Patrick Joseph McKinney is the 10th Bishop of Nottingham. His appointment was announced on 14 May 2015 by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. He previously served as a member of the clergy of the Archdiocese of Birmingham and Rector of St Mary's College, Oscott.

Early life

Patrick McKinney was born on 30 April 1954, the eldest son of Irish immigrants Patrick and Bridget McKinney, and brought up in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He began his studies for the priesthood at St Mary's College, Oscott, the Archdiocese of Birmingham’s seminary for the training of priests, in 1972, and was ordained to the priesthood on 29 July 1978 in St Mary’s Church,

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in Inishowen in the north of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. The town sits on the eastern shores of Lough Swilly, being northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. I ...

, Co Donegal, Ireland, where his family lives.

Priesthood

After his Ordination he was appointed assistant priest in the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Yardley Wood, Birmingham, and chaplain to St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, Kings Norton, Birmingham. Between 1982 and 1984, he was a student at the Gregorian Pontifical University, Rome, where he gained a Licentiate of Sacred Theology. Returning to the Archdiocese of Birmingham, he taught fundamental theology in St Mary’s College until 1989, when he was appointed Rector of St Mary’s College, a post he held for nine years, during which period he was also a lecturer in

Ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of th ...

.Pope Francis appoints new Bishop of Nottingham
from ''Independent Catholic News'', 14 May 2015, retrieved 15 May 2015 He left the College in 1998, and until 2001 he was parish priest of St John’s, Great Haywood, and Episcopal Vicar for the north of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He left the parish in 2001, remaining as

Episcopal Vicar Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

until 2006 when he was appointed parish priest of Our Lady and All Saints,

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

and Dean of the Dudley Deanery. He was made a Prelate of Honour in 1990 and a member of the Metropolitan Chapter of St Chad in 1992, and has served for a time as Chair of the Birmingham Archdiocesan Ecumenical Commission.

Bishop

Monsignor McKinney was appointed tenth bishop of Nottingham in succession to Malcolm McMahon OP,

Archbishop of Liverpool The Metropolitan Archbishop of Liverpool is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool and Metropolitan bishop, metropolitan of the Province of Liverpool (also known as the Northern Province) in England. Th ...

, on 14 May 2015, and was consecrated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, in St Barnabas’ Cathedral, Nottingham on Friday 3 July 2015. McKinney, on his appointment as bishop, spoke of his consciousness of 'God's mercy', and that he always intended to do his best in 'whatever God asked'. He also paid homage to his predecessor's legacy. Bishop McKinney was criticised over his handling of a reported case of sexual abuse. The victim claims that Bishop McKinney had been obstinate in not pursuing his claims against a priest from the Diocese of Nottingham, who reportedly committed the act whilst visiting a diocese in Ireland. McKinney, along with other Catholic Bishops in England and Wales, signed a letter calling for the protection of workers and for firms to commit to paying a living wage. The letter, co-written and signed by McKinney, believed it was necessary to pay a living wage to counteract the 'harm caused by poverty', which he called 'a source of national shame'. In 2020, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Patrick McKinney to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. McKinney has also been an advocate for the cause of canonisation of Venerable Mary Potter, a religious sister who worked in the Diocese of Nottingham.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Patrick 1954 births Living people 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Roman Catholic bishops of Nottingham Clergy from Birmingham, West Midlands Pontifical Gregorian University alumni English Roman Catholic bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Francis