Honorific Prefix: | His Excellency, The Most Reverend |
Honorific Suffix: | DCL |
Apostolic Nuncio to South Sudan Titular Archbishop of Árd Sratha | |
Appointed: | 14 May 2024 |
Predecessor: | Hubertus van Megen (South Sudan) Karl Reger (Árd Sratha) |
Previous Post: | First counsellor to the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States Minutante to the Section for Relations with States Counsellor and Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature to the Philippines Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature to Switzerland Attaché and Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature to Uganda |
Ordination: | 11 June 1994 |
Ordained By: | Michael Harty |
Consecration: | 27 July 2024 |
Consecrated By: | Pietro Parolin, Luis Antonio Tagle and Fintan Monahan |
Birth Date: | 31 August 1969 |
Birth Place: | Ennis, County Clare, Ireland |
Alma Mater: | Pontifical Gregorian University St Patrick's College, Maynooth |
Motto: | Nec laudibus nec timore (Neither praise nor fear) |
Church: | Roman Catholic |
Parents: | Denis and Pauline Horgan |
Séamus Patrick Horgan | |
Dipstyle: |
Séamus Patrick Horgan (in Irish ʃeːmˠʊsˠ/ ; born 31 August 1969) is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who has served as Apostolic Nuncio to South Sudan since July 2024.
Horgan was born in Ennis, County Clare on 31 August 1969, one of four children to Denis and Pauline Horgan.[1] [2]
He attended primary school at Ennis National School and secondary school at St Flannan's College, before studying for the priesthood at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, completing a Bachelor of Arts at NUI Maynooth in 1990 and a Bachelor of Theology at the Pontifical University in 1993.[3] [4]
Horgan was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Killaloe on 11 June 1994, making him a classmate of fellow nuncio Michael Francis Crotty and the current Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan.[5]
Horgan's first pastoral assignment was as curate in Bodyke, before spending a number of years as curate in Roscrea.[6]
He moved to Rome in 2000, where he completed a Licentiate of Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 2001, before joining the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in preparation for a diplomatic career for the Holy See.[7]
Horgan subsequently completed a Doctorate of Canon Law while studying at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, in preparation for the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 2005.[8]
Horgan's first diplomatic assignment was as attaché and subsequently secretary of the apostolic nunciature to Uganda, between 2005 and 2008, when he was appointed secretary of the apostolic nunciature to Switzerland.
Horgan was appointed secretary and subsequently counsellor to the apostolic nunciature to the Philippines in 2012, before returning to Rome in 2015, following his appointment as a minutante in the Section for Relations with States.
He was appointed first counsellor to the apostolic nunciature to the United States in 2020.
Horgan was appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness by Pope Francis in 2019. In addition to his native English, he speaks French and Italian, and has a working knowledge of German.[9]
Horgan was appointed apostolic nuncio to South Sudan and titular archbishop-elect of Árd Sratha by Pope Francis on 14 May 2024. He is the first nuncio to reside in South Sudan.[10] [11] [12]
He was consecrated by the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, on 27 July in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Ennis.[13] [14] [15]