![\"\"](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_vjlTTnUPlbc\/TL1nsYb7oJI\/AAAAAAAAEQA\/4SZ1EvlvDd4\/s1600\/Bp+Fitzgerald.jpg\")
<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1857. For the next nine years, he served as a pastor in Columbus. In 1866, he was named Bishop of Little Rock, a diocese encompassing the entire state of Arkansas. He initially refused, but reconsidered and accepted the appointment. At thirty-three, he was the world\u2019s youngest bishop. <\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
When Bishop Fitzgerald came to Arkansas, Catholics composed less than one percent of the state\u2019s white population. The next five decades saw significant Catholic growth, as a sizeable network of parishes, schools and hospitals was developed. The number of priests doubled, and by the turn of the century 150 sisters were working in the diocese, while twenty-five men were studying for the priesthood. At the time of Fitzgerald\u2019s death, one observer commented: <\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
The times have grown propitious and the new era of Catholic work which has dawned upon Arkansas is pregnant with great events. The prosperous times\u2019 increasing Catholic population, solid foundations of churches, schools and universal freedom from debt, must be a gratifying prospect to the new prelate.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
In July 1870, at the First Vatican Council in Rome, the bishop \u201cbecame a footnote in the history of Catholicism<\/em>\u201d when he voted against the declaration of papal infallibility. He was one of two prelates to do so (the other was a Sicilian bishop). No bishop denied the pope\u2019s infallibility in matters of faith and morals, but several felt that the time wasn\u2019t right for a formal declaration. (Hence they were known as the \u201cinopportunes<\/em>.\u201d) They believed that it would present the Church too negatively to the modern world.<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Fitzgerald was one of nineteen prelates who expressed their doubts collectively in writing, but he was the only one to actually vote against the declaration. He had two main concerns: that it would hinder evangelization efforts, and that it would lead to an anti-Catholic backlash. As one historian notes, the bishop lived \u201cin a part of the world very different than Catholic Rome<\/em>.\u201d (Historians have termed this episode \u201cthe Big Rock versus the Little Rock<\/em>.\u201d) When the final vote was over, however, he immediately submitted to the council\u2019s decision, and he presented himself to the pope with the words, \u201cHoly Father, now I believe<\/em>.\u201d <\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/\u201cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock\u201d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"McNamara's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-19T05:34:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_vjlTTnUPlbc\/TL1nsYb7oJI\/AAAAAAAAEQA\/4SZ1EvlvDd4\/s320\/Bp+Fitzgerald.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pat McNamara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pat McNamara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html\",\"name\":\"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-19T05:34:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-10-19T05:34:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#\/schema\/person\/67acddc1dbddb4c13c7e1b7df07f35e7\"},\"description\":\"Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/\",\"name\":\"McNamara's Blog\",\"description\":\"Insightful, thought-provoking, and stimulating discussion \u2013 Patheos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#\/schema\/person\/67acddc1dbddb4c13c7e1b7df07f35e7\",\"name\":\"Pat McNamara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c3e666dc69dc2dd6d797c06218142620?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c3e666dc69dc2dd6d797c06218142620?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Pat McNamara\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/author\/patmcnamara\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)","description":"Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)","og_description":"Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/\u201cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock\u201d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html","og_site_name":"McNamara's Blog","article_published_time":"2010-10-19T05:34:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_vjlTTnUPlbc\/TL1nsYb7oJI\/AAAAAAAAEQA\/4SZ1EvlvDd4\/s320\/Bp+Fitzgerald.jpg"}],"author":"Pat McNamara","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Pat McNamara","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html","name":"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-10-19T05:34:00+00:00","dateModified":"2010-10-19T05:34:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#\/schema\/person\/67acddc1dbddb4c13c7e1b7df07f35e7"},"description":"Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/10\/%e2%80%9cthe-big-rock-versus-the-little-rock%e2%80%9d-bishop-edward-m-fitzgerald-1833-1907.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cThe Big Rock Versus the Little Rock\u201d: Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald (1833-1907)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/","name":"McNamara's Blog","description":"Insightful, thought-provoking, and stimulating discussion \u2013 Patheos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#\/schema\/person\/67acddc1dbddb4c13c7e1b7df07f35e7","name":"Pat McNamara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c3e666dc69dc2dd6d797c06218142620?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c3e666dc69dc2dd6d797c06218142620?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Pat McNamara"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/author\/patmcnamara"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Born in Ireland, Edward Mary Fitzgerald came to America as a teenager. At seventeen he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1857. For the next nine years, he served as a pastor in Columbus. In 1866, he was named Bishop of Little Rock, a diocese encompassing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1042,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n