Incoming papal nuncio to Ireland Monsignor Charles Brown has today been ordained an archbishop in Rome by Pope Benedict.
The Irish-American (52) was named papal nuncio to Ireland last November.
He has worked with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was headed by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, since 1994. He was ordained a priest in 1989 in St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, and was based at St Brendan’s parish in the Bronx until 1991.
Dr Brown was appointed assistant secretary of the International Theological Commission in September 2009.
Offering his congratulations, Cardinal Seán Brady said: “I am very pleased to be in Rome today, the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with Cardinal Desmond Connell, Bishop Noel Treanor and Bishop Donal McKeown, to attend the episcopal ordination of Monsignor Charles Brown, the recently appointed apostolic nuncio to Ireland.
“I particularly wish to express my gratitude to the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for appointing Archbishop Brown to Ireland and I wish him many blessings in his new ministry.
"I am confident that he will do excellent work in both forging strong and fruitful diplomatic links between Ireland and the Holy See to the mutual advantage of both States, and, in the promotion of renewal of the Church in Ireland."
The pontiff also named 22 new cardinals, the red-hatted "princes of the church" who are his closest aides and will one day choose his successor.
One of the most prominent on the list is Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York. Others are from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, India, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Romania, Belgium, and Malta. They include the archbishops of Toronto, Prague, Utrecht, Florence, Berlin and Hong Kong. The head of the Siro-Malabar Catholic rite in India was also elevated to cardinal.
Additional reporting: Reuters