Pope Francis has named Bishop Dermot Farrell to succeed Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in the See of Dublin. Until now, Archbishop-elect Farrell has been the head of Ossory diocese in Ireland.

“We live in a time of profound and rapid change,” Archbishop-elect Farrell said in a statement on Tuesday, shortly after the Holy See announced the appointment in the daily bulletin from the Press Office. “Our world is changing before our eyes, our country is changing deeply, and our Church changes beneath our feet,” he went on to say.

The Church in Ireland is facing enormous challenges – from within and without – from the enduring effects of Church leadership’s failures to address the abuse and coverup crisis, to widespread abandonment not only of the practice of the faith, but of Catholicism as an integral part of Irish identity, history and culture – while the march of secularisation continues.

“Together,” Dublin’s newly elected archbishop said, “we are called to find a way into the future that God opens before us.”

The 66-year-old Archbishop-elect Farrell was ordained a priest in 1980. He did advanced study at Maynooth and in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, before becoming and administrator and eventually President of St Patrick’s Seminary, Maynooth, in 1996, a post in which he served eleven years.

Archbishop-elect Farrell only became bishop of Ossory in 2018, after several years in a parish and after serving as Vicar General in the Diocese of Meath.

“Archbishop-elect Farrell is a hardworking and personable colleague with many skills and qualities to bring to his new ministry as Archbishop of Dublin,” said Ireland’s senior Churchman, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. “With my fellow bishops, and with laity, religious and clergy from across the country,” Archbishop Martin said, “I offer him my prayerful support as he undertakes the huge responsibility of shepherding the People of God in Ireland’s largest diocese and capital city.”

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin – no relation – welcomed his chosen successor with a reminiscence: “When my appointment as Archbishop was formally announced,” Archbishop Martin recalled, “Cardinal [Desmond] Connell [former Archbishop of Dublin, whose years were clouded by allegations of abuse coverup] at the Press Conference began by saying: ‘This is not my day; today is the day of the new Archbishop.’  I echo these sentiments as I greet and ask God’s blessing on my successor, Archbishop-elect Dermot Farrell.”

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