IRELAND
Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) After three years of sede vacante, clergy and faithful of the diocese of Limerick, Ireland, celebrated the news Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a new bishop to the mid-western diocese.
He is 53 year-old Rev. Brendan Leahy, a qualified barrister and to date Professor of Systematic Theology at Ireland’s major seminary, St Patrick’s Maynooth.
Limerick, which has been without a bishop since the resignation of Bishop Donal Murray in 2009, is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel (also known as Munster) and is subject to the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. With over 60 parishes, it encompases Ireland’s third most populous city, of the same name. Limerick diocese is also located in one of the areas worst hit by the nation’s economic down-turn, with high levels of unemployment and emigration.
A priest from the Dublin Archdiocese, Rev. Brendan Leahy is a von Balthasar scholar and ecumenist, and has published books and articles on topics such as John Paul II, the Marian profile of the Church, issues facing the Church in the twenty-first century, the ecclesial movements of the Church, interreligious dialogue and the Priesthood.
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