Chai Brady
Bishop Paul Tighe pictured when he was appointed as adjunct secretary of the Vatican's Pontifcal Council for Culture. Pope Francis has appointed Dubliner Bishop Paul Tighe to the influential Vatican body which advises the Pontiff on choosing new bishops.
A priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin, he has served at the Vatican since 2007 in a number of roles and has worked in the Council for Culture for the past five years.
Sixty-four-year-old Bishop Tighe is a protégé of the retired Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin. Both men worked closely in Dublin before the former’s promotion to Rome and Dublin priests have long considered Dr Tighe to have been a close confidant of Archbishop Martin.
The new role on the Dicastery for Bishops will give Bishop Tighe a huge role in influencing future episcopal appointments in Ireland.
Pope Francis appointed him along with 13 others, including three women.
In 1990, then Fr Tighe was appointed as a lecturer in moral theology at the Mater Dei Institute of Education in Dublin and at Holy Cross College.
In 2004, he was named as director of the communications office of Dublin Diocese and a year later headed the now defunct office for public affairs.
The three women were appointed to the dicastery – the first to serve in such a role – Sr Raffaella Petrini FSE, secretary general of the governorate of the Vatican City State, Sr Yvonne Reungoat FMA, former superior general of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and Dr Maria Lia Zervino, president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations.
Read the full appointments in our Vatican roundup here.