Following months of speculation, the Diocese of Meath has a new bishop-elect, who will succeed Bishop Michael Smith, the longest serving bishop in Ireland. The new Bishop is Very Rev. Canon Thomas Deenihan from the Cork and Ross Diocese, who celebrates his 51st birthday on Wednesday of this week, 21 June, and is thought to be the first priest from Co. Cork ever appointed as bishop in the Meath diocese.
The formal announcement made officially in the Vatican by Pope Francis on Monday, just minutes before it became public in Mullingar, caught many people by surprise – especially the fact that the new bishop-elect is from Cork. It was announced at the special 10am Mass in Mullingar Cathedral on Monday morning, by the chief celebrant of the Mass, His Excellency, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, with the retiring Bishop of Meath, Dr. Michael Smith also a concelebrant at the Mass.
While it has been well known for the past several years, that the Vatican policy of appointing priests from their own diocese had been changed in the past number of years, there was still some speculation of a diocesan appointment. This was perhaps because of the delay in finding a successor to Bishop Smith, who had made known his wishes to Rome about retiring, on reaching his seventy fifth birthday, in 2015.
Ordained a priest in 1991, Canon Deenihan was a classmate in Maynooth of two well known Meath diocesan priests, Fr. Padraig McMahon, the Mullingar Administrator, and the parish priest of Ballinabrackey, Fr. Martin Halpin. He was actually ordained a deacon by Bishop Michael Smith a year earlier in Maynooth, in 1990.
Over the past 27 years of his priesthood, Canon Tom Deenihan has held a variety of appointments that have prepared him well for his new duties as Bishop of the Diocese of Meath. He is considered a man of strong faith, good judgement, very committed to his priestly duties and fully realising that the lives of priests can only be sustained by prayer.
He has particular expertise and practical experience in the world of education at every level, and also as a diocesan administrator, having taught in schools and having served as diocesan secretary for a dozen years and also as diocesan education Secretary. He has also been General Secretary of the CPSMA (Catholic Primary Schools Management Association) since 2013 and as Acting Executive Secretary of the Council for Education of the Irish Episcopal Conference for the past two years. With close to ninety Catholic schools across the diocese of Meath, he is seen as possessing very valuable expertise in this regard.
Canon Deenihan also concelebrated the Mass on Monday, as did Very Rev. Padraig McMahon, Adm., Mullingar and Fr. Sean Heaney, PP, VG. Afterwards, the new bishop-elect met Mullingar parishioners who attended the Mass, and subsequently, at a gathering in Cathedral House, had the opportunity to meet many of the clergy from across Meath diocese. Bishop Smith was very warmly greeted by many Mullingar parishioners after the Mass, with all expressing thanks to him for the major contribution he had made during his decades as bishop.
It is expected that the official episcopal ordination of the new bishop will take on the first Sunday in September.
