AdminThe Vatican has appointed a new Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador of the Catholic Church to a country), Most Reverend Michael Francis Crotty.
A communique issued from the Embassy of the Holy See to Nigeria on Tuesday, 16th July 2024 said Pope Francis has appointed Most Reverend Michael Crotty, Titular Archbishop of Lindisfarne, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelArchbishop Crotty, who is from Ireland has represented the Pope in different countries as Apostolic Nuncio from 2001 (when he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See) to date.
In a statement on Tuesday, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), and Archbishop of Owerri Lucius, Iwejuru Ugorji, said the entire Catholic Church in Nigeria warmly welcomed Archbishop Crotty to the country.
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The CBCN President said the new Papal nuncio to Nigeria would continue to build on the good works of his predecessor, Archbishop Antonio Filipazzi.
According to history, most of the Christian missionaries that brought the Catholic faith to Nigeria were from Ireland.
Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, was the first Nigerian to serve as Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland from 2017 to 2022.
The CBCN president noted that Archbishop Crotty’s appointment “is a testament to the strong spiritual bond between our countries.”
He recalled that many Irish missionaries played a significant role in spreading the Christian faith in Nigeria.
“We also celebrate the historic connection between our nations, as Archbishop Crotty becomes our first Apostolic Nuncio from Ireland, just as Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, who served as the first Apostolic Nuncio from Nigeria in Ireland.
“We appreciate Archbishop Crotty’s acceptance of serving in Nigeria and assure him of our full support and cooperation.
“We pray for a fruitful mission and a blessed tenure for Your Excellency,” the CBCN president further stated.
In a statement, Archbishop Crotty said his appointment as Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria is a cause of great joy for him and expressed gratitude to Pope Francis for the honour to serve in the West African country.
He pledged to do his utmost best as the Holy See’s representative to Nigeria.
He 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.
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“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 with them, there have been countless other missionaries from many other countries.”
While noting that Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo was the first Nigerian to serve as Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Crotty said he has the great joy today, 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,” he further stated.
About the New Apostolic Nuncio
Archbishop Crotty, a native of Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, Ireland, was born on 26 March 1970. He was ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Cloyne (Ireland) on 3 July 1994.
After his priestly ordination, Crotty 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, 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 15th August 2020, he was ordained to the episcopate in St Colman’s Cathedral, Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland.
Since September 2020 Crotty 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 Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Apart from his mother tongue English, he speaks Gaelic, French, Italian, Spanish and German.
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