Paul Fitzpatrick Russell

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Paul Fitzpatrick Russell
Archbishop Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit Titular Archbishop of Novi
Archdiocese	Detroit
Appointed	May 23, 2022
Installed	July 7, 2022
Other post(s)	Titular Archbishop of Novi
Orders
Ordination	June 20, 1987 by Cardinal Bernard Law
Consecration	June 3, 2016 by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Allen Vigneron and Leo Cushley
Personal details
Born	(1959-05-02) May 2, 1959 Greenfield, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Previous post(s)	Apostolic Nuncio to Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan (2016–2022) Chargé d’affaires to China (2008–2016)
Alma mater	Pontifical Gregorian University
Motto	Cor ad cor loquitur (Heart speaks to heart)

Styles of Paul Fitzpatrick Russell
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Paul Fitzpatrick Russell (born May 2, 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in May 2022. He was previously the Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan and the head of the diplomatic mission to Taiwan. In accordance with those roles, he has the personal title of archbishop.

Early life

Russell was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1959 to Isabelle Fitzpatrick and Thaddeus Russell. The family lived in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, then moved to Malden, Massachusetts and then Willmington, Massachusetts. In a 2016 interview, Russell said that he first thought of becoming a priest in the first grade.

When Russell was in third grade, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother and siblings to Alpena, Michigan He then attended the parish school of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Russell graduated from Alpena High School in 1977, and then spent a year in France as an exchange student.

After returning from France, Russell entered at Saint John's Seminary in Boston. Wanting to learn Spanish, he traveled to Peru and Bolivia with the St. James Society, spending a year in South America. Part of his time there was in language school, the other part was living with a poor family.

Russell returned to St. John Seminary around 1985 to resume his studies. On January 31, 1987, he was ordained a transitional deacon and was assigned to St. Joseph Parish in Wakefield, Massachusetts. On June 20, 1987, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston by then Archbishop Bernard Law.

Russell's first posting after ordination was to Sacred Heart Parish in West Lynn, Massachusetts. Shortly after arriving at a new assignment at St. Eulalia Parish in Winchester, Massachusetts in 1992, Law asked Russell to become his priest-secretary. In 1993, Law invited Russell to joined the Vatican Diplomatic Service.

Diplomatic service

In 1993, Russell entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training ground for Vatican diplomats, where he earned his licentiate and doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

On July 1, 1997, Russell entered the diplomatic service, serving first for a short while in Rome working with then-Bishop James Harvey. Later in 1997, Russell was assigned to the Apostolic Nunciature to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, stationed in Ethiopia. He worked there for three years. In 2000, Russell was transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature to Turkey and Turkmenistan. In 2002, he was sent to the Apostolic Nunciature to Switzerland, when he also assumed pastoral duties of an English-language parish. In 2005, Russell went to the Apostolic Nunciature to Nigeria, remaining there three years.

On May 2, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named Russell chargé d'affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature to China (located in Taiwan, the Republic of China), making him the head of the diplomatic mission.

On March 19, 2016, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Türkiye and Turkmenistan . On June 3, 2016, Russell was consecrated titular archbishop of Novi in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston by Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, with Archbishop Allen Vigneron and Archbishop Leo Cushley serving as the co-consecrators. The post of Nuncio to Azerbaijan was added to Russell's responsibilities on April 7, 2018. Russell resigned his post as apostolic nuncio on February 2, 2022.

Detroit auxiliary

On May 23, 2022, Pope Francis named him an auxiliary bishop of Detroit, allowing him to keep the personal title of archbishop. On July 7, 2022, he was installed as auxiliary bishop. On the occasion when an archbishop in his own right is appointed bishop of a diocesan see, the archbishop is personally referred to as the "Archbishop Bishop of [See Name]." In Russell's very rare circumstance, as an archbishop in his own right being appointed as an auxiliary bishop, he will personally be referred to as an "Archbishop Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit."

Russell has a devotion to his mother's cousin Michał Piaszczyński, a beatified priest who died in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II. Russell is fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

See also

• Catholic Church hierarchy
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
• List of heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See

External links

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Official Site
• Huang, Carlson (25 March 2010). "Radio Taiwan International Interviews Msgr. Paul Russell" (Interview). Chinese Regional Bishop' Conference. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
• "Vatican Ambassador Presents His Credentials to President Erdoğan". Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. August 31, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2018.