Bishop Alan McGuckian paid a warm tribute to his friends from the Diocese of Raphoe during his installation as the new Bishop of Down and Connor.
Priests, the lay faithful and friends from Donegal attended yesterday’s special Mass in St Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast.
In his closing remarks, Bishop McGuckian thanked all those who visited from his former diocese and said: “It means a great deal to me. Some of my heart will always be in Raphoe.”
On 9 June 2017, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Alan as Bishop of Raphoe in Co Donegal, and he was ordained as Ireland’s first Jesuit Bishop on 6 August 2017, based in Letterkenny.
Six and a half years on, His Holiness appointed Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ as Bishop of Down and Connor.
Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh, presided over the Mass.
Among the concelebrants were Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin and Bishop McGuckian’s two brothers, Frs Bernard and Michael, who are also Jesuit priests.
Adrienne McGlinchey, Port Road, Letterkenny at Bishop Alan’s Installation as Bishop of Down & Connor
In his Homily on Sunday, Bishop McGuckian called for peace amidst conflict around the world.
He called on people to be channels of peace in the world: “We will reach out confidently in love, with our brothers and sisters of other Christian communions, and together we will encourage our local politicians to be generous and bold as they seek to make our political institutions work for the good of all. On the global level even today the escalation of war is an awful threat. Christians who are channels of peace are ever more necessary.”
He said he was excited to be a part of the Diocese’s pathway to the future. ” I hope to spend a lot of time in the coming weeks and months praying and discerning with you, the priests and people of the diocese, how and where the Lord is leading us,” he told the congregation.
The new Bishop of Down and Connor has chosen the motto, ‘Et velle et perficere’ (God puts both the desire and the action into you”. This was also the motto of his former school, St MacNissi’s College, Garron Tower, Co. Antrim, where he was a post-primary student.
