Francis Joseph O'Finan, O.P. (–1847) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Dominican friar The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

who served in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as the

Bishop of Killala The Bishop of Killala () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Killala in County Mayo, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bish ...

from 1835 until 1847. O'Finan was elected

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 ...

of the Diocese of Killala by the

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

on 26 January 1835, which was approved by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

on 1 February 1835. His

papal brief A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull. History The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Marc ...

was issued on 13 February 1835 and

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

by Cardinal

Giacomo Filippo Fransoni Giacomo Filippo Fransoni (10 December 1775 – 20 April 1856) was an Italian prelate and cardinal who served from 1834 to 1856 as prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. He was the cardinal priest of the Church of San ...

on 21 March 1835. However, O'Finan faced strong local opposition from supporters of the previous bishop,

John MacHale John MacHale ( ir, Seán Mac Éil; 6 March 1789 (or 1791) – 7 November 1881) was the Irish Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, and Irish nationalist. He laboured and wrote to secure Catholic Emancipation, legislative independence, justice for te ...

. These were members of the lower clergy favoured by MacHale and were angered that one of their members had not succeeded MacHale. On 19 November 1838, Pope Gregory XVI approved the decree of the Propaganda Fide to allow O'Finan to retain the title Bishop of Killala, but deprived jurisdiction of the Diocese of Killala. The following year, Tommaso Feeny was appointed Papal Administrator of Killala on 18 July 1839. Bishop O'Finan died on 27 November 1847, aged 76, and was succeeded by Tommaso Feeny.

References

* * * Connolly, S. J. (2001), ''Priests and People in Pre-Famine Ireland, 1780-1845''. Dublin:

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...

. pp. 86–87. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:OFinan, Francis Joseph Roman Catholic bishops of Killala Irish Dominicans 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland 18th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests