Cathal Barry
Bishop Kevin Doran tells Cathal Barry he intends to work closely with the people of the Elphin diocese
Perhaps the person most surprised at the news that Fr Kevin Doran had been appointed Bishop of Elphin was Fr Kevin Doran himself.
Unbeknownst to himself, Fr Doran has been on a tilt to the top for some time now which has evidently been duly noted by the powers that be in Rome.
Sitting down for a chat with The Irish Catholic prior to his episcopal ordination, the then Bishop-elect admitted he was to some extent aware that his name was “in the hat” for the role.
He had just returned from Sabbatical when the rumour mill began churning and busy settling into his new role as Parish Priest in the leafy south-Dublin suburb of Donnybrook.
Adamant not to become distracted, the gossip swiftly “faded into the background” for this busy Dublin-born cleric who has little ties with the West.
A native of Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, the priesthood was not always Bishop Doran’s career of choice.
He originally planned on becoming a navigation officer with Irish Shipping and chose leaving certificate subjects with that profession in mind.
In hindsight, Bishop Doran admits opting for subjects like mathematics and physics was “probably most unsuitable” for a young man more inclined towards languages and humanities. “But that’s was what you had to do.”
He also considered a career in the Defence Forces, toying with the notion of becoming a cadet and working his way towards commissioned officer.
It wasn’t until after Christmas in his Leaving Cert year that the idea of the priesthood began to crystalise for the young future bishop.
“The idea of the priesthood was always in there somewhere, but it was only then that I actually admitted it to myself,” he said.
Navigation officer, army cadet, clergyman. Three careers which, on the surface, appear completely unrelated, but at their core, share a considerable amount in common. Skill, dedication, service. Leadership. Qualities a bishop needs in spades. Qualities that will certainly serve him well ‘steering the ship’, so to speak, in Elphin.
Observing his openness to a somewhat “adventurous” career, Bishop Doran maintains having been involved in scouting from an early age was a contributing factor.
“Scouting tends to promote a sense of service and placing your skills at the availably of others so that definitely played its part in influencing my choice,” he said.
A new phase
With the support of his parents, “seriously committed Catholics” Joseph and Marie, Bishop Doran began his seminary formation from 1970 – 1974 in Holy Cross Seminary, in Dublin, and from 1974 – 1977 in the Pontifical Irish College, Rome.
Interestingly, he was ordained a deacon in 1976 in Rome by one of his future predecessors in Elphin, the late Bishop Dominic Conway. He was ordained a priest the following year by Bishop Patrick Dunne, in Our Lady of Victories Church, Sallynoggin, in Dublin.
Bishop Doran’s first appointment was as religion teacher at Ringsend Technical Institute, in Dublin where he spent “three happy years teaching the Faith”.
“It certainly wasn’t without its challenges but I loved it. Teaching the Faith gave me a great opportunity to process and digest some of my Theology studies,” he said.
It wasn’t until 1995, after prolonged stints as Chaplain at University College Dublin (1983 – 1990) and as Spiritual Director at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome (1990 – 1995), that Bishop Doran finally got his first real taste of parish life.
At 42, when most of his colleagues “were probably getting tired”, the then Fr Doran was entering a “whole new phase” in his ministry.
To this day the bishop has “great admiration” for priests, who throughout their entire working lives have gone “from one parish to another” maintaining a “real love and passion for what they do” when there could be a sense of “doing the same old thing”.
Bishop Doran’s own passion for the priesthood undoubtedly lead him in previous years to what may be considered as some of the most crucial yet difficult work of the Church – vocations.
He is recognised as having invested much energy and leadership in his former roles as National Coordinator of Diocesan Vocations (2000 – 2006) and subsequently as Coordinator for the European Vocations Service (2003 – 2006).
During that time he battled to overcome the wide-ranging negativity associated with the role and recalls how well-wishers encouraging him in his “challenging task” would often warn him to “stay away” from their sons.
One of the challenges regarding vocations, he noted, is that there is a sense among parishes that “somehow or another the archbishop or bishop will send them a priest”.
“It’s not that you want parents to be pushing their children into the priesthood, but he can only send a priest if they send a seminarian,” he said.
“What you want is that the community of faith envisages that from among them, with their encouragement, will come candidates for priesthood.”
“While there has to be a vocations director to support a process of discernment to bring candidates through that crucial stage, the vocations director or the bishop doesn’t initiate the process.
“The process begins with the family and the parish community and if they can’t see a way of doing that then we are facing a really serious problem,” he said.
