Noel Treanor
Encyclopedia
Noel Treanor is the 32nd and current Bishop
of the Irish
diocese of Down and Connor. On 22 February 2008, Pope Benedict XVI
announced the appointment of Noel Treanor as Bishop
. He was ordained to the Episcopate and installed as Bishop of Down and Connor on 29 June 2008.
. He attended St Brigid’s National School, Leitrim, and completed his early education at St Mary’s C.B.S., Monaghan. He began, in 1968, his study of Arts
and Philosophy
at St. Patrick's College
, Maynooth
, and later, in 1971, the study of Theology, achieving his Licentiate in Sacred Theology, with special commendation, in 1977.
, to the Pontifical Irish College
in Rome
to pursue his studies of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
. Recalled in 1980 by the new Bishop of the Diocese, Joseph Duffy, he was appointed assistant in the Cathedral parish, with charge of the local Catholic Marriage Advisory Council.
From 1981 to 1985, he again pursued the study of theology in Rome, while at the same time serving as Prefect of Studies at the Irish College.
Having returned to his Diocese in 1985, he was appointed Director of Adult Education. He also organised the Diocesan Assembly of the clergy that was held in 1986 to promote pastoral renewal within the Diocese.
Fr Treanor's next appointment was a curacy in Enniskillen
, Co Fermanagh, where he also provided service at the general hospital and was active as a confessor at Lough Derg pilgrimage centre.
In 1989, he was sent to Brussels
to work with COMECE
. While deeply involved in the expanding endeavour of this Church body to project Christian values into the European process, he continued to engage in pastoral work through contact with the English-speaking community in the city-centre. He has also published and lectured widely on European construction issues, the Church and Europe, and Church-State matters.
On 31 March 1993, Fr Treanor was unanimously appointed Secretary General of COMECE for a three-year term and was reappointed for several successive terms since then. On 18 May 1994 he was nominated Chaplain to His Holiness
.
He is fluent in English
, French
, German
, Italian
, Spanish
and Irish
.
announced the appointment of Monsignor Treanor as Bishop
of Down and Connor, in succession to Bishop Patrick Walsh
, who has been Bishop
of the Diocese
since 1991.
Seán Cardinal Brady spoke to press of his delight at Bishop-elect Treanor's appointment:
Treanor welcomed his new appointment as the 32nd Bishop of Down and Connor since the dioceses joined in 1453:
Bishop
Treanor was ordained bishop of Down and Connor on 29 June 2008, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peter's Cathedral, Belfast
, by Cardinal Brady
(Principal Consecrator), with Patrick Walsh
and Joseph Duffy (Principal Co-Consecrators). The newly ordained Bishop
also took possession of the Diocese of Down and Connor at the same ceremony.
The ordination of Monsignor Treanor as Bishop of Down and Connor was the first ordination of a newly appointed Bishop as Bishop of Down and Connor since the consecration of Daniel Mageean
in 1929. Mageean's successor, William Philbin
, was already Bishop of Clonfert. Philbin's successor, Cahal Daly, was already Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise
and Daly's successor, Patrick Walsh
, was already Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor.
In November 2009, Treanor described the findings of the Murphy Report
as horrific and said that he was confident that his diocese had rid itself of all abusing priests.
On the 11th of May 2010, Bishop Noel Treanor attended the launch of the Pope John Paul II award in St Genevieves' High School in West Belfast.
In August 2010 Bishop Treanor expressed his support for an international, independent inquiry into the 11 killings carried out by the parachute regiment in the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast in 1971. Bishop Treanor was speaking at a press conference where previously undisclosed documents from church archives relating to the events were being made available for the first time.
