Patrick O'Donoghue (4 May 1934 – 24 January 2021) was an Irish Roman Catholic bishop who served as the fifth Bishop of Lancaster, who led the diocese from 2001 to 2009.

Early life

He was born in the small parish of Mourne Abbey in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland on 4 May 1934, one of five children of farmers Daniel and Sheila O'Donoghue. O'Donoghue came to Britain in 1959 to train for the priesthood first at Campion House, Osterley, Middlesex, then from 1961 to 1967 at Allen Hall seminary when it was at St Edmund's, Ware. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Westminster in England on 25 May 1967.

Episcopal ministry

He was appointed an

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Tulana on 18 May 1993. His

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

to the

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

took place on 29 June 1993, 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

Basil Hume George Basil Hume (born George Haliburton Hume; 2 March 1923 – 17 June 1999) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 until his death in 1999. A member of the Benedictines, he was made a cardinal i ...

, Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster and the principal co-consecrators were John Patrick Crowley,

Bishop of Middlesbrough The Bishop of Middlesbrough is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough in the Province of Liverpool, England. The diocese covers an area of of the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire together with ...

and Patrick Joseph Casey, Bishop Emeritus of Brentwood. As an auxiliary bishop, O'Donoghue had particular oversight for the West London area; he succeeded in this role the late Bishop Gerald Mahon, who had died in office in January 1992. Following the sudden death of John Brewer O'Donoghue was appointed the Bishop of Lancaster on 5 June 2001, and installed at St Peter's Cathedral, Lancaster on 4 July 2001. His portrait was painted for

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...

in 2002 by

Christian Furr Christian Furr (born 1966, Heswall, Wirral, England) is an English painter. In 1995 he was commissioned to paint Queen Elizabeth II. Education Furr was educated at Ladymount Primary School, Heswall, and St Anselm's College, Birkenhead. He ...

Diocesan situation

In 2007 he led a major diocesan review called ''Fit for Mission?'' to prepare the diocese for the future with fewer priests, practising Catholics and attempting to encourage all Catholics to be more missionary-focussed.

Catholic schools

In November 2007, he brought out his teaching document on Catholic education, ''Fit for Mission? – Schools.'' Hailed in the Catholic press as 'groundbreaking' and 'courageous', it was also praised by the Holy See. The Congregation for Clergy 'hopes it will become an example for other Dioceses in the country in their implementation of the General Directory for Catechesis and the Catechism of the Catholic Church', and the Congregation for Catholic Education wrote, it ''will undoubtedly be a reliable resource for renewing the vitality of Catholic Education in today's society''. O'Donoghue was an opponent of attempts to secularise the culture of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Lancaster. For instance, he gave instructions to the schools to halt promotion of contraceptives, remove "anti-Catholic" books from their libraries and prevent the presentation of ideas contrary to the Catholic Church's official teaching. Some secularist critics, such as

Barry Sheerman Barry John Sheerman (born 17 August 1940) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huddersfield, previously Huddersfield East, for 45 years from 1979 to 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he is ...

, a Labour MP and Steve Sinnott of the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

attacked him for his views on education in Catholic schools.

Catholic Caring Services

In October 2008 he came into direct conflict with trustees of the local Catholic-founded adoption agency, ''Catholic Caring Services'' (CCS), which was attempting to enact

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

adoption contrary to Church teachings, following the UK government's Sexual Orientation Regulations. In a letter to the agency he threatened them with eviction from church property, warned that he would sue the CCS for money left in wills by Catholics to the agency if they did not change their stance within one week, threatened to inform the Charities Commission that the organisation was no longer Catholic, and would break its link with the Lancaster diocese:

''I find it unthinkable, indeed heart-breaking, that ''Catholic Caring Services'', so linked to the Catholic Church since its inception, would abandon its position and capitulate to recent same-sex adoption legislation''.

Retirement and death

O'Donoghue retired on 1 May 2009, with a special Mass at St Peter's Cathedral, Lancaster, and assumed the title Bishop

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of Lancaster. He left the Diocese of Lancaster on 29 May 2009 and retired as an assistant priest to the parish of

Bantry Bantry () is a town in the civil parish of Kilmocomoge in the barony of Bantry on the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies in West Cork at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for to the west. The Beara Peninsula i ...

on the west coast of County Cork, Ireland. He died on 24 January 2021 at the Nazareth House care home at Dromahane, where he had been resident after becoming infirm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonoghue, Patrick 1934 births 2021 deaths Christian clergy from County Cork Roman Catholic bishops of Lancaster Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Bantry 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England