Preview

In the presence of family, bishops and priests from Ireland and colleagues from the Vatican, Irish Msgr. Paul Tighe was ordained a bishop Feb. 27 by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

Although he said his mother had told him, "Don't make a show of yourself," the new bishop's voice broke with emotion as he thanked his parents, the church in the Archdiocese of Dublin and Archbishop Claudio Celli, his former boss at the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

In December, Pope Francis named Bishop Tighe, former secretary of the communications council, to be adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

"With his exemplary behavior and his teaching, he is called to be a sign of divine mercy, to give rise to a yearning for a life inspired by the Gospel and lived in fraternity," Cardinal Parolin said in his homily.

"A bishop is called to enter into the patience of God, to take care of the most difficult situations and to never despair, not even of those people who seem furthest off," the cardinal said.

Using his remarks at the end of Mass to share an accounting of his blessings, Bishop Tighe said, "The original blessing of my life has been and is a great sense of God's love and closeness to me." That experience, he said, is symbolized by the anchor he chose to have on his coat of arms.

Bishop Tighe, who had served as director of the Communications and Public Affairs Office of the Dublin archdiocese before being appointed to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said much of his official ministry has been "with words, but love calls for something more. My motto, 'Estote factores verbi,' 'Be doers of the word,' is a little reminder to myself that our faith is not a theory, but a call to service."