Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for coming here to Saint Peter’s Cathedral here in Belfast
for the official announcement of the new Bishop of Down and Connor. In
my role as the outgoing Apostolic Administrator of this Diocese it falls
me to fulfil that role.
As you will be aware, Pope Francis has nominated Bishop Alan McGuckian
who has been Bishop of Raphoe for the last six and a half years.
He is no stranger. He is now coming back to his native soil – the
diocese where he was born and went to school and the diocesan family
where he served as part of the Jesuit community in Belfast for 12
years. While in Belfast, he worked as chaplain to Ulster University and
as director of the Living Church Office of this diocese.
Agus ó bhí sé óg, bhí an suim aige ins an Ghaeilge. Cuirfidh pobal na
gaeilge fáilte chroiúil roimhe. He knows the people, the languages and
the geography of this diocese, having already played a major role in
developing its strategic pastoral direction. After just a little over
12 months of an interregnum since the departure of Archbishop Noel
Treanor to Brussels, the second largest diocese in Ireland now has a
resident bishop. Bishop Alan, welcome back home.
It is a blessing that this announcement is being made on the feast of
the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, a day that is also called
Candlemas. Being a bishop is neither a personal honour nor a merely
administrative task. It is a divine call to lead the church that is in
this diocese. It is good that today’s feast places the announcement in
such a liturgical context. As Simeon recognised with Jesus, this is the
beginning of a new chapter for this diocese and rest assured that, for
any who bear Jesus Christ, as with Mary, a sword will periodically
pierce your own heart. There is no easy way to take up your cross and
follow Jesus.
Bishop Alan, thank you for accepting the call of Pope Francis to lead
this local church. God bless you as you prepare to take over in the
course of the next number of weeks.