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The former pastor of Newbridge Co Kildare, Fr. Paul Dempsey (49), was ordained on Sunday as the new bishop of Achonry in the west of Ireland.
It was the first ordination of a bishop on the island of Ireland since the arrival of Covid-19 last spring. It took place on Sunday afternoon at the Cathedral of the Annunciation and St Nathy, Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon.
The limited number of attendees for the pandemic included the chief consecrator, Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary with the papal nuncio, Archbishop Jude Okolo and Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin as co-consecrators.
Also present were the former Bishop of Achonry, the current Bishop of Galway, Bishop Brendan Kelly, and Canon Andrea Wills representing the Church of Ireland.
Bishop Dempsey’s appointment was announced last January and his episcopal ordination in Ballaghaderreen was to take place on April 19, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Bishop Dempsey was born in the town of Carlow on April 20, 1971, but the family moved to Athy, Co Kildare in 1978. The youngest in his family, he has a brother, Tony, and two sisters Bernadette and Angela. Both parents died in 1994. His mother Berry died of cancer in February and father Tony died suddenly 12 days later.
In his sermon, Father Vincent Sherlock, pastor of Kilmovee, Co Mayo, noted that the new bishop would be “among the youngest priests” in Achonry. He remembered Kavanagh’s poem “To the man after the stands,” about a neighbor of the poet who was being ordained a priest.
“Now let the reins loose, the seed is flying away today,” Father Sherlock quoted. He was referring to “a young man who could risk being rigid, fearful, anxious, not wanting to make mistakes,” he said. “The weakness of the control reins” encouraged “the horse to give the best of itself, to walk on a straight path and allow the seeds thrown in the distance to embed themselves in the gray and stony ground”, said the father Sherlock.
Paul, I heard Kavanagh tell you the same thing. Be yourself Paul, relax and encourage others with a kind testimony. There is no need for a strong grip, since you are walking in the Gospel message, with your people, walking through your people, the path and the work will continue, ”he said.
Recalling Kavanagh’s poem ‘Father Mat’, Fr Sherlock noted his description of the old priest as “part of the place, natural as a round stone in a field of grass.”
The Diocese of Achonry had “its share of grassy fields with stones in their corners and our diocese needs priests and a bishop to be a natural part of the place. Working with you, Paul, as priests, religious and laity, may your kind spirit (of God) be known through ours, ”he said.
At the end of the ceremony, Bishop Dempsey said that on his first visit to Ballaghaderreen he was shown where the deceased bishops of Achonry were buried. “It was” a sobering thought in case I got ahead of myself! ” he said.
“In a similar vein, while reading the history of the diocese, I came across a bishop who came to Achonry, transferred from the diocese of Killala, at the end of the 18th century. He was noted to be ‘very old, toothless and gouty …’ I still have my full teeth and to my knowledge I do not suffer from gout so I hope things are improving! “, Said. said.
In recent months, he recalled, “we have become familiar with the saying; ‘We’re in this together.’ As a diocese, we are together on this journey of faith.
There will be “challenges along the way,” he said. Drawing “hope and encouragement” from the words of poet Brendan Kennelly, he quoted: “Even though we live in a world that dreams of ending / That always seems to be about to give way / Something that won’t acknowledge the conclusion / Insists that we begin forever ‘. “
Bishop Dempsey concluded: “So, from this holy place, where Christian history has been celebrated for generations. Let’s go out, let’s go where Christ calls us today as a community of disciples. Let us begin!”
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