Pope appoints Irish Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty new ambassador to Nigeria
By Emma Ogbuehi
His Holiness, Pope Francis, has appointed Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria.
A statement in the Vatican News on Tuesday read: “Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty has been appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria.
“As the former nuncio to the neighboring countries of Niger and Burkina Faso, the Irish church diplomat has extensive experience in the region.
“Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and has its second-largest Catholic population, after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Violence against Christians in the country has been on the rise for several years, especially in the north. Priests and religious are often kidnapped and held for ransom.”
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Announcing the new appointment back home, Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said: “Today, Tuesday, July 16, 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”.
In his reaction Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, noted that: “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.
“As a native of Ireland, I can say that Nigeria is well known to the Irish people, particularly through the bonds of faith and friendship established by many generations of Irish missionaries. I take this opportunity, therefore, to pay tribute to the enduring legacy of Irish missionaries: bishops, priests, religious sisters and lay missionaries. Of course, side-by-side them, there have been countless other missionaries from many other countries.
“From 2017 to 2022, H.E. Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo was the first Nigerian to serve as Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland and today I have the great joy to be the first Irishman to serve as Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria.
“My appointment as Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria today providentially coincides with the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel to whose maternal and loving care, I entrust my new mission. I invite all Nigerian Catholics, through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Patrick, patron of Ireland and Nigeria, to pray for the Holy Father Pope Francis”.
Archbishop Michael F. Crotty, a native of Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, Ireland, was born on March 26, 1970. On July 3, 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.