12 BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY DIES Church rebel who kept on fighting to the very end
MAVERICK PRIEST WORKED TILL HIS FINAL DAYS
A REBEL bishop who was a thorn in the side of the Catholic Church for almost 50 years has died.
Bishop Pat Buckley passed away peacefully at the age of 72 at his Co Antrim home on May 17 after a short illness..
Just a day earlier, he had carried out his final act — officiating at a wedding for the Traveller community.
Months before he passed away, Bishop Buckley spoke to The Star at his home in Larne, and acknowledged he was struggling with his health but remained determined to carry on working.
He said: “I’m getting older, I’m HIV positive, I have Crohn’s disease and heart problems, but I will keep on going while I am able.
“Advancing age is inevitable to those who are fortunate to experience it and I am grateful for my years, my HIV status is well-controlled and gives me no problems. I have struggled more with stomach and heart problems but nothing that a cup of tea and a chat won’t ease.”
Sitting in Spider-Man cartoon print pyjamas in the crowded kitchen of the property, Bishop Buckley said he was determined to keep working until the day he died — and it appears that is just what happened.
In the meeting in January, he said: “I have work to do, I have people to help and support, and to expose wrongdoings. This has been my life’s work, this has been my purpose and my joy.
“I feel I’ve beaten the Catholic Church on my terms, I challenged them as they challenged me, I met them face-on and I boxed hard. Their problem with me was that I was never afraid.
“I called them out on their hypocrisy and I will continue to do that, and I will challenge them and name names with my dying breath.
“It has been my matter of pride to hold them to account while I work to support the people who have needed me most.
“I hope there will be people who will continue to look after the vulnerable, human and animal, who will stand up even if they have to stand alone.
“I include in that people who want to be married, who love each other but have found their path blocked by others.
Carry
“I’ve not been perfect in my life, but I have followed my instincts, worked hard to do the right thing and to do good, and I hope to carry on for many years to come.”
The self-styled bishop was excommunicated from the Catholic Church over his open and vocal challenges on authority, his views on marriage and homosexuality and his ordination to the episcopate by Bishop Michael Cox on May 19, 1998.
Bishop Buckley was born in Tullamore, Co Offaly, and was the eldest of 17 children. His father was a trade union official who later became a barrister.
During the 1981 IRA hunger strike, he celebrated Mass in the Maze prison and blessed hunger striker Bobby Sands.
Following disagreements with Cardinal Cahal Daly, Bishop Buckley was assigned to Kilkeel parish in 1983 and later claimed Cardinal Daly offered to move him to an Australian parish before deciding to assign him to Larne, a mainly Protestant town, in 1984.
He was suspended from the priesthood two years later.
Bishop Buckley continued to clash with Daly. When told his service was no longer needed, Buckley refused to move out of the parochial home.
An announcement o his blog yesterday said: “The Oratory Society regrets to inform you that Bishop Pat Buckley died peacefully this morning after a short illness.”
EYE TO EYE: Cardinal Cahal Daly, who died in 2009
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