Michael Courtney (5 February 1945 – 29 December 2003) was an Irish prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He entered the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

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. Th ...

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 Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...

, Clonfert Seminary, studied for 1 year in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. 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 Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi and

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

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 Francis Arinze (born 1 November 1932) is a Nigerian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2002 to 2008 and before that led the Secretariat for Non-Christ ...

, Prefect of the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments it, Dicastero per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti , type = Dicastery , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , p ...

, with Bishops John Kirby and William Walsh as co-consecrators. Courtney was instrumental in the November 2003 signing of a

peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surrend ...

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, 30 miles 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 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, Archbishop

Giuseppe Lazzarotto Giuseppe Lazzarotto KC*HS (born 24 May 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2017, with the rank of apostolic nuncio and an archbishop since 1994. Biography Giusep ...

, the Nuncio to Ireland, led a concelebrated funeral Mass in Nenagh. Minister for Defence Michael Smith represented the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

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 People from County Tipperary People murdered in Burundi Irish murder victims Deaths by firearm in Burundi People of the Burundian Civil War Bishops of Annaghdown 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests