# Patrick Coveney

patrick coveney (born 29 July 1934) is 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. == Early years == Coveney was born in Tracton, County Cork, Ireland, studied at Maynooth College (obtaining the academic degree of Bachelor of Arts in classical languages and literature), and the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, Italy (obtaining the Licentiate of Sacred Theology), and was ordained, aged twenty-four, as a priest on 21 February 1959 by the archbishop vicegerent (deputy vicar general of Rome) Luigi Traglia in the Archbasilica of St.