MONAGHAN’S NOEL TREANOR APPOINTED ARCHBISHOP AND NUNCIO

Current Bishop of Down and Connor, Most Reverend Noel Treanor from Tyholland in Co Monaghan has been elevated to Archbishop and appointed by Pope Francis as the Vatican’s ambassador to the European Union. Archbishop Treanor, who is 71, will take up the position of Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union in January, continuing to preside in his Northern Ireland diocese until a successor is appointed.

Prior to his appointment to Down and Connor, the new Archbishop served as Secretary General of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the EU. He has also served as President of the Justice and Peace Europe organisation. Archbishop Treanor described himself as honoured by the appointment, but said he would leave his diocese with a heavy heart.

In a message to his diocese, he stated: “I have accepted this appointment and, with God’s grace, I will seek to carry out this mission which has been entrusted to me. “Over the last 14 years, I have served you as Bishop in the Diocese of Down and Connor and it is with a very heavy heart that I take up this new appointment. “I have so many fond memories of my time here and particularly of all the clergy, religious and the people whom I have met and who have supported me with their advice and expertise. I will always value and consider my time in Down and Connor as a blessing from God.

“I remember and am so grateful for your warm welcome upon my arrival in the diocese. It has been a privilege and a blessing to have been a Bishop with you and for you.” Archbishop Treanor said his new appointment came at a time when the world, and the EU in particular, faced…