Pope sends Fr. Michael on mission to Africa
PAGE9] NORTH CORK MAN IS NEWARCHBISHOP[
A HIGH-flying career as an offiicial in the upper echelons of the Catholic Church has earned a Mitchelstown born priest an appointment as the new Papal Nuncio to the African state of Burkina Faso and the elevation to the rank of Archbishop.
The Vatican confirmed on Saturday that Monsignor Michael Crotty, currently representing the Church as its second in command in Madrid, had been asked by Pope Francis to become his envoy in Burkina Faso and, also, his elevation to the rank of Archbishop in the titular See of Lindisfarne was announced.
Monsignor Crotty has been working in the service of the Holy See since 2001 and has served in Kenya, the United Nations, Ottawa, Baghdad in Iraq and Amman in Jordan, in the Vatican itself.
His latest posting was as First Counsellor of the Apostolic Nunciature in Madrid.
In a statement reflecting on his new appointment, Monsignor Crotty said he was ‘deeply honoured’ by Pope Francis’s decision to to appoint him as his representative in Burkina Faso. “I accept this new mission, in a spirit of obedience and gratitude, trusting that the Lord Jesus Christ, who calls me now to be a Successor of the Apostles wil be my guide and light in bringing the Good News of the Gospel, to wherever the Holy Father, the Successor of St Peter, chooses to send me.”
He also paid tribute to his late parents, Mary and Timothy Crotty, and his family, the faith community of Mitchelstown Parish, the clergy, Christian Brothers, Presentation Sisters and particularly the teachers of Ballygiblin National School and Christian Brothers School ‘who taught the Catholic faith not only by word but also by witness and example.”
During his time at the Holy See, Monsignor Crotty was appointed the Chaplain to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, in 2005 and was subsequently appointed as a Prelate of Honour after Pope Benedict retired.
He has had a distinguished academic career and among his honours are a Doctorate in Ecclesiastical History from the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome.
The Pope’s decision to assign Monsignor Crotty the titular See of Lindisfarne is an indication of the Holy Father’s knowledge of the Irish monastic missionary tradition.
It was on the isle of Lindisfarne off the coast of North East England that St Aidan, a monk of St Colmcille’s monastery in Iona, founded his own monastery.