predecessor religion birth_place title nationality type article_title rank term_start province birth_date ordination name church
anton agreiter roman catholic middlesbrough , england prefect of st. helena , ascension island and tristan da cunha apostolic of the falkland islands and ecclesiastic superior british monsignor michael mcpartland
 monsignor 9 august 2002 immediately subject to the holy see 29 september 1939 14 may 1978 michael bernard mcpartland st mary 's catholic church , stanley
michael mcpartland

monsignor michael bernard mcpartland -lrb- born 29 september 1939 -rrb- is a roman catholic priest who has served as the apostolic prefect of the falkland islands and ecclesiastic superior of st. helena , ascension island and tristan da cunha since 2002 .
at the age of 15 , mcpartland left school and worked for five years as a salesman before joining the british army in 1960 , serving for eleven years after which he worked for british rail .
in 1973 he began formal studies for the priesthood with the society of african missions and was ordained on 14 may 1978 .
mcpartland 's first appointment was in the north of nigeria where he served until 1982 when he returned to the united kingdom .
in 1998 he was sent to nairobi , kenya before he was appointed apostolic prefect of the falkland islands and ecclesiastic superior of st. helena , ascension island and tristan da cunha by pope john paul ii in august 2002 .
in 2013 , following the election as pope of jorge mario bergoglio from argentina -lrb- which claims the falklands to be part of its territory -rrb- , mcpartland stated that '' must be seen as pope first and where he comes from should not figure in the equation .
but i would also like to think he would have a beneficial impact and perhaps be able to express some soothing words that would help the situation here . ''
