Michael Neary (bishop)  Michael Neary KC*HS (born 15 April 1946) is an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been the Archbishop of Tuam since 1995. Michael Neary was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, and received his early education at St. Patrick's Boys National School, Castlebar, and St. Jarlath's College, Tuam. He studied at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and was ordained to the priesthood on 15 June 1971. Earning a doctorate in Divinity in 1975, he served as a curate in Belclare for one year before being appointed to the staff at the Presentation College, Headford. From 1978 to 1981, he furthered his studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, earning a licentiate of Sacred Scripture; during that time he was also spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College. On his return he joined the staff at Holy Rosary College, Mountbellew, and served as a curate in Moylough. In 1982 he was appointed lecturer in Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, becoming professor of New Testament in 1991 where he is remembered among students as a diligent and committed teacher, if rather dull and stilted in his lecturing style. On 20 May 1992, Neary was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Tuam and Titular Bishop of "Quaestoriana" by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 13 September from Archbishop Joseph Cassidy, with Archbishops Emanuele Gerada and Joseph Cunnane serving as co-consecrators. Following Archbishop Cassidy's resignation, he was named Archbishop of Tuam on 17 January 1995. In May 2009, Neary described the Ryan Report as "sad and disturbing" and "apologise[d] unreservedly, on behalf of the Church, for our failure to protect children." Within the Irish Bishops Conference, Neary is the Chairman of the Doctrine Commission; a member of the Department of Catholic Education and Formation, Commission for Migrants, and Strategic Task Group for Education; and a trustee of Trócaire. Archbishop Neary said that if lay people had been more involved in the Catholic Church the response to clerical child sex abuse allegations "would have been different." In a reflection on the Irish bishops’ summit with Pope Benedict XVI from 15–16 February 2010, he also said that "in the discussions he asked for the forgiveness of the victims”.