Br. Wayne Fizpatrick in Maryknoll, N.Y.: “We cross cultures and boundaries. And then we come back here.” (Peter Feuerherd)
by Peter Feuerherd
Join the Conversation
Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more
On the wall of Br. Wayne Fitzpatrick's office here hangs a plaque titled "The Definition of an Elder." The words describe a person "who is still growing," who continues to look to the future while reflecting on the significance of the past.
Fitzpatrick, 65, heeds the message in his own life and as managing director of senior care and transition services for the Maryknoll community.
In a religious community known for its missionary priests, sent out over the world to share the Gospel, Fitzpatrick carries the simple title of "Brother." Entering the community in 1972, he worked on a mission in Guatemala, and served in administrative leadership for Maryknoll's General Council, visiting missioners on assignments throughout the world in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
On the majestic Maryknoll campus, which features a startling combination of a Chinese pagoda with Western-style monastic-type buildings, Fitzpatrick works with the Maryknoll elders as they cycle back here near the Westchester County river town of Ossining, some 30 miles north of New York City.
