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John Magee (bishop)

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Bishop John Magee

John Magee, SPS (b. 24 September 1936) is a Roman Catholic bishop.

Early life

He was born in Newry, Northern Ireland, in the Catholic diocese of Dromore, on September 24 1936. He was ordained priest for St Patrick's Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers) on March 17 1962. He served as a missionary and was an official of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome, when he was chosen by Pope Paul VI to be one of his private secretaries. On Pope Paul's death he remained in service as a private secretary to his successor, Pope John Paul I.

The death of John Paul I

It was John Magee who is said to have found Pope John Paul I dead in bed on the morning of September 28, 1978 though his public accounts of the event have been contradictory. John Cornwell (writer) in his book A Thief in the Night, specially commissioned by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, after a thorough forensic examination of all the facts surrounding the late Pontiff's death was unable to exclude that the Pope's secretary was in some way unwittingly involved in the Pope's death.

Service under John Paul II

He remained for a time in the same capacity with Pope John Paul II, elected on October 16 1978, but was in 1982 made papal Master of Ceremonies and continued in this post until on February 17 1987 he was appointed Bishop of Diocese of Cloyne, in Ireland.

In January 2007, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow and former private secretary of Pope John Paul II for forty years, published a book of reminiscences of his life with the Pope entitled Una Vita con Karol(Rizzoli, Milan). Although Dziwisz mentions other colleagues such as Archbishop Kabongo and Mons. Thu, who also acted as private secretaries to the Pope, he does not recollect John Magee at any point in the 250 page book. Vatican watchers do not regard the omission as an oversight but see it as a highly significant statement as to the authentic custodianship of the late Pontiff's memory. Bishop Magee has not publicly commented on Cardinal Dziwisz's view of his service to Pope John Paul II and his spokesman declined to answer any questions on the subject.

Bishop of Cloyne

Bishop Magee has played a pivotal role in the Irish Episcopal Conference where he has been a leading figure in the modernization of the Liturgy in Ireland, especially in championing the avant-garde. His efforts on behalf of the Conference in relation to the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland have been similarly moderinising, and cover the period in which the Catholic and Protestant Scouting movements of Ireland joined together as a multi-denominational organisation. This promotes unity within the community and allows people of other religions now join scouting as well, which is an option that was previously unavailable to them.

Bishop Magee's pastoral strategy has always placed heavy emphasis on the promotion of vocations to the priesthood but, after some initial success, the number of vocations in the diocese of Cloyne entered a period of slow but certain decline with numbers of seminarians easing from 46 to 5. This trend is reflected all over the Island of Ireland, however with five seminarians Cloyne is the fourth most populated seminarian group in Ireland, after Raphoe, Dublin and Meath. Bishop Magee, has announced his intention of tackling the shortage of vocations by encouraging lay persons of both sexes to become active in Church life at all levels. In a brave move, he appointed Ireland's first female faith developer and entrusted her with the daunting task of transforming an Irish rural diocese into a cosmopolitan pastoral model using techniques borrowed from several urban dioceses in the United States. Bishop Magee is reported to be happy with the initial results of the pilot programme and has made the faith developer's services available, free of charge, to the wider pastoral horizon of the Irish Episcopal Conference.

Bishop Magee's moral authority in the diocese of Cloyne has, according to some, been severely impaired by his recent public dispute with the Friends of St. Colman's Cathedral, a local conservationist group in Cobh which has protracted a highly effective opposition to the Bishop's controversial plans to re-order the interior of Cobh Cathedral. Such a plan is similar to the re-ordering seen in Kerry, Cork and Limerick Cathedrals in recent years. In an oral hearing conducted by An Bord Pleanala, the Irish Planning Board, it emerged that several irregularites had occurred in the planning application that were traced immediately to Cobh Town Council who some have deemed too willing to accommodate the Bishop's plans to modify the Victorian interior designed by E.W. Pugin and George Ashlin. On 2 June 2006, an Bord Pleanala directed Cobh Town Council to refuse the Bishop's application[1]. Bishop Magee was in Lourdes when news of this arrived. While the bishop imposed a mandatory silence on the subject during his stay in Lourdes, a group from the parish of Cobh arranged to celebrate the Bord's decision with a party in the Hotel de France et d'Angleterre in Lourdes. Despite vague expressions of support from the body of Irish Bishops, it would seem likely that as a result of testimony at the planning hearing, a number of people associated with the case may have to answer before disciplinary hearings and the Irish courts.

