Séamus Freeman (23 February 1944 – 20 August 2022) was the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Ossory who was appointed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

on 14 September 2007. He later resigned as bishop on 29 July 2016.

Biography

Freeman was the eldest of eight children. His family moved to Callan,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

, where he attended school. After his education he entered the

Pallottines The Pallottines, officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (), abbreviated SAC, is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman Catholic priest Saint Vincent Pa ...

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arch ...

, County Tipperary, and studied theology at

St. Patrick's College, Thurles Mary Immaculate College, (MIC) St. Patrick's Campus, Thurles is a third-level college of education in Thurles, County Tipperary. Formerly a seminary, the college specialises in humanities courses in accounting, business studies, Irish and relig ...

, and philosophy at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. He was ordained to the priesthood on 12 June 1971. He continued his education in the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

where he studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. He then went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where he worked for his Religious Society. In 1981 he was appointed rector and director of formation of the Pallottines in Thurles. He remained in Thurles until 1989 when he was appointed the vicar general of the society, becoming its rector general in 1992, in this capacity he served two six-year terms. In October 2004 he was appointed parish priest in Rome. In December 2005 he was elected president of the General Coordination Council of the

Union of Catholic Apostolate Union of Catholic Apostolate is a Catholic association established by a Roman priest St. Vincent Pallotti in 1835. History With a group of associates and collaborators, Vincent Pallotti developed in the city of Rome a large structure of apostoli ...

Episcopal ministry

On hearing the news of the appointment of Freeman, Archbishop

Diarmuid Martin Diarmuid Martin (born 8 April 1945) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland from 2004 to 2020. From 1976 to 2003 he held a variety of positions in the Roman Curia and in the diplomatic ser ...

remarked: "''He is an exceptionally warm and kind man who I'm sure will quickly win the affection 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, prov ...

. His genuine humility hides a deep spirituality and the breath of his pastoral experience''". He was ordained to the episcopate and installed on 2 December 2007. The Principal Consecrator was the Metropolitan

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

, while the principal Co-Consecrators were Archbishop

Giuseppe Lazzarotto Giuseppe Lazzarotto KC*HS (born 24 May 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2017, with the rank of apostolic nuncio and an archbishop since 1994. Biography Giusep ...

, Apostolic Nuncio and Bishop Laurence Forristal the Bishop Emeritus of Ossory. In December 2010, Bishop Freeman wrote in the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' of the Pastoral Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Catholics of Ireland, "There was widespread disappointment among the faithful that in the pope’s letter last March, sex abuse was not seen as a symptom of shortcomings in church structure." He noted that people "observed there was no critique of the role of the Vatican, and little or no acknowledgment of the exclusion of lay people from roles in which they can contribute".Bishops hear concerns about past failings amid search for church renewal
from ''

'', 28 December 2010 On 29 July 2016, Pope Francis accepted Freeman's letter of resignation. Freeman stated that he resigned due to poor health. Bishop Freeman died on 20 August 2022, aged 78.

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy:Séamus Freeman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Séamus 1944 births 2022 deaths Christian clergy from County Tipperary Roman Catholic bishops of Ossory Catholic University of America alumni Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Thurles Pallottine bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Christian clergy from County Kilkenny People from Callan, County Kilkenny