Diocese of Clonfert
Clonferten(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Clonfert, Ireland
The Diocese of Clonfert is a Latin Rite diocese in the west of Ireland, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Tuam, with its seat at St Brendan's Cathedral in Loughrea. Since February 2022 it has been held in persona episcopi by Bishop Michael Duignan, who simultaneously leads Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1111
- Latin
- Clonferten(sis)
- Patron
- Saint Brendan the Navigator
- Annuario code
- 001001180
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 36,000
- Priests
- 47
- Catholics per priest
- 766
- Extent
- 2,486 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 14
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Bishop
- Michael Duignan
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea stands in Clonfert, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Tuam
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Tuam.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of AchonryAchonry
- Diocese of ElphinElphin
- Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh–KilfenoraGalway
- Diocese of KillalaKillala
- Archdiocese of TuamTuam
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
The Diocese of Clonfert (Irish: Deoise Chluain Fearta), in the west of Ireland, is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church within the Metropolitan Province of Tuam. Michael Duignan, named by the Holy See on 16 July 2019, was ordained bishop on 13 October 2019. By both population and territory it is the smallest diocese in Ireland, with a shrinking body of clergy; acknowledging this, in Feb 2022 the Vatican joined the see in persona episcopi so that Michael Duignan serves at the same time as Bishop of Clonfert and of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].