Vatican City (Fides Service) – The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Burundi Mgr Paul Richard Gallagher, until now Special Envoy and Holy See Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, elevating him to the titular see of Hodelm, with the dignity of Archbishop.
The Nuncio elect was born in Liverpool Great Britain on 23 January 1954. He was ordained a priest on 31 July 1977for Liverpool Archdiocese. He has a degree in Canon Law. He entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service on May 1, 1984 and was appointed Chargee d’Affairs at the Apostolic Nunciature in Tanzania. Later he served at Nunciatures in Uruguay and the Philippines and at the Secretariat of State in the section for relations with states. He was appointed Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 15 July 2000.
Mgr. Gallagher succeeds as Nuncio in Burundi, Irish born Archbishop Michael Courtney, killed while returning from a pastoral visit in Burundi at the age of 58 last December 29 in an ambush at Minago, 50 km south of the capital Bujumbura. Armed men opened fire on the car the Nuncio was travelling in killing the Archbishop and injuring the other persons with him in the car. (S.L.) (Fides Service 22/1/2004; lines 15; words 196)