Pat Buckley (priest)

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Pat Buckley (born 2 May 1952[1]) is an Irish independent Catholic bishop, and former Roman Catholic priest who has been excommunicated from the Catholic Church. As a Roman Catholic priest, he ministered to Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners during the 1981 Irish hunger strike, including their leader, Bobby Sands. His ordination to the episcopate by Bishop Michael Cox resulted in him being excommunicated. He subsequently officiated at the marriages of divorcees who wished to remarry. He received a suspended sentence for officiating at sham marriages. Buckley also served a local councillor on Larne Borough Council.

Early life[]

Buckley was born in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland.[2] He was the eldest of 17 children, 6 of whom died without passing infancy[3] His father was a trade union official who later became a barrister and his socialist views influenced his son Pat.[3] Buckley decided that he wanted to become a priest at the age of three.[3]

Priesthood[]

He studied for the priesthood in Waterford and was ordained there in 1976.[4] He later gained a master's degree in politics and social anthropology from Queen's University Belfast.[3]

His first posting was to St Peter's in the Lower Falls area of West Belfast.[5] Buckley claimed that, believing the quality of the priests' accommodation to be much higher than properties in poverty-stricken area in which it was located, he clashed with his fellow clergy.[5]

During the 1981 Irish hunger strike, Buckley celebrated Mass in the Maze prison.[5] During this time he met and spoke with prisoner Bobby Sands, the leader of the IRA prisoners participating in the hunger strike, predicting that Sands' dedication to his beliefs would lead to the hunger striker's death, which occurred on 5 May 1981.[6]

Following disagreements with Cardinal Cahal Daly, he was sent to Kilkeel parish in 1983.[7] He claimed that Cardinal Daly later offered to move him to an Australian parish on account of Buckley's liberalism before deciding on transferring Buckley to Larne, a mainly Protestant town, in 1984.[5] Daly then suspended Buckley from the priesthood in 1986.[7] Buckley continued to practice independently and refused to move out of the parochial home. In 2011 he brought a legal case against the diocese of Down and Connor claiming Squatters' Rights. In January 2012, agreement was reached between the parties which allowed Buckley to remain in the property.[8]

Independent ministry and excommunication[]

He organised bi-weekly masses and officiated at marriages of divorcees who wished to remarry, as well as baptising babies from mixed marriages and blessing same-sex couples.[7] In August 2016, Buckley claimed to have married over 3,000 couples.[5] On 19 May 1998 he was ordained a bishop by Michael Cox[9] in June 1998, Jim Cantwell, director of the Irish Catholic Press and Information Office, said that Cox's consecration of Buckley was valid but illicit.[9] However, the Catholic Media Office of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has subsequently stated “that it doubts that the bishop's episcopal consecration is valid".[10] In response, both Cox and Buckley were excommunicated by the Catholic Church.[9]

Local councillor[]

He was elected to Larne Borough Council in the 1989 Northern Ireland local elections, but lost his seat at the following elections in 1993.[2]

Sham marriage conviction[]

In December 2013, Buckley pled guilty and was convicted for officiating at 14 sham marriages.[11] His defence was that his actions had been motivated by "strong compassion" for the illegal immigrants' situations. The judge noted that Buckley had "had a genuine affinity with these illegal immigrants" but had received financial reward and "lost face and standing in the community" as a result of his actions. [12] [13] Buckley received a 3-and-a-half-year sentence, which was suspended for three years because he was being treated for HIV.[12][13]

Personal life[]

In October 1999 he announced that he was gay.[7] In February 2010 at the age of 57 he married his boyfriend of three years, 32-year-old Eduardo Yanga from The Philippines, in a ceremony in Larne.[14]

References[]

  1. ^ "Biography". Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Wedding bells for gay bishop Pat Buckley". Belfast Telegraph. 30 January 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Gail Walker (4 July 2008). "Wedding bells for gay bishop Pat Buckley". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Convicted cleric has walked long and lonely road". thefreelibrary.com. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e Suzanne Breen (8 August 2016). "Pat Buckley: If the Moon had churches, Bishop Cahal Daly would have sent me there... it didn't, so Larne it was". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  6. ^ "The last months of Bobby Sands' life, as seen from afar and up close". www.cbc.ca. CBC Television. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d Claire Simpson (13 December 2013). "Ireland's turbulent priest". The Irish News. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Pat Buckley 'squatters rights' case settled". BBC News. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b c O'Sullivan, Roddy (1998-06-15). "Excommunication follows after priest is made a bishop". irishtimes.com. Dublin: The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Home news". The Tablet. London. 1998-09-05. p. 29. ISSN 0039-8837. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  11. ^ "Pat Buckley admits sham marriage charges". BBC News. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Independent bishop escapes prison on sham marriages conviction". The Irish Times. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Pat Buckley sham marriage suspended jail sentence". BBC News. 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  14. ^ Rachel Quigley (1 February 2010). "Outspoken bishop tells of deep love for boyfriend". The Independent. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

External links[]

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