AN Irish priest has been appointed as a senior Vatican spin doctor in a major review of the Catholic Church's communications policies.Monsignor Paul Tighe, a key member of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's Dublin diocesan media team, was named yesterday by Pope Benedict XVI as Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
As director of the Dublin archdiocese's public affairs office for the past three years, Mgr Tighe (49) has been an influential figure, along with former RTE journalist Annette O'Donnell, in making Archbishop Martin's media office effective.
Welcoming the news, Archbishop Martin described Mgr Tighe as "a priest of great competence". He said he was glad that the Navan-born priest would now place his talents at the service of the Universal Church.
Archbishop Martin added: "He is one of my best priests. He will do well in Rome."
At a news conference in Archbishop's House, Drumcondra, Mgr Tighe said he was surprised when he was summoned to a meeting with the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, who told him of his new assignment from the Pope. "Communication of the Christian Gospel must be at heart of the ministry of a priest," he said. "I look forward to serving Pope Benedict XVI in his mission."
Mgr Tighe's appointment will add to the Irish Church's punching power in the Vatican's corridors of power, where he joins his fellow national, Bishop Brian Farrell, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The Council for Social Communications is the department of the Roman Curia -- the Church's civil service -- responsible for promoting the Church's international media relations.
A review process, involving the Vatican's newspaper, 'L'Osservatore Romano' and its media office, is currently underway to improve and develop Vatican communications policy.
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As the council's number two, Mgr Tighe will play a central role in this review as deputy to the president of the council, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli.
Mgr Tighe graduated from UCD in 1979 with a law degree. He was ordained in 1983 and went on to study Moral Theology in Rome. Since 1990 he has lectured in Moral Theology at the Mater Dei Institute in Dublin, and was appointed head of its theology department in 2000.
In 2004, he was put in charge of the restructuring of the Archdiocese of Dublin Communications.
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