Paul Tighe

Paul Tighe (born 12 February 1958) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture since his appointment on 28 October 2017. He is the joint highest-ranking Irishman in the Roman Curia, along with Bishop Brian Farrell.[1] He was consecrated a bishop on 27 February 2016. He previously served as adjunct secretary of the same dicastery from December 2015 and as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 30 November 2007.[2] Before that he was director of the Office for Public Affairs for the Dublin diocese.

The Most Reverend Paul Tighe
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture
Tighe in 2015.
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Appointed	28 October 2017
Predecessor	Barthélemy Adoukonou
Other posts	Titular Bishop of Drivastum (2015-)
Orders
Ordination	10 July 1983 by Brendan Oliver Comiskey
Consecration	27 February 2016 by Pietro Parolin
Personal details
Birth name	Paul Tighe
Born	(1958-02-12) 12 February 1958 Navan, Ireland
Previous post	Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (2007–15) Adjunct Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture (2015–17)
Education	University College Dublin Holy Cross College
Alma mater	Pontifical Irish College Pontifical Gregorian University

Styles of Paul Tighe
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor

Biography

Tighe was born in Navan, County Meath. He graduated from University College Dublin in 1979 with a BCL degree in Law. After studying for the priesthood in Holy Cross College in Clonliffe and at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, he was ordained a priest of the Dublin archdiocese in St. Laurence O'Toole Church in Kilmacud in 1983. His first appointment was as parish chaplain and teacher in Ballyfermot. Later, he studied Moral Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Since 1990 he has been a lecturer in Moral Theology in the Mater Dei Institute of Education in Dublin. He was appointed head of the Theology department there in 2000.

In 2004, he was named the director of the Communications Office of the diocese of Dublin. He established its Office for Public Affairs, which aids communication between the diocese, government, public bodies and nongovernmental organizations in Ireland and Europe.[3]

On 30 November 2007 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, deputy to its President, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli.

In an essay title "The challenge for the Church in a digital culture", Tighe wrote: "The generalized and uncritical social reception of the tenets of relativism finds particular expression in the digital world where the sheer volume of information and opinion, much of it contradictory, can lead to an almost resigned acceptance that it is meaningless to speak of truth and objectivity. In the face of so much assertion, argument and counter argument, it is difficult to decide where real authority and expertise resides".[4]

On 9 July 2014 he was appointed secretary to the Committee for Vatican media, a special commission headed by Lord Patten of Barnes to recommend how to restructure the Vatican's communications efforts.[5] At the conclusion of the committee's work, Tighe presented its conclusions to Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinal Advisers.[1]

On 19 December 2015 Pope Francis appointed Tighe Adjunct Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture and Titular Bishop of Drivastum.[1] He was consecrated as a bishop on 27 February 2016 by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See.[6] He was promoted to Secretary on 28 October 2017.[7]

In 2017 Bishop Tighe spoke of the Church as a recognisable brand while participating on a panel with other spokespersons for Catholic organizations titled "Compassionate Disruption" at the annual South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. The panel was one of the festival's first attempts to consider the role of faith in secular discussions.[8]

References

1. O'Connell, Gerard (19 December 2015). "Pope Appoints Msgr. Paul Tighe as Bishop and Adjunct-Secretary to the Pontifical Council for Culture". America. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
2. "Irish priest appointed to senior Vatican post" (Press release). Irish Catholic Bishops Conference march. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
3. "Pope Appoints Mgr Paul Tighe Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Communications". Signis. 30 November 2007. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
4. Tighe, Paul (3 May 2012). "The challenge for the Church in a digital culture". ABC Religion and Ethics. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
5. Carroll, Steve (9 July 2014). "Pope appoints Irish priest to Vatican media reform team". Irish Times. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
6. McGarry, Patsy (27 February 2016). "Irishman Paul Tighe ordained bishop in Rome". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
7. "Rinunce e Nomine" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
8. Palmer, Matt (15 March 2017). "Vatican official thinks Catholic brand will be defined locally". Crux. Retrieved 3 December 2017.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Renato Boccardo	Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications 30 November 2007–19 December 2015	Succeeded by none, dicastary dissolved
Preceded by Barthélemy Adoukonou	Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture 28 October 2017–present	Succeeded by incumbent