Christopher Jones (3 March 1936 – 18 May 2018) was an Irish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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 ca ...

in the

Diocese of Elphin The Diocese of Elphin () was established following the Synod of Rathbreasail in the year 1118. In that year the see for east Connacht was moved from Roscommon. Elphin was the traditional site of a monastic house established by St Patrick , altho ...

Early life and education

He was born in Rathcroghan,

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the second youngest child of eleven: one brother also became a priest while three sisters joined the religious life. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 17 June 1962 for his home diocese just before the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, later remarking how much the teaching of the council had been part of his priestly ministry. He spent many years as secondary school teacher, first on attachment to

St Muredach's College St Muredach's College is an all-boys secondary school on the banks of the River Moy in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland. It was founded in 1906 to provide a Catholic education for boys in the Killala Diocese. The school building, which was designe ...

, Ballina, County Mayo, for a year (1962–63) and then from 1965 to 1971 at

Summerhill College Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in northwest Ireland. History The school was founded in 1857 by then-Bishop of Elphin, Dr La ...

, Sligo, where he was always pastorally active in the diocese. An insight into this work was revealed in 2012 when he presided over, and preached, at the funeral of the matriarch of an important

Irish Traveller Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...

family, Nan Ward. The bishop spoke about a meeting he attended in 1968 to improve the educational opportunities for Travellers. During these years he was also Vocations Director for the Diocese of Elphin. He served as director of Sligo Social Services from 1973 to 1987 and then served as the administrator of St. Mary's Cathedral Parish in Sligo from 1987 to 1994.

Bishop of Elphin

On 24 May 1994 he was appointed bishop for the diocese. He was ordained a bishop on 15 August in the same year. The

principal consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

was Archbishop

Emanuele Gerada Emanuele Gerada KC*HS (18 May 1920 – 21 January 2011) was a Maltese prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, a Vatican diplomat and titular Archbishop of Nomentum. One Maltese obituary recalled him as "a generous, well-read and intelligent man. ...

, the

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

to Ireland; his principal co-bonsecrators were Archbishop Joseph Cassidy and Bishop Thomas Finnegan. He was widely respected as a man of great humility and humanity. In March 2010 after the publication of the

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

and

Murphy Murphy () ( ga, Ua Murchadha) is an Irish surname and the most common surname in the Republic of Ireland. Origins and variants The surname is a variant of two Irish surnames: "Ó Murchadha"/"Ó Murchadh" (descendant of "Murchadh"), and "Mac ...

reports into child abuse under church authorities in 2009, Jones accused the media of being "unfair and unjust" to the Catholic Church through a concentration on the handling by church authorities of the clerical child sex-abuse issue. "Could I just say with all this emphasis on cover-up, the cover-up has gone on for centuries, not just in the church … It's going on today in families, in communities, in societies. Why are you singling out the church?” he asked. Bishop Jones was a member of the Bishops' Liaison Committee for Child Protection and was speaking at a press conference in Maynooth on 10 March 2010 where the

Irish Bishops Conference The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference ( ga, Comhdháil Easpag Caitliceach Éireann) is the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland. The conference meets a number of times a year in Maynooth which is the location of St Patri ...

was concluding its three-day spring meeting. Jones also described the Bishop of Galway, Martin Drennan, who served as an auxiliary bishop of Dublin for seven years during the period investigated by the Murphy Commission, as "a scholar and a holy man" and that any reference to him in the Murphy Report had been positive. In a statement, ''Why Marriage Matters'', released by the bishops, they described provisions in the

Civil Partnership Bill The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Labour government, which grants civil partnerships in the United Kingdom the rights and responsibilities very similar to those in civil ...

as "an extraordinary and far-reaching attack on freedom of conscience and the free practices of religion – which are guaranteed to every citizen under the Constitution". On the refusal by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to allow an opt-out clause for people who had issues of conscience when it came to association or involvement with same-sex ceremonies, he said the bishops were "very worried about that. Very worried". On his 75th birthday in March 2011, Jones submitted his letter of resignation under the Code of Canon Law to

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. On 14 May 2014 it was announced he would be succeeded by Bishop

Kevin Doran Kevin Doran (born 26 June 1953) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church and has served as the Bishop of Elphin since 13th July 2014. Early life and education Doran was born in Dublin in 1953. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Mo ...

who was ordained bishop on 13 July 2014. In retirement Jones retained a relatively low profile in his former diocese although his July 2015 comments about the future economic prospects for the West of Ireland were widely reported. In recognition of his long connection with Summerhill College as student, teacher and patron a new suite of rooms were named after him, and opened in his presence in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Christopher 1936 births 2018 deaths Christian clergy from County Roscommon Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Roman Catholic bishops of Elphin 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland