Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Chair of the Department for International Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has expressed his sorrow, prayers, and condolences having learned of the death of Archbishop Noël Treanor, the Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union.
Archbishop Treanor, a former Bishop of Down and Connor in Northern Ireland, attended the Holy Land Co-Ordination for several years, an annual pilgrimage organised by our Bishops’ Conference bringing together Catholic Bishops from around the world to meet in the lands of Christ’s birth, ministry, death and resurrection. He served as Secretary-General of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) from 1993 to 2008.
Archbishop Treanor died on Sunday, 11 August 2024, aged 73. Requiescat in pace.
“It was with deep sorrow that I learned of the death of Archbishop Noël Treanor. He was a good friend and I will miss him.
“In my role as Chair of the Department for International Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, I wish to extend heartfelt condolences to Archbishop Noël’s family and friends, his brother bishops and clergy, all the parishes of Down and Connor, and everyone who mourns him across the continent of Europe.
“Archbishop Noël’s wisdom, kindness, and unwavering dedication to dialogue touched everyone who knew him. I experienced this first-hand as I had the privilege of sitting alongside him regularly in plenary assemblies of the French Bishops’ Conference; and at plenary meetings of COMECE, the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union. His commitment to promoting peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and fostering dialogue between the Church and the European Union was inspirational and exemplary.
“Archbishop Noël and I shared the conviction that the Church in England and Wales remained emphatically a part of the Church in Europe even after Britain’s secession from the European Union. His unstinting work with COMECE and the EU as priest, bishop and, most recently, nuncio will be long remembered and respected – as will his tireless endeavours for Justice & Peace Europe.
“Archbishop Noël believed in the Church’s mission in Europe and to Europe. He was a true servant of the Church. I pray he rest now in peace; and come to know the fullness of the reward held out for such a diligent labourer of the Lord’s vineyard.”
Bishop Nicholas Hudson
Chair, Department for International Affairs
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference, wrote to Archbishop Treanor’s successor in Down and Connor, Bishop Alan McGuckian, to express his shock and sadness at the news.
Thanking Bishop McGuckian for his statement paying tribute to Archbishop Treanor, the Cardinal offered the assurance of prayers for his family, friends, and the local Church. “I am sure that you are all devastated by his death and feel so keenly the loss of such a good man, a fine bishop and a great servant of the Church and of society,” he wrote.
Cardinal Nichols offered Mass for Archbishop Treanor on 13 August.
Noël Treanor was born in Silverstream, County Monaghan, Ireland, on Christmas Day 1950. After attending St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, he was ordained a priest for his home diocese of Clogher on 13 June 1976.
Following his ordination, Treanor was sent to the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, where he completed a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1977.
In 1989, he began working with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE); and in 1993, was named Secretary General of the organisation.
Pope Benedict XVI named Treanor as the Bishop of Down and Connor, Ireland on the feast of the Chair of St Peter, 22 February 2008. He was consecrated to the episcopate by Cardinal Seán Brady on the feast of Sts Peter and Paul, 22 June, of the same year.
After serving as Bishop of Down and Connor for 14 years, on 26 November 2022, Treanor was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union and granted the personal title of Archbishop. He took up his new role in January 2023.
The late Archbishop Noël Treanor is survived by his brother John and his sister Mary.
Archbishop Noël Treanor at the Sisters of Nazareth High School, Haifa. Holy Land Co-ordination 2019.