Bishop Treanor said: “As with Bloody Sunday
, the reputations of those who were killed were actively besmirched and the evidence of the available eyewitnesses was either ignored or actively discredited. Indeed the events in Ballymurphy on August 9th-11th, 1971, would and perhaps should have been considered the necessary starting point for such an inquiry,” he added.
could eventually force the Irish State to overturn its pro-life laws if the treaty were passed.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
diocese of Down and Connor. On 22 February 2008, Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
announced the appointment of Noel Treanor as Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
. He was ordained to the Episcopate and installed as Bishop of Down and Connor on 29 June 2008.
Early life and education
Noel Treanor was born on 25 December 1950 at Silverstream, Co Monaghan, in the Parish of Tyholland in the Diocese of ClogherRoman Catholic Diocese of Clogher
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher was formed in 1111 at the Synod of Rathbreasail as the see for the Kingdom of Uí Chremthainn. The Diocese consists of County Monaghan, much of County Fermanagh with parts of Counties Tyrone, and Donegal...
. He attended St Brigid’s National School, Leitrim, and completed his early education at St Mary’s C.B.S., Monaghan. He began, in 1968, his study of Arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at St. Patrick's College
St Patrick's College, Maynooth
St Patrick's College, Maynooth is the "National Seminary for Ireland" , and a Pontifical University, located in the village of Maynooth, 15 miles from Dublin, Ireland. The college and seminary are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was officially established as the Royal College...
, Maynooth
Maynooth
Maynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, and later, in 1971, the study of Theology, achieving his Licentiate in Sacred Theology, with special commendation, in 1977.
Priest and work in Europe
Ordained priest on 13 June 1976 in the Cathedral of St Macartan, in the Diocese of Clogher, Treanor was sent by his Bishop, Patrick MulliganPatrick Mulligan
The Most Reverend Dr. Patrick Mulligan was the Roman Catholic Lord Bishop of Clogher in Ireland from 18 January 1970 until 7 July 1979 when he was succeeded by Bishop Joseph Duffy. He was born in Droles, Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh. Bishop Mulligan died on 21 January 1990, aged 78 years...
, to the Pontifical Irish College
Irish College
Irish Colleges is the collective name used for approximately 34 centres of education for Irish Catholic clergy and lay people opened on continental Europe in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The Colleges were set up to educate Roman Catholics from Ireland in their own religion following the...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to pursue his studies of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
. Recalled in 1980 by the new Bishop of the Diocese, Joseph Duffy, he was appointed assistant in the Cathedral parish, with charge of the local Catholic Marriage Advisory Council.
From 1981 to 1985, he again pursued the study of theology in Rome, while at the same time serving as Prefect of Studies at the Irish College.
Having returned to his Diocese in 1985, he was appointed Director of Adult Education. He also organised the Diocesan Assembly of the clergy that was held in 1986 to promote pastoral renewal within the Diocese.
Fr Treanor's next appointment was a curacy in Enniskillen
Enniskillen
Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
, Co Fermanagh, where he also provided service at the general hospital and was active as a confessor at Lough Derg pilgrimage centre.
In 1989, he was sent to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
to work with COMECE
Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community
The Commissio Episcopatuum Communitatis Europaeae or Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community is an organisation of Roman Catholic bishops in Europe to examine European Union policy and legislation from a Catholic perspective...
. While deeply involved in the expanding endeavour of this Church body to project Christian values into the European process, he continued to engage in pastoral work through contact with the English-speaking community in the city-centre. He has also published and lectured widely on European construction issues, the Church and Europe, and Church-State matters.
On 31 March 1993, Fr Treanor was unanimously appointed Secretary General of COMECE for a three-year term and was reappointed for several successive terms since then. On 18 May 1994 he was nominated Chaplain to His Holiness
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
.
He is fluent in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
.
Bishop
On the 22 February 2008, Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
announced the appointment of Monsignor Treanor as Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Down and Connor, in succession to Bishop Patrick Walsh
Patrick Walsh (Bishop)
Patrick Joseph Walsh , is an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and from 1991 until 2008 he was the 31st Bishop of Down & Connor. Dr Walsh was born in 1931 at Cobh, Irish Free State...
