Malcolm Patrick McMahon

The Right Reverend 
Malcolm McMahon
 OP
Bishop of Nottingham
Province Westminster
Metropolis Westminster
Diocese Nottingham
See Nottingham
Appointed 7 November 2000
Enthroned 8 December 2000
Predecessor James Joseph McGuinness
Orders
Ordination 26 June 1982
Consecration 8 December 2000
by James Joseph McGuinness
Personal details
Birth name Malcolm Patrick McMahon
Born 14 June 1949 (1949-06-14) (age 62)
London, England
Nationality British
Denomination Roman Catholic
Styles of
Malcolm McMahon
Reference style Right Reverend
Spoken style Your Lordship
Religious style Monsignor
Posthumous style not applicable

Malcolm Patrick McMahon, OP (born 14 June 1949) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the ninth and current Bishop of Nottingham.

Contents

Early life and ministry

Malcolm McMahon was born in London, and studied mechanical engineering at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology before working for Daimler Motor Company and London Transport. In 1976, he decided upon an ecclesiastical career and joined the Dominican Order. Making his religious profession in December 1977, McMahon studied philosophy at Blackfriars, Oxford and theology at Heythrop College. He was ordained to the priesthood by Basil Cardinal Hume on 26 June 1982.

He served as chaplain of Leicester Polytechnic from 1984 to 1985, whence he was named Parish Priest for a London parish. McMahon later became Parish Priest of St. Dominic's in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1989), and of St. Dominic's in Haverstock Hill (1990). He was elected prior provincial of the Dominicans' English province in both 1992 and 1996. In 2000, he was elected prior of Blackfriars, Oxford.

Episcopal career

Bishop of Nottingham

On 7 November 2000, McMahon was appointed Bishop of Nottingham by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 8 December from Bishop James McGuinness, with Bishops Victor Guazzelli and Patrick O'Donoghue serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral Church of St. Barnabas.

McMahon's name had been mentioned as a possible successor to Cormac Murphy-O'Connor as Archbishop of Westminster[1] and to Kevin MacDonald as Archbishop of Southwark.

Views

Malcolm McMahon supports the idea of marriage of Catholic priests. He said there is no doctrinal reason preventing them from having wives:

"There is no reason why priests shouldn't be allowed to marry.It has always been a matter of discipline rather than doctrine[...]It is a question of justice for those men who want to be priests and to have a wife. Marriage should not bar them from their vocation but they must be married before they are ordained. The justice issue also applies to communities which could be deprived of the Eucharist because there aren’t enough priests.[2]"

He also supports increasing the role of women in Catholic Church, however he is against ordination of women as priests:

"I look forward to the day when women play a greater role in ministry and take up more of a place in the Church, but not in sacred orders.[3]"

Personal info

The Bishop is one of a dozen clerics who play golf at Hollinwell every Tuesday. In his free time he likes to listen to live music at the Lakeside and Opera North at the Theatre Royal but also admits to being a fan of Nora Jones. He enjoys eating out at one of his two favourite restaurants in Nottingham, Turkish restaurant Antalya and Dolche, an Italian opposite the Broadway Cinema, which he also likes to frequent.[4]

References

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
James McGuinness
Bishop of Nottingham
2000–present
Succeeded by
incumbent