{{Short description|American Catholic archbishop (born 1959)}}
{{Infobox Christian leader | type = Archbishop | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Paul Fitzpatrick Russell | honorific_suffix = | title = Archbishop Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit<br>Titular Archbishop of Novi | image = Paul Fitzpatrick Russell.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | church = | archdiocese = Detroit | appointed = May 23, 2022 | enthroned = July 7, 2022 | retired = | predecessor = | successor = | other_post = Titular Archbishop of Novi <!---------- Orders ---------->| ordination = June 20, 1987 | ordained_by = Cardinal Bernard Law | consecration = June 3, 2016 | consecrated_by = Sean O'Malley, Allen Vigneron and Leo Cushley | cardinal = | created_cardinal_by = | rank = <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|5|2}} | birth_place = Greenfield, Massachusetts, US | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | buried = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | parents = | previous_post = {{bulleted list | Apostolic Nuncio to Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan (2016–2022) | ''Chargé d’affaires'' to China (2008–2016) }} | education = | alma_mater = Saint John's Seminary<br>Pontifical Gregorian University<br>Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy | motto = ''Cor ad cor loquitur''<br> (Heart speaks to heart) | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = | coat_of_arms_alt = }}
{{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Paul Fitzpatrick Russell | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Paul Fitzpatrick Russell.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''Paul Fitzpatrick Russell''' (born May 2, 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan in 2022. He previously served as the apostolic nuncio to Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan and the head of the diplomatic mission to Taiwan. In accordance with those roles, he has the personal title of archbishop.
== Biography ==
=== Early life === Paul Russell was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts on May 2, 1959. to Isabelle Fitzpatrick and Thaddeus Russell. The family lived in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, then moved to Malden, Massachusetts and next to Willmington, Massachusetts. In a 2016 interview, Russell said that he first thought of becoming a priest in the first grade.<ref name="pilot20160610" />
When Russell was in third grade, his parents divorced; Russell moved with his mother and siblings to Alpena, Michigan. He then attended the parish school of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Russell graduated from Alpena High School in 1977, and then spent a year in France as an exchange student.<ref name="pilot20160610" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Warikoo |first=Niraj |title=Detroit Catholic bishop halts public ministry after accusation he sexually assaulted boy |url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/08/02/fitzpatrick-russell-lawsuit-detroit-catholic-bishop-sexual-assault/10209654002/ |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=Detroit Free Press |language=en-US}}</ref>
After returning from France, Russell entered at Saint John's Seminary in Boston. Wanting to learn Spanish, he traveled to Peru and Bolivia with the St. James Society, spending a year in South America. Part of his time there was spent in language school, the other part was living with a poor family.<ref name="pilot20160610" />
Russell returned to St. John Seminary around 1985 to resume his studies. On January 31, 1987, he was ordained a transitional deacon and was assigned to St. Joseph Parish in Wakefield, Massachusetts.<ref name="pilot20160610" />
=== Priesthood === On June 20, 1987, Russell was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston by Archbishop Bernard Law.<ref name=":0" />
After his 1987 ordination, the archdiocese assigned Russell as an associate pastor to Sacred Heart Parish in West Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1992, shortly after arriving at a new assignment at St. Eulalia Parish in Winchester, Massachusetts, Law asked Russell to become one of his priest-secretaries. In 1993, Law invited Russell to join the Vatican Diplomatic Service.<ref name="pilot20160610">{{cite news | url = http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=176688 |title=Archbishop Paul Russell-Boston priest and Vatican diplomat | access-date= 8 July 2018 | work = Boston Pilot | date = 10 June 2016|first = Donis |last= Tracy }}</ref>
=== Vatican diplomatic service === In 1993, Russell went to Rome to enter the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training facility for Vatican diplomats. He earned a Licentiate in Canon Law and a Doctor of Canon Law degree at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.<ref name="pilot20160610" />
On July 1, 1997, Russell entered the diplomatic service,<ref name="pr20160319">{{cite press release|access-date=July 8, 2018| url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2016/03/19/0202/00435.html | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date= March 19, 2016| title = Rinunce e nomine, 19.03.2016 | language = it}}</ref> serving first for a short while in Rome working with Bishop James Harvey. Later in 1997, Russell was assigned to the Apostolic Nunciature to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, stationed in Ethiopia. He worked there for three years. In 2000, the Vatican sent Russell to the Apostolic Nunciature to Turkey and Turkmenistan. In 2002, he was transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature to Switzerland, when he also assumed pastoral duties of an English-language parish. In 2005, Russell went to the Apostolic Nunciature to Nigeria, remaining there three years.
