Today, Tuesday, 16 July 2024, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed His Excellency the Most Reverend Michael F. Crotty, Titular Archbishop of Lindisfarne, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria.
The Irish Archbishop is to replace his predecessor, Archbishop Antonio Filipazzi, who was transferred to Poland as the New Apostolic Nuncio of Poland on the 8th of August 2023.
Welcoming the New Nuncio to Nigeria, the President of the Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorgi noted that “His appointment is a testament to the strong spiritual bond between our countries, recalling that many Irish missionaries played a significant role in spreading the faith in Nigeria.”
Reacting to his appointment, the New Nuncio to Nigeria said:
“My appointment as Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria is a cause of great joy for me and of profound gratitude to His Holiness Pope Francis for the honour that he has bestowed upon me. I pledge my utmost to serve to the best of my abilities as the Holy Father’s representative to all Nigerians, regardless of their religious or ethnic backgrounds.”
A Nuncio is “an ordinary and permanent representative of the pope, vested with both political and ecclesiastical powers, accredited to the court of a sovereign or assigned to a definite territory with the duty of safeguarding the interests of the Holy See.”
Curriculum Vitae of Archbishop Michael F. Crotty
Archbishop Michael F. Crotty, a native of Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, Ireland, was born on 26 March 1970.
On 3 July 1994 he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cloyne (Ireland). After his priestly ordination he continued postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained Licentiates in Ecclesiastical History and Canon Law and a doctorate in Ecclesiastical History.
On 1 July 2001, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was assigned to the Apostolic Nunciature in Kenya, Nairobi.
He subsequently served in the Apostolic Nunciature in Canada, Ottawa (2004-2007); the Apostolic Nunciature in Iraq and Jordan, Baghdad and Amman (2007 – 2009); the Secretariat of State at the Vatican – Section for the Holy See’s Relations with States (2009-2017) and in the Apostolic Nunciature in Spain, Madrid (2017-2020).
On 1 February 2020, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Burkina Faso and raised him to the archiepiscopal dignity granting him the titular see of Lindisfarne.
Subsequently, on 25 April 2020, he was also appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Niger. On 15 August 2020, he was ordained to the episcopate in St Colman’s Cathedral, Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland.
Since September 2020 he has been serving as Apostolic Nuncio to Burkina Faso and Niger with residence in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
In May 2023, he was appointed Special Envoy of the Holy See to attend the presidential inauguration of H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Apart from his mother tongue English, he speaks Gaelic, French, Italian, Spanish and German.
© Oselumhense Anetor, 2024
