There will be no Irishmen serving as a senior Vatican diplomat when the Pope's representative to Greece, Archbishop Patrick Coveney, steps down later this month. Dr Coveney, a native of Co Cork, has spent most of his priestly ministry serving the Holy See both in Rome and in countries and regions as diverse as Zimbabwe, Ethopia, New Zealand and dozens of island nations in the Pacific Ocean before being appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to Greece by Pope John Paul II in 2005.
While a number of Irish priests serve in more-junior roles in the Vatican's diplomatic service, Archbishop Coveney is the only Irishman currently serving as head of a Vatican diplomatic mission overseas.
Archbishop Thomas White, a priest of the Ossory diocese stepped down as Apostolic Nuncio in 1996 after a distinguished career serving the papacy in numerous overseas postings including as the Pope's representative in Rwanda.
Irishman, Archbishop Michael Courtney, a priest of the Clonfert Diocese, was shot dead while working as Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi in 2003.
The Vatican's diplomatic service is the oldest in the world and pontiffs have sent representatives abroad since the fourth century.
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