Image by European Union, 2024
CV NEWS FEED // Heartfelt tributes have poured in following the sudden death of the beloved Irish prelate, Archbishop Noel Treanor, on Sunday morning.
According to an August 12 UK Standard report, both high-ranking church officials and political figures reacted to the news with sorrow, expressing deep respect for the late Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union.
Archbishop Eamon Martin, Catholic Primate of Ireland, expressed sadness and shock in the report over “the suddenness of Archbishop Treanor’s premature passing,” and praised his service as apostolic nuncio, stating that his work “help[ed] to nourish the Christian heart and soul of Europe.”
The Archbishop continued:
At this sad time for all who knew him across Ireland, Europe and throughout the universal Church, I join with Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ of Down and Connor, and with Bishop Larry Duffy of his native diocese of Clogher, in offering my prayers for the happy repose of the soul of Archbishop Noel, and for the comfort of his brother, sister, extended family members and close friends at this difficult time.
As Vatican News reported, Archbishop Treanor’s death on Sunday was the result of a heart attack. He was 73 years old.
According to the UK Standard report, Archbishop John McDowell of the Church of Ireland also paid tribute to Archbishop Treanor’s death, which he said he was “profoundly shocked to hear of.” The late Archbishop’s work, he noted, had been “vast and demanding.”
“Archbishop Noel’s final posting in Brussels was one of immense complexity and diplomatic delicacy,” he continued: “which must have been a challenge to his naturally perfectionist instincts; yet never verbose, he was always worth listening to.”
Archbishop McDowell further praised Archbishop Treanor’s diplomatic abilities, describing him as “an accomplished linguist moving freely between English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish.”
Irish President Michael D. Higgins reacted to the news with deep sadness as well, stating in the report that Archbishop Treanor’s passing marks “a significant diplomatic loss in relation to the discussion on the future of Europe.”
The Irish president further recalled Archbishop Treanor’s “deep knowledge of the institutions of the EU,” his insistence on maintaining peace, “and the importance of the hard work necessary to build [this] peace in conditions of difference.”
“May I extend my deepest sympathies to Noel’s brother John, his sister Mary, to his fellow clergy and colleagues in diplomacy, and to all of his family, friends and former parishioners,” Higgens added.
The late archbishop was born in Silverstream, County Monoghan, Ireland on Christmas Day 1950, according to the Vatican report. He was ordained as a priest in Clogher on June 13, 1976.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Treanor as Bishop of Down and Connor in February of 2008, and Pope Francis appointed him as Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union in 2022, granting him the personal title of Archbishop as well.
Archbishop Treanor’s successor in the Diocese of Down and Connor, Bishop Alan McGuckian, wrote in an August 12 statement that it was “with a profound sense of shock and sadness” that he learned of Archbishop Noel’s passing.
“Archbishop Treanor continuously dedicated and devoted his life to the proclamation of the Gospel, to the pastoral care of the vulnerable and to the social mission of the Church,” the bishop added:
As we give thanks to God for the years of ministry and service of Archbishop Noël Treanor, we entrust him to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I commend his soul into the hands of God and pray that he may enjoy eternal rest.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilís. (At the right hand of God his soul was faithful.)
