Bishop John E. Fitzmaurice

Virtue not Words

Bishop John Fitzmaurice, an Irish immigrant, accepted the appointment as bishop of Erie in 1899. If Bishop Mullen laid the foundation for the diocese to grow, Bishop Fitzmaurice built it up.

The diocese saw great expansion under his leadership—many parishes were established at the turn of the 20th century, and institutions like Saint Vincent Hospital and St. Joseph’s Orphanage were founded, as well.

While the red sandstone exterior of St. Peter Cathedral was extraordinary, with its 265-foot-tall central tower and 150-foot-tall twin Norman style towers, the interior was still very simple at the time.

Bishop Fitzmaurice lavished it with a marble altar and a pipe organ, to make the inside as beautiful as the outside. He gilded the space with his spiritual gifts, too: Bishop Fitzmaurice was known for his skills as an orator and homilist.

Bishop Fitzmaurice had bad eyesight all his life, and eventually went blind. Toward the end of his life, when his eyesight was failing, a little boy who was a member of the cathedral parish would lead Bishop Fitzmaurice through the cathedral for processions. Bishop Fitzmaurice died on June 18, 1920.