Michael J. Fitzgerald

Michael Joseph Fitzgerald (born May 23, 1948) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church, having served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Philadelphia from 2010 until his retirement in 2023.

Biography

Early life and education Michael Fitzgerald was born on May 23, 1948, in Montclair, New Jersey, the second of nine children of Edwin and Dorothy (née Bogart) Fitzgerald. He and his family moved when he was a young boy to Southwest Philadelphia and then to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Fitzgerald attended St. Clement Parish school in Philadelphia and St. Augustine Parish school in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania.

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. 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.

From 2004 to 2007, Fitzgerald was vice-rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

On May 24, 2023, Pope Francis accepted Fitzgerald's resignation as auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, his having reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.