Scottish Catholic Observer

By Dominic Lynch and Beth Thomson

Newly elevated Archbishop Charles Brown, the soon-to-arrive new nuncio in Ireland, does not have his sights set on reforming the Irish Church, saying he has ‘a lot to learn’ about the country and the problems the Church there is facing.

On Friday, during Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI conferred Episcopal ordination as archbishop upon Mgr Charles Brown.

The nuncio to Ireland, a native of New York (right), was elevated to an archbishop at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome alongside Mgr Marek Solczyński of Cracow Archdiocese, who was recently appointed Papal nuncio to Georgia and Armenia.

Pope Benedict was assisted by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, and Cardinal William Levada, cardinal prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Nuncio to Ireland

Archbishop Brown admits that his prior visits to Ireland include just two short holidays in the early 1980s when he was reading theology at Oxford, and says he has ‘a lot to learn.’ However he does not see his role as leading a reform of the Irish Church.

“The nuncio is a representative of the Holy See on the ground there,” he is reported to have said. “It is not that, in any sense, he is in control of the Church in Ireland.

“It is the bishops of Ireland who are in control of the Church in Ireland.”

Archbishop Brown, 52, has been attached to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome since 1994. He was appointed chaplain to the Holy Father in May 2000 and then as assistant secretary to the International Theological Commission in September 2009. He is, however perceived as an atypical choice as nuncio, neither Italian nor a career diplomat, but is now seen to have a bona fide seal of approval from the Pope himself.

He was appointed Papal nuncio to Ireland by the Holy Father in November last year and is expected to arrive in Dublin later this month.

He arrives as the Catholic Church in Ireland continues to deal with the aftermath of clerical abuse and ahead of the 50th Eucharistic Congress in June.

Papal guidance

Speaking in his homily at the Epiphany, Pope Benedict noted that the Epiphany is ‘a feast of light’ and that ‘the great star that leads us on, is Christ Himself.’

Referring to the Episcopal ordinations of Archbishops Brown and Solczyński, the Holy Father said: “I will consecrate them as shepherds of God’s people.”

Recalling the story of the three Magi, the Holy Father said to the newly appointed archbishops: “You followed the star Jesus Christ when you said ‘yes’ to the priesthood and to the episcopacy. And no doubt smaller stars have enlightened and helped you not to lose your way. In the litany of saints we call upon all these stars of God, that they may continue to shine upon you and show you the path.”