Thomas A. White (12 August 1931 – 7 May 2017) was an archbishop of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, serving in Africa, China, Latin America, and the Pacific region. He once described his career as "gypsy for the sake of the Kingdom".

Biography

Thomas Anthony White was born in

Durrow, County Laois Durrow (, formerly ''Darmhagh Ua nDuach'') is a village located in south-east County Laois, Ireland. Bypassed by the M8 motorway on 28 May 2010, the village is located on the R639 road at its junction with the N77. The River Erkina flows thr ...

, Irish Free State, on 12 August 1931, one of five children. He attended Cullohill National School and then St Kieran's College,

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, where he excelled in academics and

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

. White was ordained to the priesthood on 25 February 1956 and briefly taught canon law at St. Kieran's. To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy ( la, Pontificia Ecclesiastica Academia, it, Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic c ...

in 1958. His first assignment took him to Nairobi, where the Apostolic Delegation to Eastern Africa was preparing for developing diplomatic relations with the countries of the region as they achieved their independence. He later worked in Latin America and Switzerland. His last staff assignment was in China, first on the mainland and then in the nunciature's new location in Taiwan. On 27 May 1978, Pope Paul VI appointed him titular archbishop of Sabiona and served apostolic nuncio to Rwanda. He received his episcopal consecration on 30 July 1978 from Cardinal

Agnelo Rossi Agnelo Rossi (4 May 1913 – 21 May 1995) was a Brazilian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Biography Rossi was born on 4 May 1913 in Joaquim Egidio, Brazil, in the Dio ...

On 1 March 1983, Pope John Paul II named him Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Ethiopia. Famine relief was the central occupation of his time there. He suffered a heart attack in 1988. On 14 October 1989, he was appointed Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to New Zealand and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

as well as Apostolic Delegate to Oceania. On 1 December 1992, he received the additional title of Apostolic Nuncio to Nauru. On 31 July 1995 he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Kiribati as well. He left the diplomatic service upon his replacement in several of his posts by Patrick Coveney on 27 April 1996. In retirement he lived in Blackrock, a Dublin suburb, and continued to fill special assignments for the Vatican Secretariat of State. He settled finally at a nursing home in Kilkenny where he died on 7 May 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Thomas A. 1931 births 2017 deaths Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Irish Roman Catholic archbishops Apostolic Nuncios to Rwanda Apostolic Nuncios to New Zealand Apostolic Nuncios to Fiji Apostolic Nuncios to Nauru Apostolic Nuncios to Samoa Apostolic Nuncios to the Pacific Ocean Apostolic Nuncios to Ethiopia Irish Roman Catholic titular bishops Diplomats of the Holy See People from Durrow, County Laois Christian clergy from County Laois