Bishop Magee published a pastoral letter[2] in the diocese of Cloyne on 28/29 July 2006 explaining that he would not be challenging the decision of An Bord Pleanala by instituting a judicial review in the Irish High Court. A diocesan official explained that the bishop did not wish to proceed because of the financial implications of such an action and because of the bishop's desire to avoid a church state clash. Claims that An Bord Pleanala's decision infringed the constitutional property rights of religious bodies were dismissed.[3]. It is estimated that Bishop Magee expended over Euro 200,000 in his unsuccessful bid to modernize the interior of Cobh Cathedral to bring it in line with Vatican II guidelines. It is believed that a heafty contribution to the bishop's expenses was made by fellow trustee, Dr. Tom Cavanagh of Fermoy, before he resigned from the Cathedral Steering Committee in September 2006. So far Dr. Tom Cavanagh has not been replaced on the Trustee Committee, no doubt the delay being prolonged by the Bishop's recent ill health.

Public interest now focuses on who will pay the substantial bill incurred by the friends of St. Colman's Cathedral.

Who's Who in Ireland [2006] describes Magee as "remote [and] low profile". It comments that many ecclestiastical observers "expected him to return to Vatican City by now". Sources close to the Bishop however say that the Bishop has turned down offers of alternative positions outside of Cloyne preferring to remain in his homeland of Ireland.

Bishop Magee's failing health continues to be a source of concern for his diocese. For the third year in succession he has failed personally to complete his schedule of Confirmations in the Cloyne parishes. While this is unusual in Ireland it would be the norm in America and mainland Europe for any Bishop to delegate Confirmations to locally based Monsignors. Indeed many Bishops in Ireland now regularly engage the aid of monsignor's and/or a retired Bishop to aid them to complete the Confirmation schedules due to the increased workload of Bishops. This year's cancellations arose due to the bishop's sore knee, caused by medical problem, which was operated on in early summer of 2007.

On 12 May 2007 prayers were requested for Bishop Magee who was admitted to the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork where he underwent a knee replacement operation. All official engagements were cancelled for the next ten weeks to allow the Bishop sufficient time to recuperate. After this ten week period the Bishop returned to full duty, having been described as well rested and looking ten years younger. On returning to duty the Bishop immediately began catching up on his work and the annual clerical changes were rapidly issued, and available on the Cloyne diocese website.

In July 2007 Bishop Magee continued to attract further public attention with the opening of Richard Crane's play The Last Confession at the Haymarket Theatre in London's West End. The drama focuses on the power~broking Cardinal Benelli and events surrounding the death of Pope John Paul I. In the play, the Pope's valet claims that Magee was responsible for the Pontiff's death and that he fled into oblivion after comitting the act. The drama also includes a scene in which Magee is interrogated by a committee of Cardinals and explains that he had to leave Rome after the Pope's death because he could not stay. The play is described as conveying a sense of grandeur tinged with doom and progresses at the pace of a good thriller.

International profile

On the death of Pope John Paul II he was greatly sought after by the media and spent much time in Rome, making himself available to the various Italian television channels. In a Christmas (2005) message to the diocese of Cloyne, Bishop Magee, commenting on how he learned over the phone of the grief being poured out by the people of his diocese at the Pope's death, explained that his "heart went out to all of them and [he] gave as much time as [he] possibly could to sharing [his]thoughts and, indeed, [his]grief through the various channels of the media". In response many people of the Diocese of Cloyne were deeply comforted by the insight Bishop Magee was able to offer into the private life of a Pope held so dearly by so many.

Last ad Limina Visit

Bishop John Magee made what is expected to be his last ad Limina visit to the Vatican from 15-31 October 2006. The visit, which is made every five years, will next take place in 2012, almost a year subsequent to the bishop's 75th birthday in September 2011 when he will be required to offer to retire under section 401 of the Code of Canon Law.

