Bernard Patrick Devlin, KC*HS, CMG, GMH (10 March 1921,

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long ...

— 15 December 2010,

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

) was an Irish

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as fifth

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 Roman Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar from 1985 to 1998.

Early life and education

Devlin was born in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, on 10 March 1921, the only son of Richard and Mary (née Hill). His education began in 1927 at the Loreto Convent in Youghal and he later attended the Christian Brothers School in 1933. Devlin finished completed his schooling in 1939 at the Cistercian College in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and concluded his ecclesiastical studies in 1945 at the

Pontifical Beda College The Pontifical Beda College () is a Catholic seminary in Rome. It was founded as the ''Collegio Ecclesiastico'' at the Palazzo dei Convertendi in 1852 by Pope Pius IX and is intended for older men, often convert clergymen, wishing to prepare fo ...

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Priesthood

Devlin was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 9 December 1945 at the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

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. He arrived in

on 29 June 1946. Devlin was appointed Parish Priest of St. Theresa's Church in 1974 and

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

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 ...

in 1975. On 20 October 1984 it was announced that he would succeed the late Edward Rapallo as Roman Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar and this was later confirmed on 14 November of that year. He, together with six other priests from around the world, was ordained

Principal Consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

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and co-consecrators Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo and Cardinal Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy on 6 January 1985 at

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. A group of over 200 people travelled from Gibraltar to the Vatican City to witness the event. Devlin retired as Bishop of Gibraltar on 14 February 1998 and was succeeded by Bishop Charles Caruana on 24 May of the same year.

Awards

On 30 March 1985, at a ceremony held at the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned, Archbishop Michael George Bowen invested Bishop Devlin as a

Knight Commander Knight Commander (or Dame Commander) is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant (and one of them continues as a German house order). The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the rec ...

(with star) of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He was created

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. Devlin was also bestowed with the Freedom of the City of

, and as such, was later entered into the Roll of Recipients of the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour in 2008.

Death

Bishop Emeritus Devlin died at the age of 89, in the early morning of 15 December 2010 at the cathedral's Clergy House. By noon his body had been moved to St. Theresa's Church by Monsignors Paul Bear and Charlie Azzopardi and other clergy, escorted by two riders of the Royal Gibraltar Police, where his body lay in state until his

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

. The coffin bearing his body was then transferred to the

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at 4:30pm on 17 December from where it was carried in

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

by members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and essential services to the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned via

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. The procession was headed by the drums and bagpipes of the Gibraltar Sea Scouts and flanked by the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, behind the Knights of St Gregory the Great, and local and visiting clergy including the Bishop of Cádiz and priests from the Campo de Gibraltar. A funeral mass was celebrated at 5:00pm in the cathedral by Bishop Ralph Heskett. The congregation was headed by

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

Sir Adrian Johns,

Chief Minister of Gibraltar The chief minister of Gibraltar is the head of Government of Gibraltar, His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar who is Elections in Gibraltar, elected by the Gibraltar Parliament, and formally appointed by the governor of Gibraltar, representat ...

Peter Caruana, Leader of the Opposition Joe Bossano and other local dignitaries and representatives from various faiths. His body was later laid to rest in the Cathedral Crypt as is customary with bishops. Bishop Emeritus Devlin's death came just two months after the death of his successor as Bishop of Gibraltar, Charles Caruana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Bernardpatrick 1921 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops of Gibraltar 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops of Gibraltar Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre People from Youghal Christian clergy from County Cork