Derry will get new bishop but all dioceses need to reflect on future sustainability – Papal Nuncio

Responding to questions regarding diocesan mergers and episcopal appointments in Ireland the Papal Nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor has said that “the re-configuration of diocesan boundaries is not a matter that affects the Irish Church alone. In the rapidly changing circumstances of society, worldwide, it has become an object of urgent pastoral consideration in many countries.”

Recently Pope Leo XIV asked the Italian bishops to be open to reconfiguration.

The Nuncio said that he has repeatedly urged Irish dioceses to do the same. 

“In all my contacts with the Church in Ireland, I have repeatedly stressed the need for each diocese to examine its long-term sustainability and continued pastoral efficacy. It is a concern that is not restricted to a few dioceses but extends in one way or another to all. The need to reflect on this is felt with particular acuity, of course, when a diocese becomes vacant.”

Asked specifically about the Derry and Ossory dioceses, the Nunico replied: “With regard to the Diocese of Derry, the canonical enquiry that will lead to the appointment of a new bishop has already begun but is still in the early stages.

In relation to the Diocese of Ossory, an enquiry can only begin when the diocese becomes vacant and this will not happen until the end of January.”