The contents of Ad Limina visits are strictly private yet Bishop Magee was happy to disclose the contents of his conversation with the pope at a meeting of his liturgical advisers and diocesan clergy held in November 2006 at the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork City. The Bishop mentioned that he had been closely questioned on several aspects of his proposals to re-order Cobh Cathedral. It was obvious, he said, that the pope had been kept well informed of the entire issue. The Bishop also spoke very freely of other aspects of the Ad Limina visit with other clergy groups.

It is understood that Bishop Magee's contribution to this visit concerned not only his diocese of Cloyne but also ceremonial matters (an area of expertise to Bishop Magee) on behalf of the Conference who were anxious to maintain good relations on important subjects with the various Vatican offices. Bishop Magee also facilitated the broadcasting of a life of Pope John Paul I on the Italian State Television (RAI) to coincide with the ad Limina visit. The programme had been made several months earlier without having obtained the permission of the Vatican. It is reported that the RAI broadcast drew mixed reactions, especially in Italian ecclesiastical circles. Official Vatican criticism of the film and those involved in it came swiftly in the form of an interview given to the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire on 26 October 2006 by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Secretary of State to Pope Benedict XVI. That such comments should have come from so senior a source can only be read as an indication of the Vatican's unhappiness with the programme and with Bishop Magee's collaboration in making it. Cardinal Bertone emphasized that the portrait of John Paul I painted by the RAI production was morbid and in no way related to Albino Luciano's robust government of the Patriarchate of Venice prior to his election. It is understood that Bishop Magee's input may have contributed to the distorted image of Pope John Paul I promoted by RAI and so severely criticised by Cardinal Bertone. However it is well worth noting that Bishop Magee was indeed the private secretary to John Paul I before Cardinal Bertone was Cardinal, and one may wonder if on a balance of probabilities did Bishop Magee not give a more accurate image of the man he was so close to?

In a surprise move, Bishop Magee, who is responsible for liturgy within the Irish Episcopal Conference, made no statement to the press concerning his dealings with the Vatican with regard to liturgy and declined to answer any questions on the subject.

Bishop Magee remained in Rome following the departure of the other Irish bishops as their representative at a meeting of the International Commission for Eucharistic Congresses.

On 26 October 2006, Pope Benedict XVI met Bishop Magee in a private audience, in what is thought to be matters unrelated to the Ad Limina visit.

Bishop Magee's Successor

Despite the deterioration of Bishop Magee's health over the past few years he has been more than able to discharge the duties of a diocesan bishop. The effects of the situation are few and far between: clerical appointments are on time, parochial vacancies are swiftly filled, high clerical morale and a sense that the diocese has entered into a phase of pastoral renewal are all a testament to Bishop Magee's continued zeal as Pastor of the Church in Cloyne.

Although some commentators now believe that Bishop Magee is preparing to withdraw from his responsibilities in Cloyne, there is no real evidence to suggest this. It has been said that he is currently grooming a successor to take over from him as soon as he reaches seventy five. Apparantly, the Bishop's clear favourite to succeed him as bishop of Cloyne is his pastoral coordinator, Fr. Jim Killeen who has recently been assigned to a part time higher studies course to prepare him to run the diocese. There is, of cource, no real evidence to suggest this. Furthermore, the said commentators have clearly not taken into account the fact that the current Holy Father is not keen to accept the resignations of bishops as soon as they reach retirement age. Therefore we can expect, assuming the bishop's continued improvments in health, that he may not in fact retire as Bishop of Cloyne until the age of seventy-seven or eight. Added to this is the fact that bishop of any diocese, no matter how much he wishes to groom anyone to succeed him, has little or no say in the actual appointment of his successor. Ultimately, the appointment of bishops is at the sole discression of the Holy Father, in consultation with the Sacred Congregation for Bishops and the Apostolic Nuncio of the country in question.

Preceded by Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations
1982 - 17 February 1987 		Succeeded by
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