Pope Benedict has appointed Brendan Leahy as Bishop of Limerick.
Bishop Leahy has been a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin and is Professor of Systematic Theology at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
Born in Dublin in 1960, he was ordained in 1986. He is a graduate of UCD and was called to the Bar in 1983.
He has been a member of the Focolare Movement for many years and is living in the Focolare Centre, Prosperous, County Kildare, the Catholic Communications Office said.
As a priest he has served as curate of Clonskeagh parish, as parish chaplain in Lusk and as a member of staff of the Holy Cross seminary and the Mater Dei Institute of Education.
He has also served as chair of the Ecumenical Committee and has served as diocesan censor since 1999.
On a national level, Fr Leahy acted as secretary of the Advisory Committee on Ecumenism of the Irish Bishops’ Conference. He is a member of the Inter-Church Meeting (1999 - present) and of the Three Faiths Forum of Ireland. He is co-chair of the Theology Forum of the Irish Inter-Church Meeting.
His writing has been widely published.
Father Leahy was nominated an associate member of the Pontifical Theology Academy in 1994 and has been a visiting lecturer at the Sophia University Institute, Loppiano, Florence since 2008.