“In our parishes and in groups of parishes we have to find a way to minister effectively to young people in a way that helps them see themselves as having received a gift of life from God. We also have to encourage them to ask what they should do with such a gift.
Candidates
“You can’t just go into a parish and pluck a candidate for the priesthood and expect him to do fine. The vocation to priesthood or to religious life comes at a stage of the maturating of the growth of the relationship with Church and with Christ.
“Everything that happens in the parish must be vocational in the sense that it is encouraging people to use their gifts and to use them in the service of God and one another,” he said.
The enthusiasm the then Fr Doran displayed for tackling the vocations crisis during what was a particularly difficult period for the Church put him in the running for another gig many people, including Church leadership,were lukewarm about at the time.
When Pope Benedict XVI announced that Dublin would be the venue for the 2012 International Eucharistic Congress, it was to Fr Doran that Church authorities turned.
As Secretary General, the then Fr Doran worked tirelessly to build enthusiasm and interest in the event which ultimately turned out to be a roaring success.
Bishop Doran’s successful preparation, management and celebration of Ireland’s week-long hosting of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, attended by about 150,000 pilgrims in Dublin in June 2012, will have undoubtedly helped to equip him for his new ministry.
In addition to his sterling work in vocations and running a successful major Church event, Bishop Doran is well known nationally as a brave advocate for the right to life of the unborn child, as well as being an articulate Church spokesperson for the important, complex and ever more relevant moral issues of medical ethics and bioethics.
He has also in the past advised the Irish bishops’ conference on controversial issues related to abortion, euthanasia and end-of-life care.
“I believe very strongly that the right to life is the most fundamental of all human rights. Therefore, I think we have to be uncompromising about it,” the bishop said.
Resignation
It was this “uncompromising” stance that lead to his resignation from the board of Dublin’s Mater Hospital after the Catholic-run institution agreed to comply with the Government’s controversial abortion law.
In October 2013, the then Fr Doran told The Irish Catholic that he could not in conscience remain either a member of the Mater Hospital Board of Directors or Board of Governors as a result of the move.
“I can confirm that I have resigned because I can’t reconcile my own conscience personally with the statement, largely because I feel a Catholic hospital has to bear witness,” Fr Doran said at the time.
Similarly, addressing parishioners in Sligo on the morning he was announced as the new Bishop of Elphin, Fr Doran said that the primary purpose of the Church must always be to witness to the Gospel. “In keeping with that Gospel, there are a number of principles that should be at the heart of everything we do.
“These include a love of preference for the poor, the safeguarding of children, support for marriage and the family and an unambiguous respect for human life from its origins to its natural end. We need never apologise for these,” he said.
Looking back now, Bishop Doran remains disappointed at the Government’s “complete lack of respect and disregard for the Catholic ethos” of the Mater, but also that the hospital “allowed itself to be bounced” into participating in a process that would envisage the direct and deliberate termination of the life of the unborn.
Believing “very strongly” in what a Catholic hospital professes, Bishop Doran felt he could no longer remain in the management structure as a result of the Mater’s decision to comply.
Descision
“The decision to resign was self-evident. There was nothing else I could do in the context of the particular statement that was issued,” he said.
“The notion of a Catholic hospital issuing a statement like that sent a message out to people that you could compromise on ethos, which I don’t believe you can.”
Bishop Doran said the Mater Hospital example points to one of the big challenges facing religious congregations today.
Noting their “great contribution to Irish society through health care, social services and education”, the bishop said it is clear that they are “no longer able to do that with their own personnel”.
“The challenge now is to see how it is actually possible to continue that work through the lay faithful,” he said.
Up until taking up his new post, as mentioned, Bishop Doran had been serving as Parish Priest in the south-Dublin suburb of Donnybrook.
He was only still finding his feet when Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown broke the news that Pope Francis wanted him to become Bishop of Elphin.
The bishop recalls being “shocked” but at the same time “strangely comfortable” with the request.
Excited at what he hopes will be a “life giving” new role, Bishop Doran feels a “certain apprehension at going into the unknown”.
Preached
In one way, it’s nothing he hasn’t done before. He has taught, preached, and administered the sacraments. He has managed staff, and a business. “But this is different.”
He is eminently aware of the gravity of the position and certainly doesn’t take it lightly. However, he does go into the job confident that “the Lord has always stood with me”. He’s eager now to “lace up the boots, roll up the sleeves” and get stuck in.
“I’m looking forward to working with people, some of whom I know and some of whom I don’t know, but I have that absolute conviction that whatever I might manage to achieve as a bishop, it will be in communion with the people of the diocese.
“The whole diocesan community has to be a part of this. It’s about them,” he said.
