Date of Birth: 
About Michael Donnelly (priest)
- Michael Thomas Donnelly (born June 4, 1927 — died 1982) was a Roman Catholic missionary priest from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- He was born to Teresa Fitzpatrick Donnelly and Michael Thomas Donnelly.
- His younger brother, Hugh Patrick Donnelly, resided in Newark, Delaware, USA, until his death in 2015. He joined the Montfort Missionaries, also known as [[The Company of Mary]], after completing his academic and theological studies at Montfort College in Romsey, Hampshire, UK.
- From the late 1950s through the early 1970s, Father Michael worked as a Missionary priest in Pirimiti, Southern Region, Zomba District, Malawi, formerly the Nyasaland Protectorate, on the continent of Africa.
- While in Malawi, Father Michael was successful in his efforts to build a church and school for the mission.
- Indeed, it was during this time in his clergical career that he made the most meaningful contributions to humanity and the people of Malawi, whom he greatly loved.
- He was fluent in Chichewa. When on sabbatical, Father Michael would take residence at St.
- Mary Gate of Heaven Parish, a ministry of the Montfort Missionaries in Ozone Park, Queens, NY.
- Additionally, he would also reside with his younger brother, Hugh, and his family in Newark, Delaware.
- While in Delaware, Father Donnelly would occasionally say mass at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Newark.
- His affable, compassionate and intelligent manner helped him establish many friendships among missionary and diocesan priests and nuns and parishioners in both locations. In the early 1970s, Father Michael was a monk in Mexico.
- He became fluent in Spanish. During his life, Father Michael was consistently attracted to and interested in apparitions of The Blessed Mother and Catholic Mysticism.
- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina was of great interest to him. As Father Michael was a fervent believer in Traditionalist Catholicism, the combination of his interests in mysticism and traditionalist beliefs may have attracted him to the Palmarian Movement.
- After his work in Mexico, Father Michael travelled to Spain to further investigate alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin at El Palmar de Troya.
- He was later consecrated a bishop on January 1, 1976 at El Palmar de Troya, Spain by Ngo Dinh Thuc Pierre Martin. He did become part of the Palmarian movement for a few months after his consecration.
- Subsequently, he left, repudiating his involvement with the Palmarians and was reconciled to Pope John Paul II, even though officially laicized. Father Michael died of rheumatic heart disease in 1982, in a small village outside of Seville, Spain.
- He had begun work on forming a small church that was located inside a house in that village. He is entombed in a niche in El Cementerio de San Fernando in Seville, Spain.
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