Richard Anthony Burke (born 19 February 1949) was a prelate 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 ...

. Born in

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

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, 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 18 May 1975 for

St. Patrick's Society for the Foreign Missions ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. He was appointed the

coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

bishop for the Diocese of Warri, in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, on 6 December 1995. He was ordained a bishop on 6 January 1996 and succeeded to the position of

ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016) * "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008) * ...

of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

on 3 March 1997 at the age of 48. 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

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

; his Principal Co-Consecrators were Cardinals

Giovanni Battista Re Giovanni Battista Re (born 30 January 1934) is an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church whose service has been primarily in the Roman Curia. He was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2001. He was prefect of the Congregation for Bisho ...

and

Jorge María Mejía Jorge María Mejía (31 January 1923 – 9 December 2014) was an Argentine cardinal of the Catholic Church (Roman Rite). Early life and ordination Mejía was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and ordained to the priesthood for the Metropolitan S ...

. On 24 December 2007 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 ...

named Bishop Burke as the new Archbishop of Benin City, also in Nigeria. The Pope accepted Burke's resignation as Archbishop on 31 May 2010, after allegations of sexual abuse of an initially 14-year-old girl over the course of 20 years. Burke claimed he and his accuser had only had adult consensual sex. St Patrick's Missionary Society claimed its own investigation "found no evidence to corroborate the allegation of child sexual abuse".Resignation of Archbishop Burke
The alleged victim repeated her claims in "

Mission to Prey "Mission to Prey" is the title of an episode of the RTÉ programme '' Prime Time Investigates'' broadcast in May 2011. It told of how an Irish catholic priest in Kenya of having fathered a child by engaging in child sexual abuse. It was describe ...

", a documentary broadcast by RTÉ in 2011. (RTÉ was censured and paid damages to Kevin Reynolds, an Irish priest falsely accused in the programme of child rape in Kenya.) In 2015 Burke sued RTÉ for libel in relation to the 2011 broadcast. Burke admitted having sex with numerous women, including a married mother of eight, but denied any underage or non-consensual relations. RTÉ settled out of court, claiming to have paid part of Burke's costs but no damages.

References

20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Nigeria People from Clonmel 1949 births Living people Irish expatriate Catholic bishops 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Nigeria Roman Catholic archbishops of Benin City Roman Catholic bishops of Warri Christian clergy from County Tipperary {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub