{{Short description|British Catholic cardinal (born 1937)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{EngvarB|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific_prefix = [[His Eminence]] | name = Michael Fitzgerald | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|size=100%|list=[[Missionaries of Africa|MAfr]] [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire|OBE]]}} | title = [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]], <br>[[Apostolic Nuncio]] | image = Michael Fitzgerad.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Fitzgerald in 2015 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | church = [[Catholic Church]] | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = | elected = | appointed = 15 February 2006 | term = | term_start = | retired = 5 January 2013 | quashed = | predecessor = | successor = | opposed = | other_post = Cardinal-Deacon of [[Santa Maria in Portico]] (2019–present) <!---------- Orders ----------> | ordination = 3 February 1961 | ordained_by = [[William Godfrey]] | consecration = 6 January 1992 | consecrated_by = [[Pope John Paul II]] | cardinal = 5 October 2019 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Francis]] | rank = [[Cardinal deacon]] <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1937|08|17}} | birth_place = [[Walsall]], United Kingdom | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=y|1937|08|17|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = <!-- as birth_place --> | buried = <!-- or | tomb = --> | resting_place_coordinates = | religion = Catholic ([[Roman Rite]]) | residence = | parents = | occupation = | profession = | previous_post = {{bulleted list | President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (2002–2006) | [[Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue|Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]] (1987–2002) | Titular Archbishop of [[Nefta, Tunisia|Nepte]] (2002–2019) | Titular Bishop of [[Nefta, Tunisia|Nepte]] (1992–2002) }} | education = | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|[[SOAS University of London]]|[[Pontifical Gregorian University]]}} | motto = {{lang|la|Fructum dabit}} | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = | coat_of_arms_alt = }} {{Infobox cardinalstyles | name= Michael Louis Fitzgerald | dipstyle= *[[His Eminence]] *[[His Eminence|The Most Reverend Eminence]] | offstyle=[[His Eminence|Your Eminence]] | relstyle=[[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] | image = Coat of arms of Michael Louis Fitzgerald (cardinal).svg | image_size = 200px }} '''Michael Louis Fitzgerald''' {{post-nominals|list=[[Missionaries of Africa|MAfr]] [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire|OBE]]}} (born 17 August 1937) is a British [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] and an expert on Christian–Muslim relations. He has had the rank of [[archbishop]] since 2002. At his retirement in 2012, he was the [[Apostolic Nunciature to Egypt]] and [[Apostolic Delegation to the Arab League|delegate to the Arab League]]. He headed the [[Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]] from 2002 to 2006. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] on 5 October 2019.
Fitzgerald is an expert on [[Islam]], Christian–Muslim relations and interreligious dialogue within the senior hierarchy of the Catholic Church. His publications include ''Dieu rêve d'unité. Les catholiques et les religions: les leçons du dialogue. Entretiens avec [[Annie 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.
==Early life and education== Michael L. Fitzgerald was born in the UK in [[Walsall]], [[Staffordshire]], on 17 August 1937, into a [[Catholic|Roman Catholic]] family of [[Irish descent]], and attended [[Queen Mary's Grammar School]]. Desiring from an early age to become a priest and a [[missionary]], he joined the junior seminary of the Missionaries of Africa ([[White Fathers]]) at the age of twelve, first in [[Scotland]], then in the [[South of England]]. He studied philosophy for two years, the first in England and the second in Ireland. He made his novitiate in the [[Netherlands]] from 1956 to 1957 and pursued his theological studies from 1957 to 1961 in [[Tunisia]], where he began learning [[Arabic]] and acquiring some knowledge of Islam. Cardinal [[William Godfrey]], [[Archbishop of Westminster]], ordained him a priest of the Society of Missionaries of Africa ([[White Fathers]]) on 3 February 1961.<ref>Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, ''Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View'', SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 1–2.</ref>
Upon [[ordination]] in 1961 he was sent to Rome to study [[Dogmatic Theology]] at the [[Pontifical Gregorian University]]. Among his teachers was the [[Jesuit]] theologian [[Bernard Lonergan]]. This was the time of the [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–1965) which provided the opportunity of attending lectures by theologians including [[Karl Rahner]] and [[Yves Congar]]. He completed his doctorate in Theology in 1965 on the missionary intention in the writings of the [[List of early Christian writers|Latin apologists]].
==Scholar, teacher, and pastor== In 1965 he started a BA in Arabic at the [[School 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 the [[Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies]] (PISAI)).<ref>Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, ''Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View'', SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 3–4.</ref>
After one year lecturing at the PISAI, he was appointed lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at [[Makerere 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 of ''Encounter, Documents for Christian-Muslim Understanding'', a periodical publication on Islam, and supervised the launch of ''Islamochristiana'', a scholarly journal specialised in Christian-Muslim relations and interreligious dialogue. In 1972 he became consultor of the [[Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]], then known as [[Secretariat for Non-Christians]].
In 1978 he returned to Africa to carry out parish work in [[Sudan]], in the town of [[New 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 the [[Missionaries of Africa]] in Rome, where he spent six years managing and organising.<ref>Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, ''Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View'', SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 4–8.</ref>
==Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue== In 1987 he was appointed Secretary of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, which was renamed the [[Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]] (PCID) in 1988. In that capacity, Fitzgerald helped draft ''[[Dialogue 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 of [[Nafta, Tunisia|Nepte]]. He was consecrated at Saint Peter's Basilica by [[Pope John Paul II]] on 6 January 1992.<ref>Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, ''Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View'', SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 8–10.</ref>
On 1 October 2002, Pope John Paul named him to succeed Cardinal [[Francis Arinze]] as President of the PCID and gave him the rank of archbishop as well.<ref>{{cite press release | publisher = [[Holy See Press Office]] | date = 1 October 2002 | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2002/10/01/0483/01492.html | language = it | title = Rinunce e Nomine, 02.10.2002 | access-date = 27 May 2019 | archive-date = 8 June 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230608103033/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2002/10/01/0483/01492.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>Fitzgerald, Michael, ''Dieu rêve d'unité. Les catholiques et les religions: les leçons du dialogue''. Entretien a avec Annie Laurent, Paris, Bayard Presse, 2005. p. 17.</ref> This made him the highest-ranking British citizen in the [[Roman Curia]].<ref>{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4416911.stm | publisher= BBC News | title= Pope's man out of a job | access-date= 12 July 2017 | date= 6 April 2005 | first= Peter | last= Gould | archive-date= 15 March 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160315092315/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4416911.stm | url-status= live }}</ref>
==Diplomatic career== On 15 February 2006, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] appointed him [[Apostolic Nunciature to Egypt|Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt]] and Delegate to the [[Arab League]], his first diplomatic posting.<ref>{{cite press release | publisher = [[Holy See Press Office]] | date = 15 February 2006 | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2006/02/15/0081/00237.html | language = it | title = Rinunce e Nomine, 15.02.2006 | access-date = 27 May 2019 | archive-date = 7 June 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230607110449/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2006/02/15/0081/00237.html | url-status = live }}</ref> He was one of the few nuncios not to have attended the [[Pontifical 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."<ref>{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4848960.stm | publisher= BBC News | title= British cleric's mission to Islam | access-date= 12 July 2017 | date= 27 March 2006 | first= Peter | last= Gould | archive-date= 5 March 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160305104315/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4848960.stm | url-status= live }}</ref> 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 his [[Regensburg lecture]] in September 2006.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5352404.stm | publisher= BBC News | title= Pope remarks reveal harder stance | access-date= 12 July 2017 | date= 16 September 2006 | first= Peter | last= Gould | archive-date= 5 December 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161205192746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5352404.stm | url-status= live }}</ref> 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 the [[Pontifical Council for Culture]], a restructuring that Benedict initiated in March 2006 and reversed in June 2007.<ref>{{cite magazine| magazine = [[The New Yorker]]| access-date = 26 May 2019| url = https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/04/02/the-pope-and-islam| title = The Pope and Islam| first = Jane| last = Kramer| date = 26 March 2007| archive-date = 13 July 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190713234449/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/04/02/the-pope-and-islam| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | work = National Catholic Reporter | first = John L. | last = Allen Jr. | url = https://www.ncronline.org/news/council-interreligious-dialogue-be-restored-vatican-says | title = Council for Interreligious Dialogue to be restored, Vatican says | date = 30 May 2007 | archive-date = 7 March 2023 | access-date = 27 May 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230307025027/https://www.ncronline.org/news/council-interreligious-dialogue-be-restored-vatican-says | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | access-date = 26 May 2019 | date = 28 May 2007 | work = Reuters | first = Philip | last = Pullella | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-muslims/pope-in-about-face-over-muslim-dialogue-office-idUSL2834877820070528?feedType=RSS | title = Pope in about-face over Muslim dialogue office | archive-date = 3 December 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181203083758/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-muslims/pope-in-about-face-over-muslim-dialogue-office-idUSL2834877820070528?feedType=RSS | url-status = live }}</ref>
He resigned from his diplomatic positions in October 2012.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 27 May 2019 | url = https://www.lastampa.it/2013/05/30/vaticaninsider/archbishop-fitzgerald-reflects-on-the-arab-spring-nVtCMNofd5kbGDBQtg5YlM/pagina.html | work = La Stampa | date = 30 May 2013 | title = Archbishop Fitzgerald reflects on the Arab Spring | first = Gerard | last = O'Connell | archive-date = 27 May 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190527033010/https://www.lastampa.it/2013/05/30/vaticaninsider/archbishop-fitzgerald-reflects-on-the-arab-spring-nVtCMNofd5kbGDBQtg5YlM/pagina.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
==Later career == 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.<ref>{{cite news | work = [[America (magazine)|America]] | access-date = 2 September 2019 | date = 1 September 2019 | url = https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/09/01/pope-create-13-new-cardinals-october-including-three-jesuits | title = Pope to create 13 new cardinals in October, including three Jesuits | first = Gerard | last = O'Connell }}</ref>
