A papal message expressing gratitude for Archbishop Noel Treanor’s “devoted and faithful service” has been shared with mourners at his funeral. The 73-year-old former bishop of the Down and Connor diocese died suddenly earlier this month in Brussels.
Prior to his death, the Co Monaghan-born cleric had been fulfilling the diplomatic role of apostolic nuncio to the European Union.
Hundreds packed St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast for his requiem mass on Tuesday.
During the service, the apostolic nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, read out a letter from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin conveying the sentiments of Pope Francis.
“Saddened to learn of the untimely death of Archbishop Noel Treanor, apostolic nuncio to the European Union and former Bishop of Down and Connor, his Holiness Pope Francis sends heartfelt condolences and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to the members of his family, especially his brother John and his sister Mary, and to you, the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the diocese,” he said.
“Expressing deep gratitude for Archbishop Treanor’s devoted and faithful service to the people of God in this local church, to wider Irish society, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, and most recently to the Apostolic See, his Holiness joins you in commending his soul to the loving mercy of Christ the Good Shepherd.
“To those gathered for the mass of Christian burial and to all who mourn the late Archbishop in the sure hope of the resurrection, the Holy Father cordially imparts his blessing as a pledge of peace and consolation in the Lord.”
Earlier, current bishop of Down and Connor Alan McGuckian described the cleric as a “much loved friend of many”.
“Here at his funeral Mass, we remember that Archbishop Noel was a family man and much-loved friend of many people; he was a very accomplished individual; a priest, a bishop, an archbishop, a papal nuncio,” he said.
“All of those things are hugely important but on his funeral day we are invited to remember that none of those is the most important.
“The most important thing is that Noel Treanor was baptised and born into new life in Christ.”
Bishop McGuckian also spoke of the archbishop’s “deep commitment to the European project”.
“That was born out of a desire to forge a shared, life-giving culture in a situation of awful division manifested at its worst in the horrible excesses of the Second World War,” he added.
The archbishop had a long association with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and in 2022 was appointed by Pope Francis as the apostolic nuncio to the European Union.
A range of senior clerics from the island of Ireland and beyond attended the mass, including the leader of the Catholic church in Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin.
Representatives of the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Simon Harris also attended, as did Ireland’s European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.