Vatican restructures 6 Irish dioceses under just 3 bishops aleteia.org

The Vatican is restructuring the episcopal makeup of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

According to the Irish Independent, the changes will restructure Ireland’s Western Province so that its six dioceses will be overseen by just three bishops. The report notes that the alterations reflect the change in the distribution of the Catholic population.

The impetus for the change was the retirement of Bishop John Fleming of the Diocese of Killala. With his leaving, the number of bishops fell to five, but rather than replacing Bishop Fleming, the Church shuffled the deck.

The first major change made by Pope Francis was to move Bishop Paul Dempsey, of the Diocese of Achonry, to a new position as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin. Bishop Dempsey, who is the youngest Catholic prelate in Ireland, is expected to be a boon to Dublin’s outreach towards younger people. The Diocese of Achonry will be moved under the purview of Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin, who will now minister to both dioceses…

Read More