John Fleming (born 16 February 1948) is a former Irish Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Killala between 2002 and 2024.

[1] Fleming went to London and Rome in 1974 to complete further studies in matrimonial canon law, attending cursus renovationis at the Pontifical Gregorian University and working in the ecclesiastical tribunal of Westminster.

[2] Fleming returned to Rome in September 1985 to begin doctoral studies in canon law, which he completed in 1997, and was subsequently appointed director of formation in the Pontifical Irish College.

He also chaired the Irish committee for Jubilee 2000, and was also responsible for the restoration of the Chapel of St Columbanus in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica.

[12][13][14][15] Ahead of a referendum on liberalising abortion laws on 25 May 2018, Fleming quoted Pope Francis by saying that true compassion neither marginalises anyone, nor does it humiliate and exclude, but that much less consider the disappearance of a person as a good thing.

[16] Launching the annual diocesan Society of St Vincent de Paul appeal in 2020, Fleming acknowledged that while poverty was still prevalent in Ireland, it was an issue that was for the most part hidden behind closed doors: “It is there that its dark, insidious presence makes itself felt in cold rooms, bad food, and an atmosphere which dampens mental and physical wellbeing.”[17] Fleming joined a number of church leaders in the West of Ireland on 16 September 2021, in calling on the Irish government to offer reparations to homeowners whose properties were affected by defective concrete blocks.

[18] In accordance with canon law, Fleming submitted his episcopal resignation to the Congregation for Bishops on his 75th birthday on 16 February 2023, but was expected to remain in the see until a successor was appointed.