Our Lady of the Angels Province Friar, Fr. Michael T. Martin, OFM Conv., was ordained as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte on May 29, 2024 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville, North Carolina.
A native of Baltimore where he attended Archbishop Curley High School and began to receive his call to religious life, Bishop Martin’s priestly ministry has been rooted in service, Catholic education and leadership. Inspired by the Conventual Friars who taught him at Curley, Bishop Martin informed his family of his intentions to join the Franciscan novitiate in Ellicott City, Maryland, shortly after his graduation from high school in 1979 and, nearly 10 years later, was ordained to the priesthood.
During his formation, one of his first ministries was as a teaching friar and coach at St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, New York. He later served as a transitional deacon at St. Albert Parish in Elmhurst, New York, and returned to St. Francis, after his priestly ordination, to serve as the school’s admissions director, while completing his masters degree in education at Boston College.
In 1994, he was assigned to Archbishop Curley, his alma mater, where he served in numerous roles over the next 16 years, including teacher, coach, admissions director, principal and school president. Archbishop Curley High School always has been, and probably always will be at the center of Bishop Martin’s story. One of his teachers there was the current Archbishop of Atlanta, Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv. Bishop Martin and Archbishop Hartmayer first met when Bishop Martin toured Curley as an eighth grader and the two have now known each other for more than 50 years. Curley and their Franciscan vocations are bonds they share.
“There was a spirit in that school of the Franciscans of love and community that I found attractive,” Bishop Martin said of Curley to the Catholic News Herald. “I recognized how my own education made such a difference in my life.”
“Father Martin is a faithful son of St. Francis,” said Archbishop Hartmayer, who officiated at Bishop Martin’s ordination in Charlotte. “We worked closely together for five years at that school, and we’ve come to know each other very well.”
When his time at Curley came to an end in 2010, Bishop Martin became the Director of the Duke Catholic Center at Duke University, where he served for the next 10 years. In 2022, Bishop Martin became the pastor of St. Phillip Benizi Parish in Jonesboro, Georgia, a parish under the leadership of Archbishop Hartmayer.
When a search was announced for the new Bishop of Charlotte, after it was announced that longtime Bishop Peter Jugis was retiring due to health concerns, Archbishop Hartmayer recommended Bishop Martin for the position to the Pope. The rest, as they say, is history.
“Michael is a great leader, he’s charismatic,” said Archbishop Hartmayer. “I find him to be a great homilist, a great teacher and great administrator, and so I think he brings to Charlotte a lot of talent and a lot of experience – and he’s very excited about coming to Charlotte.”
Like Archbishop Hartmayer, who made a similar transition when he was first appointed the Bishop of Savannah by the Pope, Bishop Martin will leave the communal Franciscan life he has lived since he first entered the novitiate.
According to Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv., Bishop Martin’s close friend and the Provincial of the Our Lady of the Angels Province, Bishop Martin will thrive in his new role.
“The Holy Father has recognized our brother as an excellent spiritual leader and administrator,” said Fr. Heine. “Friar Michael has the God-given gifts to be a successor of the Apostles.”
Bishop Martin’s Franciscan roots are an integral part of his coat of arms. The top features a green galero, a symbol of the clergy. Six green tassels flank each side, reflecting the rank of a bishop. The right side of the shield features the Franciscan Tau cross with two crossing arms. One arm belongs to Christ and the other belongs to St. Francis of Assisi, with both hands bearing the stigmata.
Above and below this symbol are six vertical stripes, alternately black and gold, referencing George Calvert and his son Cecil, the first and second barons of Baltimore. The left side showcases two symbols – the Celtic cross honoring St. Patrick, patron of the diocese’s cathedral, and a crown symbolizing Queen Charlotte of England, for whom the city of Charlotte was named. The coat of arms also includes the San Damiano cross, which is symbolic of the bishop’s office. It is also significant to Franciscans because St. Francis was inspired to form his order when Jesus told him, from the cross in the chapel of San Damiano in Italy, “Francis, go rebuild my Church for it is falling to ruins.”
One final element of Bishop Martin’s coat of arms is his personal motto, “Duc In Altum,” which means, “put out into the deep,” words Jesus spoke to Peter in the Gospel of Luke. The coat of arms was designed by Brian Taberski, a former student of Bishop Martin’s at St. Francis High School, more than 30 years ago.
Other important symbols of Bishop Martin’s new office – his crosier and ring – are also being crafted by individuals close to him. Two of Bishop Martin’s Franciscan brothers are combining their talents on the crosier. Father Joseph Dorniak, OFM Conv. developed the design while Father Peter Tremblay is crafting it. The crosier will be a wooden staff with a circle of woven cord with three tied knots placed in an open space in its crook. The knots symbolize the Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The ring is being designed by longtime friend Paul Winicki, also an Archbishop Curley graduate, and his team at Radcliffe Jewelers in Baltimore. The gold ring will feature the bow of a fishing boat similar to one used by the apostles with the Franciscan Tau Crossed formed as the boat’s keel. It also includes his motto “Duc In Altum.” The gold in the ring comes from a gold high school ring worn by Bishop Martin’s late father. Bishops wear rings as a symbol of his fidelity to and spiritual bond with the Church.