Alan Alexander Buchanan (28 February 1905 – 4 February 1984) was an Anglican

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

in the second half of the 20th century.

Biography

Buchanan was born in

Fintona Fintona (; ), is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Its population at the 2011 Census was 1,164. Name and etymology Fintona is derived phonetically from the Irish name of the area, ''Fionntamhnach''; this is often trans ...

. Educated at Masonic Boys School and

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where he graduated in history and political science in 1928. He was ordained in 1931. He served as a chaplain with military forces during the Second World War, notably parachuting into Arnhem in 1944 and being captured by the Germans. In the Airborne Museum at Oosterbeek there is a serviceman's prayer card displayed which is signed by Buchanan. He was with the Church of Ireland Mission in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

until 1937, after which he held incumbencies at St Cedma

Inver Inver () is a small village in County Donegal, Ireland. It lies on the N56 National secondary road midway between Killybegs to the west and Donegal Town to the east. It is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Banagh. History Inve ...

and St Mary, Belfast and St Comgall, Bangor. He was

Bishop of Clogher The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the ot ...

from 1958 to 1969, when he became Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. He resigned in 1977 and died on 4 February 1984. Among other things, Buchanan was known as an advocate for women's ministry. In the early 1970s, he spoke to the Diocesan Synod of Dublin: "Is it right to limits the possibility of ordination to one half of the Church? Our House of Bishops has recently echoed the view of Lambeth that there is no theological reason against the ordination of women. The Church in Canada has already decided in favour... the Church of Ireland should at least declare its mind on the subject." He personally invited and trained the first five women to be commissioned Lay Readers in the Church of Ireland in 1975, including Daphne Wormell and Patricia Hastings-Hardy. When the group chose a maroon liturgical gown, which looks similar to the bishops' red, he told them, "If they like to think I am commissioning five lady bishops, let them think it!" His daughter, Désirée Stedman, was ordained in the Anglican Church of Canada. She was accepted into training in 1982 before the Church of Ireland voted to ordain women as deacons in 1984, and as priests and bishops in 1990. Buchanan missed these developments, having died in February 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Alan Alexander 1907 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Anglican archbishops of Dublin Bishops of Clogher (Church of Ireland) Christian clergy from County Tyrone People educated at Masonic Boys School, Dublin