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Father Joseph Fitzgerald was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and graduated from North Babylon High School, North Babylon, N.Y. He earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y., where he played football and baseball. In 1996, he helped the USA Team Handball Men’s National Team win their championship game at the Olympics in Atlanta. Before entering the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in 2002, he served as a youth minister at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Lindenhurst, N.Y.

On a vocations retreat, he brought his youth group to the Immaculate Conception Seminary, where he was asked by a priest, “Joe, you’ve dated half the girls on Long Island, and in Atlanta, have you ever considered dating the Catholic priesthood?” “What a strange question”, Joe thought, but soon the grace of God was at work, and now Father Joe says he’s never been happier! Fr. Joseph is now the Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Rockville Center.