John Joseph Fitzpatrick

He went to Rome to study for the priesthood, but was forced to return to the United States due to its entry into World War II.

[3] Fitzpatrick was ordained a priest by Bishop John Aloysius Duffy for the Diocese of Buffalo on December 13, 1942, when he was 24 years old.

[4] On November 30, 1991, Pope John Paul II accepted Fitzpatrick's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville.

In May 1994, Fitzpatrick testified in court on behalf of Stacey Lynn Merkt, a Catholic lay worker accused of illegally bringing two Salvadoran refugees into the United States.

He said that aiding refugees was in accordance with the laws of man and of God[5] John Fitzpatrick died in Brownsville on July 15, 2006, at age 87.