Ossory appointment ‘step into unknown’ – former Maynooth President

Becoming a bishop in modern Ireland is a great step into the unknown, the incoming Bishop of Ossory has said.

Speaking on Kilkenny’s St Mary’s Cathedral on the announcement of his episcopal appointment, Bishop Elect Dermot Farrell said he will have much to learn in the years ahead, and that being called to be a bishop is a step into the unknown.

“If we are honest, to be called to be a bishop in the Ireland of today is even more a step into the unknown,” he said. “It is also a call to trust in the Lord, and in the providence of God.  I am glad to accept the call to serve here in Ossory, to be a pastor in this place, and in this community of Faith.”

Westmeath-born Bishop Elect Farrell, who succeeds Bishop Emeritus Seamus Freeman, studied in Maynooth and Rome, where he served as director of formation in the Irish College before returning to Ireland in 1987.

Appointment

A curate in Tullamore, he taught moral theology in Maynooth, where he became president of the college in 1996. In 2007, he returned to his home diocese as Parish Priest of Dunboyne & Kilbride, becoming Vicar General of the Diocese of Meath in 2009.

The appointment leaves the Dioceses of Clogher and Achonry as the only Irish dioceses without bishops, while three other diocesan bishops who have submitted their resignations remain in place pending the appointment of their successors.