A DUBLIN priest has been made a Bishop at the Vatican, becoming one of the most senior Catholic-Irish figures in Rome.
Monsignor (Msgr) Paul Tighe was ordained Bishop at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Saturday, February 27 by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
In December, Msgr Tighe was appointed titular Bishop of Drivastrum and Adjunct Secretary to the Vatican’s Council for Culture by Pope Francis.
Most recently, he was Secretary of the Vatican’s Council for Social Communications and former director of the Communications and Public Affairs Office of the Dublin Archdiocese.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, paid tribute to Msgr Tighe on his new appointment.
“Mgr. Tighe is a person of integrity and competence, whose innovation in media relations has made a significant impact in the Church around the world,” he said.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin blesses newly ordained Bishop Paul Tighe, a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin, during his ordination (Photo: Paul Haring, Catholic News Service)Archbishop Martin also praised the important contribution that Msgr Tighe had made to the work of the Archdiocese of Dublin and the Church in Ireland before his appointment to Rome.
Msgr Tighe was born on February 12, 1958 in Navan, Co. Meath. He attended the De La Salle Primary School in his native town and completed his secondary education at Summerhill College in Co. Sligo.
He graduated from the University College Dublin in 1979 with a degree in Civil Law before studying for the priesthood at Holy Cross College in the Irish capital and at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome.
Msgr Tighe was ordained a priest of the Dublin Diocese in 1983.
In 2004, he was named as Director of the Communications Office of Dublin Diocese and a year later he established the Office for Public Affairs.
Msgr Tighe was appointed chaplain to Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, receiving the title Monsignor, and later that year he was announced as Secretary of the Vatican’s Council for Social Communications.
