Pope Francis has chosen a Co Kildare parish priest with significant experience in youth ministry, vocations and communications as the new bishop of the Diocese of Achonry.
Fr Paul Dempsey, aged 48, has been parish priest of Newbridge, described by Archbishop Eamon Martin as “one of the largest and most vibrant parishes in the country”, since September 2015. The parish has approximately 32,000 parishioners, while the Diocese of Achonry in the West of Ireland has a catholic population of 34,826 across 23 parishes in Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon.
At the Cathedral of the Annunciation and Saint Nathy in Ballaghderreen, Co Roscommon, Bishop-elect Dempsey spoke of his twenty-two years of service in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin which he said had brought him immense joy.
“I love being a priest, despite the many challenges that have been part of the journey for any of us who have travelled this road,” he said.
The Irish Church’s youngest bishop will be installed in Achonry in April. He studied for the priesthood at the Jesuit’s Milltown Institute in Dublin, St Patrick’s College, Carlow and All Hallows College, Dublin and was ordained in 1997. He has been involved in World Youth Day, Director of Vocations and Youth Ministry as well as writing a weekly newspaper column and hosting a programme on local radio.
Welcoming his appointment, Archbishop Eamon Martin said the bishop-elect was known as a hard-working and caring pastor.
In a 2010 article published on the Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin’s website, Fr Dempsey urged the Church in Ireland to embrace Rahner’s “missionary style” of Church which would speak to those for whom Christianity has “become alien”.
He also called for “good theology” to be “at the heart of our vision of Church” and questioned whether the Church in Ireland was putting enough resources, both human and financial, into this “crucial area” and if a bigger effort could be made to enrich this area of Church life in Ireland.
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