, who has been Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
since 1991.
Seán Cardinal Brady spoke to press of his delight at Bishop-elect Treanor's appointment:
Treanor welcomed his new appointment as the 32nd Bishop of Down and Connor since the dioceses joined in 1453:
Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Treanor was ordained bishop of Down and Connor on 29 June 2008, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peter's Cathedral, Belfast
St. Peter's Cathedral, Belfast
St. Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast. is the Roman Catholic cathedral church for the diocese of Down and Connor and is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor. It is located in the Divis Street area of the Falls Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland and dates from the 1860s...
, by Cardinal Brady
Seán Brady
Seán Baptist Brady is an Irish cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007.-Early life and education:...
(Principal Consecrator), with Patrick Walsh
Patrick Walsh (Bishop)
Patrick Joseph Walsh , is an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and from 1991 until 2008 he was the 31st Bishop of Down & Connor. Dr Walsh was born in 1931 at Cobh, Irish Free State...
and Joseph Duffy (Principal Co-Consecrators). The newly ordained Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
also took possession of the Diocese of Down and Connor at the same ceremony.
The ordination of Monsignor Treanor as Bishop of Down and Connor was the first ordination of a newly appointed Bishop as Bishop of Down and Connor since the consecration of Daniel Mageean
Bishop Daniel Mageean
Bishop Daniel Mageean D.D. 6 May 1882 - 17 January 1962 was an Irish Roman Catholic Prelate and until 1962 he held the title Lord Bishop of Down and Connor.-Ministry:Daniel Mageean was born in the townland of Darragh Cross in the parish of Saintfield, Co...
in 1929. Mageean's successor, William Philbin
William Philbin
The Most Reverend William J. Philbin D.D. was an Irish Roman Catholic Prelate. From 1962 until his retirement, he held the title Lord Bishop of Down and Connor.-Career:...
, was already Bishop of Clonfert. Philbin's successor, Cahal Daly, was already Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise
Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise
The Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise is a Roman Catholic diocese in Ireland.-Geographic remit:The diocese is spread over parts of seven counties in the centre of Ireland. It includes almost all of County Longford, half of County Leitrim and parts of counties Westmeath, Offaly, Cavan, Roscommon...
and Daly's successor, Patrick Walsh
Patrick Walsh (Bishop)
Patrick Joseph Walsh , is an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and from 1991 until 2008 he was the 31st Bishop of Down & Connor. Dr Walsh was born in 1931 at Cobh, Irish Free State...
, was already Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor.
In November 2009, Treanor described the findings of the Murphy Report
Murphy Report
The Murphy Report is the brief name of the report of an investigation conducted by government of Ireland into the Sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin...
as horrific and said that he was confident that his diocese had rid itself of all abusing priests.
On the 11th of May 2010, Bishop Noel Treanor attended the launch of the Pope John Paul II award in St Genevieves' High School in West Belfast.
In August 2010 Bishop Treanor expressed his support for an international, independent inquiry into the 11 killings carried out by the parachute regiment in the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast in 1971. Bishop Treanor was speaking at a press conference where previously undisclosed documents from church archives relating to the events were being made available for the first time.
Bishop Treanor said: “As with Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday
-Events :* Bloody Sunday , a demonstration in London, England against British repression in Ireland* Bloody Sunday , a day of high casualties in the Second Boer War, South Africa...
, the reputations of those who were killed were actively besmirched and the evidence of the available eyewitnesses was either ignored or actively discredited. Indeed the events in Ballymurphy on August 9th-11th, 1971, would and perhaps should have been considered the necessary starting point for such an inquiry,” he added.
Lisbon Treaty
Bishop Treanor has said that Roman Catholics could vote in good conscience for the Lisbon Treaty. This provoked displeasure from pro-life groups who have argued that the European Court of JusticeEuropean Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
could eventually force the Irish State to overturn its pro-life laws if the treaty were passed.