The first Bishop of Gozo

Born in Qala of a poor family, son of Giuseppe Buttigieg and Maria née Manueli, Michele Francesco was transferred to a paternal uncle in Valletta, where he frequented private tutors. At the age of 16 he entered the Seminary and studied at the Faculty of Theology at the UM, where he graduated doctor of moral theology, dogma and divinity. He was ordained priest on 21 December 1816 by Bishop Ferdinando Mattei.

In 1823, Bishop Mattei installed Buttigieg parish priest of Xagħra, where he immediately revived the building of the parish church. During the cholera outbreak in 1837, Buttigieg bravely assisted the dying with little regard for his own life. In 1848 he successfully contested the highest dignity of the church in Gozo and became archpriest of the Gozo Matrice.

In 1863 he was appointed as the Auxilary Bishop of Malta. On 3 May 1863 Buttigieg was consecrated bishop of Lite in Asia by Cardinal Niccola Clarelli-Paracciani, at the Holy Trinity Church in Montecitorio, Rome.

A year late, in 1864, Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Gozo and Buttigieg was appointed as its first bishop. He took charge of the diocese on October 23, 1864. Two years later Bishop Buttigieg died in Victoria, Gozo at the age of 72. He is buried in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.