On May 2, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named Russell as ''chargé d'affaires'' of the Apostolic Nunciature to China (located in Taiwan, the Republic of China), making him the head of the diplomatic mission.<ref name="pilot20160610" />{{efn|The Nunciature to China is located in Taipei, and the Holy See maintains full diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but no nuncio has been named to head that mission since 1971 as the Holy See negotiates its relationship with the People's Republic of China. There is nevertheless extensive diplomatic activity between the Holy See and Taiwan.<ref>{{cite web| access-date = July 8, 2018 | url =https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/4871 | title =President Ma meets Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Monsignor Paul Fitzpatrick Russell of the Apostolic Nunciature to the ROC |date=April 7, 2016| website = Office of the President of the Republic of China}}</ref>}}
=== Apostolic nuncio/archbishop === On March 19, 2016, Pope Francis appointed Russell as apostolic nuncio to Turkey and titular archbishop of Novi.<ref name="pr20160319" /><ref>{{cite news | work=Zenit | access-date = July 8, 2018|date=March 21, 2016|url = https://zenit.org/articles/massachusetts-native-to-represent-pope-in-turkey-and-turkmenistan/ | title =Massachusetts Native to Represent Pope in Turkey and Turkmenistan}}</ref> On June 3, 2016, Russell was consecrated in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston by Cardinal Seán O'Malley, with Archbishops Allen Vigneron and Leo Cushley serving as co-consecrators.<ref name="pilot20160610" /> The post of apostolic nuncio to Azerbaijan was added to Russell's responsibilities on April 7, 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Grady |first=Robert M. |date=April 20, 2018 |title=Archbishop Russell gets additional post |url=https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=182117 |access-date=July 8, 2018 |work=Boston Pilot}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|access-date=July 8, 2018| url =http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2018/04/07/0255/00553.html | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date= April 7, 2018 | title = Rinunce e nomine, 07.04.2018 | language = it}}</ref> Russell resigned his post as apostolic nuncio on February 2, 2022.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/brusspf.html|title=Archbishop Paul Fitzpatrick Russell [Catholic-Hierarchy]}}</ref>
=== Archbishop Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit === On May 23, 2022, Pope Francis named Russell as an auxiliary bishop of Detroit, allowing him to keep the personal title of archbishop.<ref>{{cite press release | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date = May 23, 2022 | access-date = May 23, 2022 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2022/05/23/220523b.html | title = Resignations and Appointments, 23.05.2022 }}</ref> On July 7, 2022, he began his role as auxiliary bishop.<ref name=":0" /> On the occasion when an archbishop in his own right is appointed bishop of a diocesan see, the archbishop is personally referred to as the "Archbishop Bishop of [See Name]." In Russell's very rare circumstance, as an archbishop in his own right being appointed as an auxiliary bishop, he was to be personally be referred to as an "Archbishop Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit."<ref name="pilot20160610" />
On August 1, 2022, a lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts against Archbishop Russell alleging him of sexual misconduct. He denied all allegations against him, but in accordance with Vatican guidelines, he is not exercising public ministry until cleared to do so by the Holy See.<ref>{{cite web |title=Regarding the Civil Lawsuit Filed Against Archbishop Paul Russell |url=https://www.aod.org/announcements-newsroom/newsroom/2022/august/regarding-the-civil-lawsuit-filed-against-archbishop-paul-russell |website=Archdiocese of Detroit |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Archbishop Russell denies sexual abuse allegation dating to ministry in Boston |url=https://www.detroitcatholic.com/news/archbishop-russell-denies-sexual-abuse-allegations-dating-to-ministry-in-boston |website=Detroit Catholic |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>
Russell has a devotion to his mother's cousin Michał Piaszczyński, a beatified priest who died in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.<ref name="pilot20160610" /> Russell is fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.<ref name="pr20160319" />
== See also == {{div col}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops * List of heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See {{div col end}}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == {{wikiquote}} {{commonscat}}
* [https://www.aod.org/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Official Site] * {{cite interview|url=http://www.catholic.org.tw/en/News/News308a.html|title=Radio Taiwan International Interviews Msgr. Paul Russell|date=25 March 2010|access-date= July 8, 2018 |publisher= Chinese Regional Bishop' Conference |first= Carlson | last= Huang}} * {{cite web| url = https://www.tccb.gov.tr/en/news/542/51155/vatican-ambassador-presents-his-credentials-to-president-erdogan | access-date = July 8, 2018 | date= August 31, 2016 | title =Vatican Ambassador Presents His Credentials to President Erdoğan |website= Presidency of the Republic of Turkey}}
== Episcopal succession == {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box |title=Archbishop Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit |before= - |after= - |years= 2022-Present | }} {{succession box |title=Apostolic Nuncio to Azerbaijan |before= Marek Solczyński |after= Marek Solczyński |years= 2018-2022 | }} {{succession box |title=Apostolic Nuncio to Türkiye and Turkmenistan |before= Antonio Lucibello |after= Marek Solczyński |years= 2016-2022 | }} {{succession box |title=Chargé d’affaires to China |before= Ambrose Madtha |after=Slađan Ćosić |years= 2008-2016 | }}
{{s-end}}
{{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Michigan}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit|state=collapsed}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston|state=collapsed}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Paul Fitzpatrick}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:People from Greenfield, Massachusetts Category:People from Alpena, Michigan Category:Saint John's Seminary (Massachusetts) alumni Category:Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic titular archbishops Category:Apostolic nuncios to Turkey Category:Apostolic nuncios to Turkmenistan Category:Apostolic nuncios to Azerbaijan Category:Catholics from Massachusetts Category:Catholics from Michigan Category:Archdiocese of Boston Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Francis