STATEMENT ISSUED BY BISHOP MARTIN HAYES ON THE APPOINTMENT OF BISHOP FRANCIS DUFFY AS THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF TUAM:

STATEMENT ISSUED BY BISHOP MARTIN HAYES ON THE APPOINTMENT OF BISHOP FRANCIS DUFFY AS THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF TUAM:

I wish to congratulate Bishop Francis Duffy, the former bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, who has been appointed by Pope Francis as the new Catholic Archbishop of Tuam.

In giving thanks for his contribution to the Kilmore Diocese and his neighbourly support from Ardagh & Clonmacnoise, I wish him well as he takes up his new responsibilities in the Archdiocese of Tuam.

Archbishop Duffy, is a native of the parish of Templeport, near Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan, and he served the diocese of Kilmore very faithfully and with great dedication and distinction as a priest from his ordination in 1982 until his appointment as bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnoise in 2013. His work has been mainly in the field of Catholic education, first as a teacher in St Patrick’s College, Cavan and later in Fatima and Felim’s Secondary School in Ballinamore. In the years 1994-96 he found time in a busy teaching schedule to do an M.A. in Maynooth College and an M.Ed. in Trinity College, Dublin. He served as Principal of Fatima and Felim’s School from 1996 to 2008 before being appointed Chancellor and Diocesan Secretary of the diocese. Following a sabbatical he was appointed Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise.

As Archbishop Duffy prepares to take up his new post I wish him every blessing and success in his new appointment, with the assurance of my support and my prayers.

Finally, I would like to wish Archbishop Neary well in his retirement and to thank him for his welcome and friendship as a member of the Episcopal Conference.

+ Martin Hayes                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Bishop of Kilmore