From being a founding class member of a new seminary program in the late 1960s to pausing his retirement this year to help a parish transition between pastors, Father Robert Fitzpatrick has seen himself as a bridge during his 50 years as an archdiocesan priest.
Throughout his priesthood, Father Fitzpatrick, 75, said he’s also seen himself bridging the tumultuous period of post-Vatican II.
“I grew up in the ’50s, and like everybody else I had to memorize the Latin (words), to be a server for Mass,” Father Fitzpatrick said. With Vatican II changes to the liturgy and other aspects of Church life, the work has continued as a pastor, Father Fitzpatrick said, helping people make the transition to present day and what Vatican II “really calls us to.”
Father Fitzpatrick grew up in New Jersey but lived with his family in Minnesota during high school. He first shared his interest in the priesthood with his second-grade teacher.
After high school, he enrolled at Nazareth Hall preparatory seminary in Roseville. Nazareth Hall closed after Father Fitzpatrick completed his first two years of college, so he became part of the four-member founding class of St. John Vianney Seminary at then-College of St. Thomas in St. Paul. He and his classmates finished their priestly formation at The St. Paul Seminary, also in St. Paul.
During his first assignment, as an associate pastor of St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis, Father Fitzpatrick welcomed many Twin Cities visitors to the parish and learned about preparing homilies from the pastor, the late Msgr. Francis Fleming, while helping St. Olaf navigate the many post-Vatican II liturgy changes.
In 1977, Father Fitzpatrick was appointed associate pastor of Holy Spirit in St. Paul, where he established a youth ministry that worked on service projects. In his first assignment as a pastor, at St. John the Evangelist in Little Canada in 1984, Father Fitzpatrick said he sought to heal the relationship between clergy and parishioners who were confused because they’d seen six priests come and go for different reasons in the previous seven years. He also oversaw building projects at St. John, but realized his calling went beyond facilities to rebuilding the parish’s spirit.
Father Fitzpatrick said he continued rebuilding and bridging as a pastor when he was appointed to St. Rose of Lima in Roseville in 2005, and seven years later when St. Rose was clustered with another Roseville parish, Corpus Christi.
“My job was to acknowledge the unique gifts of each community and how they could work together on some things, but they had to be their own community,” Father Fitzpatrick said.
Father Fitzpatrick retired in 2018, but when the pastor of a parish where he sometimes celebrated Mass — St. Francis of St. Croix Beach — stepped down because of disability last January, Father Fitzpatrick was asked to lead and facilitate the transition for the next pastor, Bishop Michael Izen, who will begin as pastor in July.
Taking another shot at retirement, Father Fitzpatrick said he plans to continue helping at parishes but also take a pilgrimage, a cruise or a road trip.
Lessons from his half-century of priesthood include understanding that “It’s not about me, it’s about the glory of God,” he said. “It’s not about being in charge, it’s about getting things done and letting others do the same thing, knowing that the Lord has this wrapped in the hem of his garment.” And, lastly, “It’s also the wisdom of the Holy Spirit leading from start to finish.”