On 1 September 2019, Pope Francis announced he would make him a [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]]. On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made him [[Cardinal-Deacon]] of [[Santa Maria in Portico]].<ref>{{cite press release | access-date = 5 October 2019 | date = 5 October 2019 | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2019/10/05/0778/01587.html | title = Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli, 05.10.2019 | language = it | publisher = Holy See Press Office | archive-date = 4 December 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191204050340/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2019/10/05/0778/01587.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
==Views on interreligious dialogue== According to Fitzgerald, the impetus for interreligious dialogue in the Catholic Church stems from the Second Vatican Council, in particular the declaration ''[[Nostra 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.<ref>Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, ''Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View'', SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, p. 28.</ref> 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.<ref>Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, ''Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View'', SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 38, 95, 140; Fitzgerald, Michael, ''Dieu rêve d'unité. Les catholiques et les religions: les leçons du dialogue''. Entretiens avec Annie Laurent, Paris, Bayard Presse, 2005. p. 71.</ref>
Fitzgerald was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[2022 New Year Honours]] for services to interfaith and interchurch partnerships.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63571|supp=y|page=N12|date=1 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-12-31|title=The 2022 New Year's Honours list in full, and what the different ranks mean|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/new-years-honours-list-2022-full-who-mbe-obe-cbe-knight-dame-difference-explained-1378053|access-date=2021-12-31|website=inews.co.uk|language=en|archive-date=31 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231234048/https://inews.co.uk/news/new-years-honours-list-2022-full-who-mbe-obe-cbe-knight-dame-difference-explained-1378053|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Works== *(with R. Dionne) ''Catalysts'', The White Fathers of Africa, Dublin, 1980, revised edition 1998. *(with R. Caspar) ''Signs of Dialogue. Christian Encounter with Muslims'', Silsilah Publications, Zamboanga City, 1992. *''Dieu rêve d'unité. Les catholiques et les religions: les leçons du dialogue. Entretiens avec Annie Laurent'', Paris, Bayard Presse, 2005. *(with John Borelli) ''Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View'', SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006.
==See also== *[[Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy]] *[[Cardinals created by Francis]] * [[List of heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web |url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_fitzgerald_ml.html| title= Fitzgerald Card. Michael Louis, M. Afr. |publisher= [[Holy See Press Office]] | url-status=live | archive-date= 4 December 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241204085949/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_fitzgerald_ml.html}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before=Marcello Zago}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue|Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]]|years=22 January 1987 – 1 October 2002}} {{s-aft|after=[[Pier Luigi Celata]]}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=[[Camillo Ruini]]}} {{s-tul|title=[[Catholic Church in Tunisia|Titular Bishop of Nepte]]|years=16 December 1991 – 1 October 2002}} {{s-non|reason=Himself as Titular Archbishop}} {{s-break}} {{s-non|reason=Himself as Titular Bishop}} {{s-tul|title=[[Catholic Church in Tunisia|Titular Archbishop of Nepte]]|years=1 October 2002 – 5 October 2019}} {{s-aft|after=Ignacio Damián Medina}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=[[Francis Arinze]]|rows=2}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue|President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]]|years=1 October 2002 – 15 February 2006}} {{s-aft|after=[[Paul Poupard]]|rows=2}} {{s-break}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims|Prefect of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims]]|years=1 October 2002 – 15 February 2006}} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef|before=[[Marco Dino Brogi]]|rows=2}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Apostolic Nunciature to Egypt|Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt]]|years=15 February 2006 – 5 January 2013}} {{s-aft|after=[[Jean-Paul Gobel|Jean-Paul Aimé Gobel]]|rows=2}} {{s-break}} {{s-ttl|title=[[League of Arab Nations|Delegate to the League of Arab States]]|years=15 February 2006 – 5 January 2013}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=[[Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Santa Maria in Portico|Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Portico]]|years=5 October 2019 –}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{College of Cardinals}} {{Cardinals created by Francis}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= England}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Michael}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1937 births]] [[Category:People from Walsall]] [[Category:Clergy from the West Midlands (county)]] [[Category:20th-century English Roman Catholic priests]] [[Category:21st-century British cardinals]] [[Category:White Fathers priests]] [[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops]] [[Category:21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops]] [[Category:Apostolic nuncios to Egypt]] [[Category:Apostolic nuncios to the Arab League]] [[Category:Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]] [[Category:People educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School]] [[Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni]] [[Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts]] [[Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Francis]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:English people of Irish descent]] [[Category:Diplomats for the Holy See]]