Fr Alan McGuckian appointed as Bishop of Raphoe

Pope Francis has appointed Fr Alan McGuckian as Bishop of Raphoe in Donegal, replacing Bishop Philip Boyce.

64-year-old Fr McGuckian was born in Co Antrim and studied Latin and Spanish in UCD, followed by an MA in Irish translation from Queens University Belfast.

After ordination to the priesthood in 1984, he worked in secondary education for four years in Clongowes Wood College SJ. He ran the Jesuit Communication Centre in Dublin in the 1990s, during which time he was involved in setting up the websites www.sacredspace.ie and www.catholicireland.net.

For the last six years Father McGuckian has worked closely with the Diocese of Down and Connor in the ‘Living Church’ project. This began in 2011 with a Listening Process which aimed to hear the hopes and fears of the priests, religious and the lay faithful in all 87 parishes. This process led to the publication of a document known as the Living Church Report in 2012.