Michael Courtney (5 February 1945 – 29 December 2003) was an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1980 and was given the rank of archbishop and named

Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi The Apostolic Nunciature to Burundi the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Burundi. It is located in Bujumbura. The current Apostolic Nuncio is Archbishop Dieudonné Datonou, who was named to the position by Pope Francis on 07 October 2021. ...

in 2000. He died of gunshot wounds suffered in a violent attack thought to be unrelated to Burundi's civil war. According to his brother, Courtney was the first papal nuncio to die as the result of violence in 500 years.

Biography

Michael Aidan Courtney was born in Summerhill,

Nenagh, County Tipperary Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormon ...

, the youngest of seven children born to Louis and Elizabeth Courtney. He attended Clongowes Wood College, Clonfert Seminary, studied for 1 year in University College Dublin before going to the Irish College in Rome. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Clonfert on 9 March 1968. He worked as a curate until 1973, then as chaplain to Tynagh mines while teaching at St Raphael's College, Loughrea, and then as a curate in Woodford. He returned to Rome in 1976 to earn a licentiate in canon law and a doctorate in moral theology and to prepare for a diplomat's career at the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy ( la, Pontificia Ecclesiastica Academia, it, Pontificia Accademia Ecclesiastica) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic c ...

. In 1987 he was awarded an MA in legal philosophy at NUI, Galway. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 25 March 1980, working at nunciatures in South Africa, Senegal, India, Yugoslavia, Cuba, and Egypt. He was named the Special Envoy and Permanent Observer to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

in Strasbourg on 30 December 1995. Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi and Titular Archbishop of Eanach Dúin on 18 August 2000. He received episcopal ordination on 12 November 2000 at St Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh from Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, with Bishops John Kirby and William Walsh as co-consecrators. Courtney was instrumental in the November 2003 signing of a peace agreement between the Burundian government and the main opposition Hutu group. He was anticipating a new assignment as nuncio to Cuba, where he had established a warm relationship with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

Death and funeral

In December 2003, as Courtney was returning to

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...

from a funeral, gunmen fired at his car near Minago, south of the capital. He suffered gunshot wounds to the head, shoulder and leg and died from hemorrhaging during surgery at The Prince Louis Rwagasore Hospital in Bujumbura. Archbishop

Simon Ntamwana Simon Ntamwana (born 3 June 1946) has been the Roman Catholic archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gitega in Burundi since 1997. Ntamwana was ordained as a priest on 24 March 1974 and from 1988 to 1997 he was the bishop of the diocese in Bujumbura. I ...

blamed the militant Hutu National Liberation Forces (FNL), but the FNL, which supported the November agreement, denied any responsibility and said Ntamwana should leave the country. A crowd of 1500 attended a funeral Mass for Courtney in Burundi on 31 December. On 3 January 2004, Cardinals Arinze and Connell, Archbishop

Seán Brady Seán Brady or similar names may refer to: *Seán Brady (bishop) (born 1939), Irish cardinal and former archbishop of Armagh *Sean Brady (fighter) (born 1992), American mixed martial artist * Seán Brady (Teachta Dála) (1890–1969), Fianna Fáil p ...

, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, the Nuncio to Ireland, led a concelebrated funeral Mass in Nenagh. Minister for Defence Michael Smith represented the Government of Ireland at the Mass and burial. Courtney was buried at

Dromineer Dromineer The earliest form of the name dating from 1302 was Dromynwyr 4() is a small village and townland in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated on the shores of Lough Derg on the River Shannon. The village is located 10 km north ...

on the shores of Lough Derg, County Tipperary, near his native Nenagh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Michael 1945 births 2003 deaths Assassinated diplomats Apostolic Nuncios to Burundi Permanent Observers of the Holy See to the Council of Europe Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops 20th-century Roman Catholics Diplomats of the Holy See Irish Roman Catholic titular archbishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II People from Nenagh People murdered in Burundi Murder victims from County Tipperary Deaths by firearm in Burundi People of the Burundian Civil War Bishops of Annaghdown 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Christian clergy from County Tipperary