Philadelphia priest is Serra's outstanding chaplain of 2004

Published: 2004-08-12

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Serra International's outstanding chaplain for 2004 hails from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Msgr. Michael J. Fitzgerald, director of the archdiocese's Office for Legal Services, received the award earlier this summer at the 62nd annual Serra International convention in Pittsburgh. "I was completely surprised," said the 56-year-old Msgr. Fitzgerald, who was ordained a priest in 1980 and serves as chaplain of the Serra Club of Philadelphia. Serra responds to "one of the most timely needs of the church of our age," he said in an interview with The Catholic Standard & Times, Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper. "I'm very happy to be associated with it." Open to practicing Catholics 18 and over, Serra International is a lay organization of men and women of various ages, races and backgrounds who work to foster and support vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life, and further Catholicism through fulfillment of their own Christian vocations to service. Established in 1935 in Seattle, Serra International today boasts more than 600 clubs in 32 countries, with a combined membership of nearly 21,000.

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