Michael Fitzgerald (cardinal)

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Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (1987–2002)
  • Titular Archbishop of Nepte (2002–2019)
  • Titular Bishop of Nepte (1992–2002)
    • Alma mater
    MottoFructum dabit
    Styles of
    Michael Louis Fitzgerald
    Reference style
    • His Eminence
    • The Most Reverend Eminence
    Spoken style
    Your Eminence
    Informal styleCardinal

    Michael Louis Fitzgerald

    Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue from 2002 to 2006. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of cardinal
    on 5 October 2019.

    Fitzgerald is one of the leading experts on Islam, Christian–Muslim relations and interreligious dialogue in 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

    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.[1]

    Upon

    Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan. This was the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) which provided the opportunity of attending lectures by theologians such as Karl Rahner and Yves Congar. He completed his doctorate in Theology in 1965 on the missionary intention in the writings of the Latin apologists
    .

    Scholar, teacher, and pastor

    In 1965 he started a BA in Arabic at the

    School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, graduating in 1968, whereupon he became a lecturer at the IPEA (Institut Pontifical d'Études Arabes), later renamed the Pontifical 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 at the

    Secretariat for Non-Christians
    .

    In 1978 he returned to Africa to carry out parish work in the

    Missionaries of Africa in Rome, where he spent six years managing and organising.[3]

    Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

    In 1987 he was appointed Secretary of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, which was renamed the

    Nepte. He was consecrated at Saint Peter's Basilica by Pope John Paul II on 6 January 1992.[4]

    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.[5][6] This made him the highest-ranking British citizen in the Roman Curia.[7]

    Nuncio

    On 15 February 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt and Delegate to the League of Arab States, his first diplomatic posting.[8] 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."[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 his Regensburg 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 the Pontifical Council for Culture, a restructuring that Benedict initiated in March 2006 and reversed in June 2007.[11][12][13]

    He resigned from his position as nuncio in October 2012[14]

    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.[15]

    On 1 September 2019, Pope Francis announced he would make him a

    Santa Maria in Portico.[16]

    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.[17]

    In addition, dialogue is made necessary by the fact of religious plurality, and the increasing contact between people of different religions. The theological basis for both dialogue and evangelisation on the part of the Church is the Christian belief in God as love, and God's love for humankind.[18]

    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.[19]

    In practising dialogue, one should show a spirit of openness and be prepared to learn from the other, but there should be no fear on the part of Christians to express their own convictions, and any semblance of syncretism and relativism ought to be avoided.[20]

    While the pursuit of dialogue in the Catholic Church goes hand in hand with the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, as stated in Dialogue and Proclamation, the 'Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy' in other religions (Nostra Aetate, 2), and indeed among the benefits of interreligious dialogue is a mutual enrichment, and a deeper knowledge of one's own religion.[21]

    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.[22][23]

    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

    References

    1. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 1–2.
    2. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 3–4.
    3. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 4–8.
    4. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 8–10.
    5. ^ "Rinunce e Nomine, 02.10.2002" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 1 October 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
    6. ^ 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.
    7. ^ Gould, Peter (6 April 2005). "Pope's man out of a job". BBC News. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
    8. ^ "Rinunce e Nomine, 15.02.2006" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 15 February 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
    9. ^ Gould, Peter (27 March 2006). "British cleric's mission to Islam". BBC News. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
    10. ^ Gould, Peter (16 September 2006). "Pope remarks reveal harder stance". BBC News. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
    11. ^ Kramer, Jane (26 March 2007). "The Pope and Islam". The New Yorker. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
    12. ^ Allen Jr., John L. (30 May 2007). "Council for Interreligious Dialogue to be restored, Vatican says". National Catholic Reporter.
    13. ^ Pullella, Philip (28 May 2007). "Pope in about-face over Muslim dialogue office". Reuters. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
    14. ^ O'Connell, Gerard (30 May 2013). "Archbishop Fitzgerald reflects on the Arab Spring". La Stampa. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
    15. ^ O'Connell, Gerard (1 September 2019). "Pope to create 13 new cardinals in October, including three Jesuits". America. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
    16. ^ "Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli, 05.10.2019" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
    17. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, p. 28.
    18. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, p. 86.
    19. ^ 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.
    20. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 34, 77; Fitzgerald, Michael, Dieu rêve d'unité. Les catholiques et les religions: les leçons du dialogue. Entretiens avec Annie Laurent, Paris, Bayard Presse, 2005. p. 79.
    21. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael, and Borelli, John, Interfaith Dialogue. A Catholic View, SPCK, London & Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2006, pp. 28, 41, 67.
    22. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N12.
    23. ^ "The 2022 New Year's Honours list in full, and what the different ranks mean". inews.co.uk. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
    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
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