Michael Lenihan O.F.M. (22 September 1951 – ) is the Archbishop of San Pedro Sula. He previously served as the first Bishop of La Ceiba from 2012 to 2023 and as the

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of and a

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in the

Diocese of Comayagua The Roman Catholic Diocese of Comayagua is a Latin suffragan bishopric in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa. The present diocese, erected 13 March 1963, revives a larger colonial bishopric. Its present cathedral episco ...

. EREZIONE DELLA DIOCESI DI LA CEIBA (HONDURAS) E NOMINA DEL PRIMO VESCOVO
Lenihan was born in 1951 in

Abbeyfeale Abbeyfeale (; ) is a historic market town in County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Kerry. The town is on the N21 road (Ireland), N21 road from Limerick to Tralee, some south-west of Newcastle West and south-east of Listowel and ...

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

, in Ireland. After the primary and secondary studies, he entered the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

Killarney Franciscan Friary Killarney Franciscan Friary is a monastic establishment in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. The Franciscan community in Killarney was established in 1860, when Franciscan friars transferred from Gorey, County Wexford, where they had been for two y ...

in 1972, and then studied philosophy at the National University of Galway from 1973-1976. He went on to study theology in Rome at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum (1976–1979), and then at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

(1979–1980). Lenihan made his solemn profession of

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...

in the Order Friars Minor on 17 September 1977 and was ordained a priest on 12 July 1980. He belongs to the Franciscan Province of the Friars Minor of Central America and Panama. After ordination, Lenihan held the following positions: 1980-1982: Director of the Spiritual Board of Multyfarnham, Ireland, 1982-1984: Vicar of the Convent, Wesford, Ireland, 1984-1989: Parish Vicar of the Parish of St. Francis in Gotera, Morazán, Diocese of San Miguel, El Salvador, 1989-1997: Guardian and Parish Priest of the Parish of St. Francis in Gotera, Morazán, Diocese of San Miguel, El Salvador, 1997-2000: Parish Vicar and Guardian, La Palma, Chalatenango, El Salvador, 2000-2009: Guardian and Parish Priest of the Parish of Santos Martires, Comayagua, Honduras, 2004-2008: Provincial Councilor of the Region of Honduras, 2001-2009: Vicar General of the Diocese of Comayagua; 2009-2011: Guardian of the Fraternity of St. Bonaventure Provincial of the Friars Minor of the Curia and Vicar of the Parish of Parish Inmaculada Corazón de María, Guatemala. Lenihan was raised to the episcopate on 11 February 2012 by Oscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenihan, Michael Living people 1951 births Christian clergy from County Limerick Irish Friars Minor Alumni of the University of Galway Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Franciscan missionaries Irish Roman Catholic missionaries 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Honduras Roman Catholic missionaries in El Salvador Roman Catholic missionaries in Guatemala Roman Catholic missionaries in Honduras Irish expatriates in El Salvador Irish expatriates in Guatemala Irish expatriates in Honduras Irish expatriate Roman Catholic bishops Franciscan bishops Roman Catholic bishops of La Ceiba People from Abbeyfeale