Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry flew to Rome in recent weeks to meet the head of the Dicastery for Bishops Bishop Robert Francis Prevost O.S.A.(Augustinian) to petition for a change in Vatican policy towards plans to merge the dioceses of Derry and Raphoe, The Irish Catholic understands. It is believed that Bishop McKeown went to press his case that the Diocese of Derry should not be amalgamated with the Diocese of Raphoe (mostly Donegal) at this point in time. It is also believed he spoke with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States.
The Irish Catholic understands that the current Nuncio, Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor wants the Diocese of Derry to merge with the Diocese of Raphoe as part of the Vatican’s policy to reduce the number of dioceses in Ireland to make a leaner more streamlined Irish Church.
The Diocese of Derry will fall vacant next April on the retirement of Bishop McKeown, and with no Bishop currently in Raphoe, the Vatican sees this as an opportunity to unite the two dioceses.
However some members of the hierarchy don’t agree with the move. With only three bishops in the North of Ireland, it is believed that Bishop Alan McGuckian who is newly appointed to Down and Connor, succeeding the late Bishop Noel Treanor, has a huge workload and a relatively short number of years to do it before he too is due to retire.
With no Derry bishop, Archbishop Eamonn Martin would be left alone to administer the amalgamation of the two dioceses while also looking after the dioceses of Armagh and Dromore, with only one auxiliary, Bishop Michael Router. It is believed that Archbishop Martin feels that there is a huge amount of work to be done on Catholic Education issues in the North and Legacy issues regarding the Troubles and his time to attend to these issues will be heavily restricted. It is believed that the bishops are not ultimately opposed to the merger, but not at this juncture.
The Church of Ireland has a diocese of Derry and Raphoe.