He joined the Franciscan Novitiate in Killarney before moving to St Anthony s College, Galway, to study at UCG.

[1] Studying at the Irish Franciscans St Anthony's College, Leuven, he obtained an MA in philosophy and theology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

During the early nineties, he and other church leaders were involved in mediation and negotiation during the unrest leading up to the 1994 election and was present in September 1991 when the Peace Accord was signed.

Pope John Paul II made Napier a Cardinal Priest on 21 February 2001 and assigned the titular church of San Francesco d'Assisi ad Acilia.

[6] As the conclave neared he described himself as "very frightened"; he thought there was a "higher likelihood" the next pope would be non-European and said that "The centre of gravity of the church has also shifted from the north to the south.

[11][12] In January 2005, Napier stated, in comments similar to some made by Pope Benedict XVI, that government programmes to distribute condoms were ineffectual in stemming the spread of HIV.

"[16] Michael Walsh, a biographer of Pope John Paul II, stated that at one time this was the view of many Catholics in the US and UK.

He said "We express our displeasure with local and international political leadership which has failed to take decisive steps to make the changes required for the survival of humanity and life on earth.

We as the religious community demand that our political leaders honour previous commitments and move towards ethically responsible positions and policies.

[21] On 28 August 2020 Cardinal Napier voiced criticism of Black Lives Matter claiming it had been hijacked due to views the movement had expressed on the family and abortion, which the Cardinal believes undermines the cause of racial justice, tweeting "It’s time to state honestly what BLM really stands for – destroying the traditional Family AND what it actually does – destroying property including religious building and objects!"