting some of his personal goals that he managed to achieve
during his tenure he said, “I said that my main focus would be the
involvement of laity at diocesan and pastoral level and I think
considerable progress has been made in that respect. We have a very
good Diocesan Pastoral Council, with a member from each of the pastoral
areas and we have area pastoral councils as well as parish pastoral
councils in every parish and liturgy groups. We have also a lot of
laity involved in the whole issue of child protection with
representatives who are implementing policies and procedures in every
parish.”
On his retirement plans, Bishop Murphy said, “I'll be retired from
administration, which I'm looking forward to, but I won't be retired
from priesthood, and I will be available to priests if they are sick or
on holiday.”
Having submitted his resignation to Rome, the process to appoint
Bishop Murphy's successor could take between three months and two
years.
Bishop Murphy has also become the third Bishop in Munster to retire
in the past 2 years following the retirements of the Bishop of Limerick
Dr Donal Murray and the Bishop of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh.