Michael Fitzgerald | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal, Apostolic Nuncio | |
 Fitzgerald in 2015 | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Appointed | 15 February 2006 |
| Retired | 5 January 2013 |
| Other post | Cardinal-Deacon ofSanta Maria in Portico (2019–present) |
| Previous posts |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 3 February 1961 by William Godfrey |
| Consecration | 6 January 1992 by Pope John Paul II |
| Created cardinal | 5 October 2019 byPope Francis |
| Rank | Cardinal deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1937-08-17)17 August 1937 (age 88) Walsall, United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Catholic (Roman Rite) |
| Alma mater | |
| Motto | Fructum dabit |
| Styles of Michael Louis Fitzgerald | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Religious style | Cardinal |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Michael Louis FitzgeraldMAfrOBE (born 17 August 1937) is a Britishcardinal of theRoman Catholic Church and an expert on Christian–Muslim relations. He has had the rank ofarchbishop since 2002. At his retirement in 2012, he was theApostolic Nunciature to Egypt anddelegate to the Arab League. He headed thePontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue from 2002 to 2006. Pope Francis raised him to the rank ofcardinal on 5 October 2019.
Fitzgerald is an expert onIslam, Christian–Muslim relations and interreligious dialogue within the senior hierarchy of the Catholic Church. His publications includeDieu rêve d'unité. Les catholiques et les religions: les leçons du dialogue. Entretiens avecAnnie Laurent (Paris, Bayard Presse, 2005) and (with John Borelli)Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, (SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006), both translated into Italian. He is fluent in Arabic.
Michael L. Fitzgerald was born in the UK inWalsall,Staffordshire, on 17 August 1937, into aRoman Catholic family ofIrish descent, and attendedQueen Mary's Grammar School. Desiring from an early age to become a priest and amissionary, he joined the junior seminary of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) at the age of twelve, first inScotland, then in theSouth of England. He studied philosophy for two years, the first in England and the second in Ireland. He made his novitiate in theNetherlands from 1956 to 1957 and pursued his theological studies from 1957 to 1961 inTunisia, where he began learningArabic and acquiring some knowledge of Islam. CardinalWilliam Godfrey,Archbishop of Westminster, ordained him a priest of the Society of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) on 3 February 1961.[1]
Uponordination in 1961 he was sent to Rome to studyDogmatic Theology at thePontifical Gregorian University. Among his teachers was theJesuit theologianBernard Lonergan. This was the time of theSecond Vatican Council (1962–1965) which provided the opportunity of attending lectures by theologians includingKarl Rahner andYves Congar. He completed his doctorate in Theology in 1965 on the missionary intention in the writings of theLatin apologists.
In 1965 he started a BA in Arabic at theSchool of Oriental and African Studies,University of London, graduating in 1968, whereupon he became a lecturer at the Institut Pontifical d'Études Arabes (later renamed thePontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (PISAI)).[2]
After one year lecturing at the PISAI, he was appointed lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies atMakerere University, Kampala,Uganda, where he taught courses on Islam to Muslim as well as to Christian students. In 1971 he returned to Rome to pursue his teaching and scholarly interests at the PISAI. From 1972 to 1978 he was Director of the PISAI. During this period Fitzgerald was involved in the creation ofEncounter, Documents for Christian-Muslim Understanding, a periodical publication on Islam, and supervised the launch ofIslamochristiana, a scholarly journal specialised in Christian-Muslim relations and interreligious dialogue. In 1972 he became consultor of thePontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, then known asSecretariat for Non-Christians.
In 1978 he returned to Africa to carry out parish work inSudan, in the town ofNew Halfa (Archdiocese of Khartoum). His duties included ministering to the Christian population while also cooperating with the Muslim community. In 1980 he was elected to the General Council of theMissionaries of Africa in Rome, where he spent six years managing and organising.[3]
In 1987 he was appointed Secretary of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, which was renamed thePontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) in 1988. In that capacity, Fitzgerald helped draftDialogue and Proclamation, one of the Roman Catholic Church's documents concerning the relationship between dialogue and evangelisation. On 16 December 1991, Fitzgerald was appointed titular bishop ofNepte. He was consecrated at Saint Peter's Basilica byPope John Paul II on 6 January 1992.[4]
On 1 October 2002, Pope John Paul named him to succeed CardinalFrancis Arinze as President of the PCID and gave him the rank of archbishop as well.[5][6] This made him the highest-ranking British citizen in theRoman Curia.[7]
On 15 February 2006,Pope Benedict XVI appointed himApostolic Nuncio to Egypt and Delegate to theArab League, his first diplomatic posting.[8] He was one of the few nuncios not to have attended thePontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. According to the BBC, "The decision by the German-born pontiff has caused a stir. Vatican watchers are trying to work out whether the move is a demotion or recognition of the special talents of the archbishop." Fitzgerald said: "My background in Arabic and Islamic studies is probably considered useful at this moment for the development of relations with Egypt and the rest of the Islamic world."[9] One Vatican correspondent said that the decision to send "the smartest guy in the Vatican on relations with Muslims" overseas was "the Pope's worst decision so far" and the press noted Fitzgerald's absence when Pope Benedict offended Muslims with hisRegensburg lecture in September 2006.[10] Fitzgerald's transfer proved to be part of Benedict's restructuring of curial departments to reorient interreligious discussions with non-Christians by uniting the role of president of the PCID with that of thePontifical Council for Culture, a restructuring that Benedict initiated in March 2006 and reversed in June 2007.[11][12][13]
He resigned from his diplomatic positions in October 2012.[14]
In retirement, he remained at the Missionaries of Africa in Jerusalem until early 2019, when he returned to England to work in a Liverpool parish.[15]
On 1 September 2019, Pope Francis announced he would make him acardinal. On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made himCardinal-Deacon ofSanta Maria in Portico.[16]
According to Fitzgerald, the impetus for interreligious dialogue in the Catholic Church stems from the Second Vatican Council, in particular the declarationNostra aetate ('In our Time') on relations with other religions, especially Judaism but also Islam. In conveying for the first time a positive assessment of other religious traditions, the declaration emphasises dialogue between people rather than systems.[17] Fitzgerald further argues that the aim of interreligious dialogue is not to produce a new world religion or to achieve some sort of theological unity between all religions. In this, it differs radically from ecumenical dialogue conducted with the various Christian churches with a view to a unity of worship grounded on a unity of faith. Indeed, theological dialogue with followers of other religions, the 'dialogue of discourse', is especially difficult due to the divergence of beliefs, and requires participants with a thorough theological education, but such dialogue can serve to eliminate false problems. Other forms of dialogue are important, such as the dialogue of life, the dialogue of action and the dialogue of religious experience.[18]
Fitzgerald was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2022 New Year Honours for services to interfaith and interchurch partnerships.[19][20]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Marcello Zago | Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue 22 January 1987 – 1 October 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Titular Bishop of Nepte 16 December 1991 – 1 October 2002 | Himself as Titular Archbishop |
| Himself as Titular Bishop | — TITULAR — Titular Archbishop of Nepte 1 October 2002 – 5 October 2019 | Succeeded by Ignacio Damián Medina |
| Preceded by | President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue 1 October 2002 – 15 February 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Prefect of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims 1 October 2002 – 15 February 2006 | ||
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt 15 February 2006 – 5 January 2013 | Succeeded by |
| Delegate to the League of Arab States 15 February 2006 – 5 January 2013 | ||
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Portico 5 October 2019 – | Incumbent |
