Alphonsus Cullinan (born 1959) is the

Bishop of Waterford and Lismore The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Waterford and town of Lismore in Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1838, and is still used by the Roman Catholic Church. His ...

Early life and education

Born in

Lahinch Lahinch or Lehinch ( ''or'' ) is a small town on Liscannor Bay, on the northwest coast of County Clare, Ireland. It lies on the N67 national secondary road, between Milltown Malbay and Ennistymon, roughly by road southwest of Galway and nort ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

in 1959, he was educated at

Crescent College Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, formerly known as the College of the Sacred Heart, is a secondary school located on of parkland at Dooradoyle, Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The college is one of a number of Jesuit schools in Ire ...

and trained as a school teacher in

Mary Immaculate College Mary Immaculate College (Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál), also known as MIC and Mary I, is a College of Education and Liberal Arts. Founded in 1898, the university level College of Education and the Liberal Arts is academically linked with the Univ ...

, Limerick (B.Ed., 1981), teaching for six years in Castleconnell, County Limerick, and for two years in Spain.

Ministry

In 1989 he commenced his studies for the priesthood in

St. Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland ...

, undertaking a two year course in philosophy before proceeding to theological studies. As a student he occasionally visited, along with other students, events in Dublin organised by Opus Dei and the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross. He was ordained into the priesthood in 1994, making him a classmate of Archbishop

Michael Francis Crotty Michael Francis Crotty (born 26 March 1970) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed a titular archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio to Burkina Faso in 2020. Biography Michael Francis Crotty was born in Mallow, County Cork, Ire ...

(S.T.L., 1995). He served in the Diocese of Limerick, and as chaplain in Limerick Regional Hospital. In 2001, Cullinan was sent to Rome's

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Ponti ...

to undertake doctorate studies in moral theology (S.T.D.) on the topic of moral utilitarianism, returning to Ireland in 2004 when he became chaplain in Limerick Institute of Technology. In 2011, he was appointed Parish Priest in Rathkeale, Limerick. Cullinan was appointed Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore The Diocese of Waterford and Lismore ( Irish: ''Deoise Phort Láirge agus Leasa Móire'' ) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Ireland. It is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel (also known as Munster) and is subje ...

in February 2015 succeeding Bishop William Lee, and received episcopal ordination in Waterford on 12 April 2015. In November 2015, he spoke in a seminar at Lismullin, the Opus Dei house in County Meath on the Year of Mercy.

Controversies

In September 2017, he made comments on the HPV vaccination programme in Irish schools. This led to criticism from a number of sources, including the Minister for health. He subsequently apologised if his remarks were picked up outside of its respective context and if they were picked up wrong.

References

External links

People from Lahinch 1959 births Roman Catholic bishops of Waterford and Lismore Living people Irish schoolteachers Alumni of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth People educated at Crescent College 21st-century Irish bishops {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub