Paul Tighe

Paul Desmond Tighe (born 12 February 1958) is an Irish Catholic prelate who has served as Secretary of the Section of Culture of the Dicastery for Culture and Education since 2022. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Drivastum by Pope Francis in 2016.

Early life and education

Tighe was born in Navan, County Meath, on 12 February 1958, one of six children to Macartan Tighe and his wife Monica (née Johnson). He attended primary school at Loreto Convent and De La Salle Primary Schools and secondary school at St Patrick's Classical School and Summerhill College.

Tighe undertook foundational studies in theology at Mater Dei Institute of Education, before completing a Bachelor of Civil Law from University College Dublin in 1979. He subsequently completed undergraduate studies in philosophy at Holy Cross College and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Irish College.

Tighe was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Dublin on 10 July 1983.

Presbyteral ministry

Following ordination, Tighe's first pastoral assignment was as parish chaplain in Our Lady of the Assumption parish, Ballyfermot, and priest and teacher at Ballyfermot Senior College. He returned to Rome in 1984 to undertake postgraduate studies in moral theology, before returning to the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1990, where he was appointed lecturer of moral theology at Mater Dei Institute of Education, specialising in bioethics, and lecturer of moral theology and ethics at Holy Cross College.

Tighe was subsequently appointed head of the theology department in Mater Dei Institute of Education in 2000.