New Papal Nuncio Told to Show 'Humility'

By Nick Pisa
Irish Independent
January 7, 2012

www.independent.ie/national-news/new-papal-nuncio-told-to-show-humility-2982268.html

THE Pope yesterday told the new Papal Nuncio to Ireland that he must display humility and a "restless . . . and watchful heart" as he ordained him an archbishop in Rome.

Monsignor Charles Brown (52) was named Papal Nuncio to Ireland last November.

Papal nuncios serve as diplomatic representatives of the Pope in foreign countries.

Archbishop Brown will travel to Ireland next month, as relations between here and the Vatican are at an all-time low in the wake of the church's handling of the child sex-abuse scandal.

The Department of Foreign Affairs made no comment on the appointment last night, but Cardinal Sean Brady offered his congratulations.

Vatican sources said the appointment was a "clear sign" that the Pope meant to stand by his determination to resolve the Irish Catholic Church abuse scandal, which rocked the country last year.

Archbishop Brown was ordained a priest in 1989 in St Patrick's Cathedral, New York, and was based in the Bronx until 1991.

Yesterday, a senior Catholic Church source in Rome said: "Charlie is seen as a good pair of hands.

"He has first-hand knowledge of abuse cases from all his time at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pope is determined to send a clear sign that he intends to make sure he is dealing with the problems Ireland has had and is facing."

As a result of his position within the Vatican Curia, Archbishop Brown has never given interviews -- although he is thought to be planning to make a public statement when he arrives in Ireland.