*Séamus Horgan. Photograph: John O’Neill
MONSIGNOR Séamus Horgan was consecrated as Papal Nuncio to South Sudan in his native Ennis on Saturday.
Large crowds gathered at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul for Monsignor Horgan’s consecration. He was appointed to the role by Pope Francis in May of this year.
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, two of the most senior officials in the Vatican were in attendance along with Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to The United States, and Papal Nuncio to Ireland Archbishop, Luis Mariano Montemayor.
Bishop of the Killaloe Diocese, Fintan Monahan, Bishop Emeritus Willie Walsh, his successor Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly, Bishop Ger Nash, Fr Iggy McCormack, and Corofin native Leonard Cleary who is a permanent deacon and the Chief Executive of Galway City Council were among the familiar faces at the altar.
A native of Tobarteascáin near St. Flannan’s College where he completed his secondary schooling, Monsignor Horgan entered St Patrick’s College Maynooth in 1987 before being ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Michael Harty in 1994 at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Ennis.
He had been First Counsellor at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington D.C prior to his new role and has previously held Diplomatic Service of the Holy See rolls in Uganda, Switzerland, The Philippines and Italy. His new role also sees him appointed to the titular See of Árd Sratha – Ardstraw, County Tyrone while he is based in South Sudan city of Juba.
There are three Apostolic Nuncios, originally from Ireland, in active diplomatic service for the Universal Church, two of them are from the Diocese of Killaloe.
Séamus has served as Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciatures in Kampala, Berne and Manila, as well as working at the Secretariat of State in Rome from 2015 to 2020.
Following six years of pastoral ministry in the Diocese of Killaloe Diocese, Monsignor Horgan was sent to Rome in 2000 for further studies. After completing a Licence in Canon Law (Pontifical Gregorian University), he joined the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome to prepare for the service of the Holy See. In 2008 he was appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness and in 2019 a Prelate of Honour. Monsignor Horgan speaks English, Italian & French and has a working knowledge of German.
His coat of arms includes elements common to all episcopal arms, as well as some personal elements. It is surmounted by the green galero (flat hat) with ten fiocchi (tassels) on either side, indicating the rank of Archbishop. The hat and tassels are green, which is the armorial colour of a bishop. The shield contains two elements personal to the new Archbishop. On the shield’s middle chief (upper strip), the key is taken from the coat of arms of Killaloe Diocese, representing the unity of the Diocese with the Bishop of Rome and Successor of St Peter. The second symbol is the galleon, taken from the coat of arms of the town of Ennis. The galleon also represents the Church, as the “ark of salvation”, by which we traverse the sometimes turbulent waters of life towards the safe harbour of heaven. Both symbols represent the Archbishop’s provenance, and his roots in the town of Ennis and the Diocese of Killaloe.
Séamus took the motto ‘Nec laudibus, nec timore’ which translates roughly as “neither for praise nor from fear”. It is taken from a prayer in the traditional Rite of Ordination of a Bishop and describes how the Bishop should conduct himself as a minister of Christ, swayed neither by flattery nor by fear.
All photographs by John O’Neill
