Alan McGuckian

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The Most Reverend

Alan McGuckian

SJ
Bishop of Raphoe
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseRaphoe
Appointed9 June 2017
Installed6 August 2017
PredecessorPhilip Boyce
Orders
Ordination22 June 1984
Consecration6 August 2017
by Eamon Martin
Personal details
Born (1953-02-26) 26 February 1953 (age 68)
Cloughmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
MottoEt velle et perficere
Coat of armsCoat of arms of Alan McGuckian.svg

Alexander Aloysius "Alan" McGuckian SJ (born 26 February 1953) is an Irish Roman Catholic bishop and Jesuit. Since 2017, he has been the Bishop of Raphoe.[1] He is Ireland's first Jesuit bishop.[2]

Early life and family[]

Born in 1953 in Cloughmills, County Antrim, in the Diocese of Down and Connor, he is the youngest son of Brian McGuckian and Pauline (née McKenna). His father was a successful pig farmer who, with his brothers, went on to develop the world's biggest pig farm.[3]

Two of his older brothers, Fathers Bernard and Michael, are also Jesuit priests, while another brother, John B., is a businessman.[4] His sisters have both died, Paula Haughey (2013) and Mary Dynan (2018).

McGuckian went to The Queen's University of Belfast in 1971 to study Irish and philosophy, where he was a near contemporary of Donal McKeown, later Bishop of Derry, with whom he shared North Antrim roots and an education at St MacNissi's College, Garron Tower.

Religious life[]

After one year in Belfast, he joined the Jesuit novitiate (Manresa House) in Clontarf in Dublin, continuing his university education in University College, Dublin (U.C.D.), specifically for a degree in Spanish and Latin. He graduated in 1977 and progressed to study Philosophy in the Jesuit Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy and then Theology in the Toronto School of Theology (the Jesuit Regis College, University of Toronto), qualifying with a M.Div and STL.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1984 and spent a short time teaching in Clongowes Wood College.

In 1992 he was appointed Director of the Jesuit Communications Centre and in that role he developed the website www.sacredspace.ie, which allowed people to pray at their computer.[5][6]

From 2011 to 2017 he worked full-time in the Living Church office of the Diocese of Down and Connor.[7]

In 2012 he co-authored a play, 1912 – A Hundred Years On, with the Irish Presbyterian historian Philip Orr, which looked at experience of the Ulster Covenant and the wider Home Rule movement from both nationalist and unionist perspective.[8][9] Bishop McGuckian gained a Masters in Irish Translation from Queen's University, Belfast.[10] He wrote Finding God in the Mess: Meditations for Mindful Living, published in 2017.[11]

In 2019, he said having a home is as fundamental as the right to life and education and that the Government must be "pushed" to enshrine housing in the constitution.[12]

Episcopal Ministry[]

On 9 June 2017, it was announced that he had been appointed Bishop of Raphoe.[13][14] On 6 August 2017, he was consecrated a bishop by Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh.[2][15]

References[]

  1. ^ Donegal has a New Bishop of Raphoe www.donegaldemocrat.ie, 9 June 2017.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "First ever Jesuit bishop ordained in Ireland". Catholic Herald. 8 August 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Village History". www.cloughmills.org.uk.
  4. ^ "How McGuckian got on the pig's back". independent.
  5. ^ "Founder of CatholicIreland to be Bishop of Raphoe". 9 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Sacred Space - Your daily prayer online". www.sacredspace.ie.
  7. ^ "Living Church - About Us". Diocese of Down and Connor. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  8. ^ Philip Orr; Alan McGuckian. "1912, a Hundred Tears On (script of a drama)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2019.
  9. ^ "1912 - A hundred years on (review of play)". Jesuits in Ireland. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  10. ^ Pope Francis appoints Father Alan McGuckian SJ as Bishop of Raphoe www.catholicbishops.ie, 9 June 2017.
  11. ^ Murphy, Gavin T. (7 November 2017). "Bishop launches book on Ignatian Spirituality". Jesuits Ireland. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  12. ^ Brady, Chai (26 September 2019). "Housing is a constitutional right says Bishop McGuckian". The Irish Catholic. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Appointment of Fr Alan McGuckian SJ as Bishop of Raphoe". Diocese of Down and Connor. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  14. ^ Simpson, Claire (7 August 2017). "New Bishop of Raphoe: Jesuit priest Alan McGuckian ordained in Co Donegal". The Irish News. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  15. ^ Cheney, David M. "Bishop Alexander Aloysius (Alan) McGuckian, S.J." Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Philip Boyce 		Bishop of Raphoe
2017–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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