Fr Des appointed Vicar General of Killaloe Diocese

Bishop Fintan Monahan has announced the appointment of Nenagh Parish Priest Fr Des Hillery as his Vicar General in the Killaloe Diocese.

Speaking about the appointment last week, Bishop Fintan said: “I am happy to call upon the experience of Fr Hillery in assisting with the administration of the Diocese.

 

“I am very grateful that he has accepted to take on the role at this time along with his work as Parish Priest of Nenagh. His gentle and effective leadership during his time as Administrator of the Diocese was a great source of encouragement to the clergy and people before my appointment as Bishop.

 

“Fr Des brings a breadth of vision and experience to his appointment. He has a great knowledge of the local church from his time in education and parish work in St Flannan’s College and Nenagh while his missionary experience in Latin America gives him a wider consciousness of the needs of the universal church.

 

“As I make the appointment in this World Missions Month, I am reminded of the theme that Pope Francis has chosen, that every Christian is a missionary. It is my prayer that Fr Des will continue to be an effective missionary of good news in his new role.

 

“This is the first appointment in a process of renewal that always follows the appointment of a new Bishop. I am also currently working on the renewal of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Council of Priests, and ask that the people of the Diocese would keep in their prayers me and all those who take on leadership roles in this Diocese of Killaloe.”

 

Responding to his appointment, Fr Hillery said: “I am privileged and humbled by the trust that Bishop Fintan has placed in me. I look forward to working closely with him in continuing to serve the people of this diocese and in building up a Christian community where Gospel values can flourish.”

 

Fr Des Hillery, who is a native of Milltown Malbay, Co Clare, was educated at St Flannan’s College, Ennis, and St Patrick’s College Maynooth. He was ordained in 1984. He continued Post Graduate Studies in Maynooth in 1984-85, receiving the STL, and he completed the Higher Diploma in Education in UCC while teaching in St Finbarr’s College, Farranferris.

 

He returned to the Diocese in 1986 and taught in St Flannan’s College until 1994 when he was appointed to the formation staff of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. While there he also took a one year Diploma in Spirituality and Counselling in St Louis University, Missouri, USA. He completed his appointment in Maynooth in 2005 and took a course in Mission Studies in Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath, as an associate priest with the Columban missionaries. In 2006 he volunteered to work with the Columban Missionaries in Lima, Peru.

 

Fr Des returned to the Killaloe Diocese in 2012 and since that time has been serving as Parish Priest of Nenagh. Following the appointment of Bishop Kieran O'Reilly as Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Fr Des was elected as Administrator of the Diocese until the ordination of Bishop Fintan on September 25th. 

 

According to the Code of Canon Law, in each diocese the Diocesan Bishop is to appoint a Vicar General to assist him in the governance of the whole Diocese. In virtue of his office, the Vicar General has the same executive power throughout the whole diocese as that which belongs by law to the diocesan Bishop; that is, he can perform all administrative acts, with the exception however of those which the Bishop has reserved to himself, or which by law require a special mandate of the Bishop.