Bishop Willie Walsh welcomes appointment of Monsignor Eugene Nugent,
as Papal Nuncio to Madagascar
Bishop Willie Walsh, Bishop of Killaloe, has welcomed the appointment by Pope Benedict XVI of Killaloe Priest, Monsignor Eugene Nugent, as Papal Nuncio to Madagascar and also Apostolic Delegate in La Réunion and the Comoros. Monsignor Nugent will be ordained to the episcopacy in Rome on 18 March and has been given the titular see of Domnach Sechnaill (Dunshaughlin) Co Meath with the title of Archbishop.
Bishop Walsh, welcoming the news, said, “Archbishop-elect Nugent is a gifted and well respected priest who has given great service to the Diocese of Killaloe and to the Holy See. All of us in the Diocese are filled with joy at the trust that Pope Benedict has placed in him to be his representative to the peoples of Madagascar, La Réunion and the Comoros Islands. I pray that God’s spirit will strengthen him as he takes up his new ministry”
Biography
Monsignor Eugene Martin Nugent was born in Gortaderra Scariff, Co. Clare on 21st October 1958. He attended Clonusker National School and Scariff Community College. He studied for the priesthood in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth where he received a B.A. in Celtic Studies. He then went on to the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, taking his Baccalaureate in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Killaloe on the 9th July 1983 and completed a Licentiate in Canon Law after ordination. He was appointed as a curate in Ennis and ministered in the parish from 1984 to 1987. From 1988 until 1991, he worked in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of the State of Vatican. In 1992, he completed his Doctorate in canon law at the Gregorian University. In the same year, he graduated from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See. Since July of 1992, he has served in Turkey, in Israel and in the Philippines. Monsignor Nugent speaks Irish, English, French, Italian, and German fluently.
Episcopal Ordination
Monsignor Nugent will be ordained to the Episcopacy in Rome on the 18th March. He has chosen as his Episcopal motto the phrase “Quodcumque Dixerit Vobis, Facite” His motto is taken from the Gospel of St. John 2:5 and translates as “Do whatever he tells you”. These are the words that Our Lady addressed to the stewards at the wedding feast of Cana.
