Michael Franciscus Buttigieg
Michael Franciscus Buttigieg was a Maltese prelate who became the first Bishop of Gozo in 1864.
Buttigieg was born on November 3, 1793 in Qala, Gozo, Malta. He was ordained priest on December 21, 1816. Some years later, in 1863, he was appointed as the Auxiliary Bishop of Malta. He was consecrated by the Italian Cardinal Niccola Clarelli Parracciani on May 3, 1863 in the church of Santissima Trinità Montecitorio in Rome. Buttigieg was assigned the titular see of Lete.
A year later, 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 on July 12, 1866 at the age of 72. He is buried in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo.
