By Lisa Dahm
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Marianist Father Paul Fitzpatrick, a much-loved educator who developed the rigorous permanent diaconate formation program for the Diocese of Honolulu through Chaminade University of Honolulu, died in Dayton, Ohio, on Sept. 23. He was 80 years old and had 61 years of religious profession.
“I was always impressed with Father Paul Fitzpatrick’s great commitment to the deacon candidates and their wives,” said Bishop Emeritus Larry Silva. “He was not only their revered professor, but their spiritual guide and friend. We are grateful for all he did for our diocese.”
According to Deacon John Coughlin, who was the director of deacon formation with his wife, Kathy, in 2008, there was no formal, standardized program in the diocese with specific comprehension testing for deacons before the diocese developed the five-year program in partnership with Chaminade University in 2010.
With his extensive scholarship in sacred Scripture, Father Fitzpatrick became the primary instructor for scriptural studies during the five-year formation program.
“Father Paul was instrumental in developing our first hybrid curriculum for scriptural studies,” Deacon Coughlin said.
The hybrid learning comprises in-person lectures during the term followed by further education online via distance-learning software to continue the candidates’ academic engagement between their monthly formation sessions.
Before creating the diaconate program curriculum, Father Fitzpatrick attended a course at the University of Dayton to familiarize himself with the unique requirements of online learning.
“It became the model for academic formation that continues today,” Deacon Coughlin said.
Deacon Coughlin said that Father Fitzpatrick brought his “passion for Scripture study to the classroom,” and he even organized several pilgrimages to the Holy Land for many of the deacon candidates and wives.
“Nearly half of our deacons serving today studied under Father Paul’s tutelage,” Deacon Coughlin said. “Besides our personal friendship, his concern over the quality of preparation for our deacon candidates was evident in his meticulous preparation of his classes and the individual attention that he provided the candidates and wives enrolled in his classes.”
New York native
Paul E. Fitzpatrick was born Aug. 17, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the youngest of three sons in the family of Walter E. and Mildred (Donahue) Fitzpatrick.
According to the Marianists, he first encountered their order at Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York, before finishing high school at Marianist Preparatory in Beacon, graduating from that school in 1964.
He then entered the novitiate at Marcy, New York, and professed first vows in 1965.
Father Fitzpatrick professed perpetual vows in 1972, in Chester, Pennsylvania, and began seminary studies in 1974 at St. Basil’s College in Toronto, Canada.
He was ordained to the priesthood in Marriottsville, Maryland, in 1977, the same year he earned a master of divinity at St. Basil’s.
Along the way he completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees at universities in Ohio, Washington state and Maryland. Decades later, in 1998, he earned a license of sacred theology from Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Brighton, Massachusetts, and completed his doctor of sacred theology in 2001 at Gregorian University in Rome.
Scholar, professor, mentor
Deacon David Kane of Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue, Kauai, fondly recalled Father Fitzpatrick’s love of working with Hawaii deacons and deacon candidates.
“He told me that of all the things he had done — he had been a high school teacher, a parish pastor, a college professor — the highlight of his ministerial life was the years he spent working with the deacons in the Diocese of Honolulu. I mean, he just loved it,” Deacon Kane said of Father Fitzpatrick, who was Deacon Kane’s spiritual director for 16 years.
Deacon Kane traveled to Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month to serve at the altar during Father Fitzpatrick’s funeral. He also represented the Diocese of Honolulu’s deacons during a luncheon following the service.
Deacon Kane was a member of Cohort 7, the first to be ordained with the new formation program in 2015. He said Father Fitzpatrick was one of two people who were responsible for him becoming an effective homilist.
“He got to know all of the new deacons in the diocese very well,” Deacon Kane said. “He was with us one weekend a month for five years, and we submitted our homework to him. He became a beloved figure.
“He taught the Scripture classes with a focus on how best to approach Scripture when you’re writing a homily.”
Before he died, Father Fitzpatrick called Deacon Kane and let him know he loved him and that he was praying for his friend and spiritual student. Shortly after, when Father Fitzpatrick could no longer communicate by phone, Deacon Kane sent him an email message expressing his love and gratitude for the priest that his caregivers read to him.
“He was always available,” Deacon Kane said of Father Fitzpatrick. “As a faculty member at a university, you can be pretty busy guy, but at least for the deacons and the deacon candidate in formation, he was never not available.”
Deacon Coughlin also cited the magnitude of the contribution Father Fitpatrick made to the Diocese of Honolulu.
“His legacy lives on in the formation program and in the hearts and minds of the men and women who had the pleasure of experiencing his love of the holy Scripture,” Deacon Coughlin said.
Father Fitzpatrick stepped back from full-time ministry in 2014 and retired from all ministerial roles in 2025, joining the Sawmill Marianist Community in Dayton, according to the Marianists.