The Right Reverend Séamus Cunningham |
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Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle | |
Province | Liverpool |
Diocese | Hexham and Newcastle |
Appointed | 9 January 2009 |
Installed | 20 March 2009 |
Predecessor | Kevin John Dunn |
Orders | |
Ordination | 12 June 1966 |
Consecration | 20 March 2009 by Patrick Altham Kelly |
Personal details | |
Born |
Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland |
7 July 1942
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Séamus Cunningham (born 7 July 1942) is an Irish born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in England. He is the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle in the north of England.
Séamus Cunningham was born in Castlebar, County Mayo. He attended St. Nathy's College in Ballaghaderreen and St. John's College in Waterford. He was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle on 12 June 1966 and then undertook pastoral work in north west County Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne until 1972.
Cunningham was a diocesan adviser for Religious Education and Catechetics from 1972 to 1978, when he became director of Religious Education. From 1984 to 1987, he served as spiritual director at Ushaw College. In 1987 he was appointed administrator of St. Mary’s Cathedral Church and a canon. Following a sabbatical in the United States Cunningham became a pastor in Tynemouth and Cullercoats in 1988. He was named vicar general of Hexham and Newcastle in 2004 and, following Bishop Kevin Dunn’s death on 1 March 2008, elected Diocesan Administrator on 2 March.