Offaly priest is one of Ireland s imported clergy
Reporter:
27 Jan 2021
Fr Antony Sajeesh. Originally from Kerala province in south-west India, Fr Antony arrived in the Killaloe Diocese in September 2018 );
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Fr Antony Sajeesh was two years into his ministry as a priest in Kerala, India when he learned that the Diocese of Killaloe in Ireland wanted more priests.
Bishop Fintan Monahan, the Bishop of Killaloe, had established relationships with Bishops in Kerala, a state in southwestern India, where vocations are stronger than in Ireland.
Responding wisely to the crisis in vocations in Ireland, the Bishop had started placing priests from the Indian state in parishes throughout his diocese.
Pope Francis appoints Dr Dermot Farrell as new Archbishop of Dublin The newly appointed Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell Paul Ainsworth 30 December, 2020 01:00
THE newly-appointed Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell has been welcomed to the role as he prepares to take on the huge responsibility of shepherding the People of God in Ireland s largest diocese .
Pope Francis appointed Dr Farrell, currently the Bishop of Ossory, to his new post, which he will officially begin on a date in the new year yet to be announced.
The 66-year-old will replace Archbishop, Diarmuid Martin, who is set to retire from the second highest Catholic clerical role in Ireland behind the Archbishop of Armagh.
Former Maynooth seminary president to become Archbishop of Dublin who oversees parts of Kildare
Reporter:
29 Dec 2020
The new Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Dermot Farrell outside Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Sean McDermott Street, Dublin, );
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Pope Francis has appointed the Most Reverend Dr Dermot Farrell, until now Bishop of Ossory, as Archbishop of Dublin.
The Archdiocese oversees large parts of Co Kildare and has 19 parishes in the Maynooth Deanery and 12 parishes in the Blessington Deanery.
Dr Farrell studied at St Patrick s College in Maynooth in the 1970s and two decades later became Vice-President and later President of the College, a position he held until 2007.
He succeeds Diarmuid Martin, whose retirement request has been accepted by Pope Francis.
Archbishop Martin celebrated his 75th birthday earlier this year and, under Vatican rules, members of the clergy must offer to resign when they reach that age.
Archbishop-elect Farrell was born in Co Westmeath and was ordained a priest in 1980.
He went on to complete his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and served as the vice president of St Patrick s College in Maynooth from 1993 to 1996.
Dr Farrell was promoted to president of St Patrick s in 1996 and stayed in that role until 2007.
He was appointed as the Bishop of Ossory by Pope Francis in 2018.
Pope Francis has appointed the Most Reverend Dr Dermot Farrell as Archbishop of Dublin.
Archbishop-elect Farrell replaces the Most Reverend Archbishop Diarmuid Martin whose request for retirement has been accepted by the Pontiff and is effective from today.
The date that Dr Farrell will take over the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Dublin will be announced at a later date.
In April, the Archbishop Martin reached the age of retirement. After much anticipation and speculation, today Pope Francis announced replacement - the Bishop of Ossory the Most Reverend Dr Dermot Farrell.
Originally from Co Westmeath, the 66-year-old - who has previously served as a parish priest in Co Meath and has held the position of President of St Patrick s College in Maynooth - became the Bishop of Ossory in 2018.