Michael J. Fitzgerald (bishop)

Michael Fitzgerald was born on May 23, 1948, in Montclair, New Jersey, the second of nine children of Edwin and Dorothy (née Bogart) Fitzgerald.[1] He and his family moved when he was a young boy to Southwest Philadelphia and then to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.[2] Fitzgerald attended St. Clement Parish school in Philadelphia and St. Augustine Parish school in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania.[3] He entered Bishop Kenrick High School in Norristown, Pennsylvania in 1962, graduating in 1966.[3]

Fitzgerald graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia with a Bachelor of English degree in 1970, and earned a Juris Doctor from Villanova University School of Law in Villanova, Pennsylvania, in 1973.[4] He served as a judicial clerk in the Court of Common Pleas in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, from 1973 to 1975, and then worked in private practice.[1] After feeling called to the priesthood, he consulted his pastor and then entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia in 1975.[1] He earned a Master of Divinity degree from St. Charles in 1980.[4]

On May 17, 1980, Fitzgerald was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by Cardinal John Krol.[5] After his ordination, Fitzgerald's first assignment was as a parochial vicar at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, remaining there for one year.[4] He then served at St. Callistus Parish in Philadelphia from 1981 to 1982.[3] In 1982, Fitzgerald was appointed the defender of the bond, then in 1983 a judge on the Metropolitan Tribunal.[3] During his four-year tenure on the tribunal, he lived at Immaculate Conception Parish in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia.[4]

Fitzgerald furthered his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1989.[1] In 1991, he received a Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.[1] Following his return to Philadelphia, Fitzgerald served as the first director of the archdiocesan Office for Legal Services from 1991 to 2004.[2] During his tenure as director, he lived at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and afterwards at Annunciation B.V.M. Parish, both in South Philadelphia.[2] He was named by the Vatican a chaplain of his holiness on March 24, 2003.[3]

From 2004 to 2007, Fitzgerald was vice-rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.[4] As vice-rector, he also served as chairman of the Admissions Committee.[2] He became judicial vicar of the archdiocese in 2007, holding that office until 2010.[3] During his three-year tenure, he lived at St. Patrick's Parish in Philadelphia.[4] He also served as a member of the college of Consultors, Priests Personnel Board, and Priests' Counsel, and a chaplain to the Serra Club of Philadelphia and to the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters community in the archdiocese.[4]

On June 22, 2010, Fitzgerald was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and titular bishop of Tamallula by Pope Benedict XVI.[5] He received his episcopal consecration on August 6, 2010, from Cardinal Justin Rigali at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.[5][6]

On May 24, 2023, Pope Francis accepted his resignation when he reached the retirement age of 75.[7]