Patrick Coveney (29 July 1934 – 22 October 2022) was an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1966 to 2009. He became an archbishop in 1985 and fulfilled several assignments as Apostolic Nuncio, including stints in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, New Zealand, and Greece.
In September 1966 he went to work in the English-language section of the Secretariat of State in the Vatican.[2] This sometimes involved acting as interpreter at audiences of Pope Paul VI, as when this Pope received the three astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission that first landed human beings on the Moon.[4]
Coveney served with the rank of Secretary in the Apostolic Nunciature in Buenos Aires from 1972 to 1976, returning then to the Secretariat of State in the Vatican. He was counselor of the nunciatures in New Delhi (1982–1984) and Khartoum (1984–1985).[6][7]
On 25 January 1990 he was appointed Nuncio to Ethiopia and also became Apostolic Delegate to Djibouti on 26 March 1992 and on 30 September 1995 Nuncio to Eritrea.[9]
Coveney became Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand, Tonga, the Marshall Islands, and Samoa, and Apostolic Delegate for Oceania on 27 April 1996.[10][a] His remit was expanded to include Apostolic Nuncio to Fiji, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Vanuatu on 15 October 1996,[11] and Apostolic Nuncio to Nauru on 7 December 1996.[12] He was also named apostolic nuncio to the Cook Islands and Palau on 14 July 2001.[13] As the longest-serving resident diplomatic representative to New Zealand, Archbishop Coveney served for a time as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. While based in Wellington, he also represented the Holy See at the inauguration of Chen Shui-bian as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on 18 May 2004.[14]
Coveney retired in 2009, and died on 22 October 2022, at the age of 88.[19]
Notes
^As recorded in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, the 27 April 1996 appointment did not include Samoa,[10] but Coveney is identified as Apostolic Nuncio to Samoa when given additional titles on 15 October 1996.[11]