Paul Desmond Tighe (born 12 February 1958) is an Irish

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He has been the Secretary of the

Pontifical Council for Culture The Pontifical Council for Culture ( la, Pontificium Consilium de Cultura) was a dicastery of the Roman Curia charged with fostering the relationship of the Catholic Church with different cultures. It was erected by Pope John Paul II on 20 May ...

since his appointment on 28 October 2017. He is the joint highest-ranking Irishman in the Roman Curia, along with Bishop Brian Farrell. 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 The Pontifical Council for Social Communications ( la, Pontificium Consilium de Communicationibus Socialibus) was a dicastery of the Roman Curia that was suppressed in March 2016 and merged into the Secretariat for Communications (now "Dicaste ...

from 30 November 2007. Before that he was director of the Office for Public Affairs for the Dublin diocese.

Biography

Tighe was born in

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland by population, tenth largest settlement in ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. He graduated from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

in 1979 with a BCL degree in Law. After studying for the priesthood in Holy Cross College in

Clonliffe Clonliffe () is an area on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland, between Ballybough and Drumcondra in the Dublin 3 postal district. Location Clonliffe Road, previously known as Fortick's Lane, is a wide thoroughfare that forms the central arter ...

and at the

Pontifical Irish College The Pontifical Irish College is a Roman Catholic seminary for the training and education of priests, in Rome. The College is located at #1, Via dei Santi Quattro, and serves as a residence for clerical students from all over the world. Designated ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 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 Ballyfermot () is a suburb town nw of the city aside Dublin, Ireland. It is located, seven kilometres (5 miles) west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park, it is bordered on the north by Chapelizod, on the south by Bluebell; on the east b ...

. Later, he studied

Moral Theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome. Since 1990 he has been a lecturer in Moral Theology in the

Mater Dei Institute of Education Mater Dei Institute of Education ( ga, Institiúid Oideachais Mater Dei) was a linked college of Dublin City University from 1999 until its closure in 2016, located in Drumcondra, Dublin City, Ireland, near Croke Park, on the site of what was ...

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. On 30 November 2007

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

appointed him secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, deputy to its President, Archbishop

Claudio Maria Celli Claudio Maria Celli (born 20 July 1941), is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. An archbishop, Celli was President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 2007 to 2016. Biography Archbishop Celli was born in Rim ...

. 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 Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed. Ther ...

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". On 9 July 2014 he was appointed secretary to the Committee for Vatican media, a special commission headed by

Lord Patten of Barnes Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...

to recommend how to restructure the Vatican's communications efforts. At the conclusion of the committee's work, Tighe presented its conclusions to Pope Francis and the

Council of Cardinal Advisers The Council of Cardinals (called C9 due to the fact it contained 9 cardinal members for some time), also known as the Council of Cardinal Advisers, is a group of Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinals of the Catholic Church appointed by Pope Francis ...

. On 19 December 2015

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Tighe Adjunct Secretary of the

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Drivastum Drisht ( sq-definite, Drishti) is a village, former bishopric and Latin titular see with an Ancient and notable medieval history (Latin ''Drivastum,'' Italian ''Drivasto'') in Albania, 6 km from Mes Bridge (Albanian: ''Ura e Mesit''). It is l ...

. He was consecrated as a bishop on 27 February 2016 by Cardinal

Pietro Parolin Pietro Parolin OMRI (, ; born 17 January 1955) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since February 2014, he has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since October 2013 and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers sinc ...

, Secretary of State of the Holy See. He was promoted to Secretary on 28 October 2017. In 2017 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 South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Festival in Austin, Texas. The panel was one of the festival's first attempts to consider the role of faith in secular discussions. On 13 July 2022, Pope Francis named him a member of the

Dicastery for Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the department of the Roman Curia that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require papal approval to take effect, but are usually followed. The Dicas ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tighe, Paul Living people 21st-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Roman Catholic titular bishops People from County Meath Members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Clonliffe College Pontifical Irish College alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 1958 births Bishops appointed by Pope Francis