Monsignor Paul Tighe, currently Director of the Office for Public Affairs in the Archdiocese of Dublin, is to become Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
Welcoming news of the appointment, the Archbishop of Dublin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, said: “Mgr Tighe is a priest of great competence and I am glad that he will have the possibility now to place his talents at the service of the Universal Church. I thank him for the service he has given to the Archdiocese of Dublin and wish him every success.”
The Pontifical Council for Social Communications is the department of the Roman Curia responsible for the Church’s contact with the mass media on an international level. A review process is currently underway to improve and develop Vatican communications policy.
As Secretary, Mgr Tighe will assume the role of deputy to the President of the Council, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli.
A native of Navan in County Meath, Mgr Tighe graduated from UCD in 1979 with a degree in Law. Having studied for the priesthood in Holy Cross College in Clonliffe and at the Irish College in Rome, he was ordained a priest of the Dublin Diocese in 1983. His first appointment was as parish chaplain and teacher in Ballyfermot. Later, he went on to study Moral Theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. Since 1990 he has been a lecturer in Moral Theology in the Mater Dei Institute in Dublin, he was appointed head of the Theology department in 2000.
Mgr Tighe has a particular interest in the interface between politics and religion. He has been an advisor to the Irish Episcopal Conference on a range of issues of national and international interest.
Three years ago he was charged with overseeing the restructuring of the Archdiocese of Dublin Communications Office and also established for the first time in the Diocese an Office for Public Affairs, providing a more effective link between the Dublin Diocese, government, public bodies and non-governmental organisations in Ireland and Europe.
He has played an important role in the ongoing development of the Diocesan Communications office in its work with local, national and international media. He has been central in developing relations with a variety of media outlets and working with the Office in improving its web based information services, Diocesan website and links with new media.
Monsignor Paul Tighe said: “This appointment has come as a surprise to me. Communication of the Gospel must be at heart of the ministry of a priest and I am pleased to be asked to work in the Council that has a mandate to harness the potential of the media – new and old – as a means of evangelisation. I look forward to serving Pope Benedict XVI in his mission.
“I would like to thank my Archbishop, Diarmuid Martin, for releasing me to take up this post. He has been a very good friend to me for many years. Working for him in Dublin for the last four years has been a particularly enjoyable and instructive experience.”
