"Our times call for action. The world has become materialistic, and so we have to go out of our way to make known the good we are doing. Even if we were to work miracles by praying day and night in solitude, the world would neither notice it nor believe it. The world has to see for itself". (Biographical Memoirs 13, 126)

This statement is self-evident when you think about it, but for me it sums up the life of an outstanding Salesian priest, Fr Eddie Fitzgerald. His whole life was an attempt to let people see for themselves the good that was being done by others. As he was so often wont to say,

“Bad news goes about in clogs.

Good news in stockinged feet.” (Welsh Proverb)

Eddie was Editor of the Salesian Bulletin for 23 years. The quality of his layout and design earned him the Irish Printer Award in 1988. He was very proud of that, and kept the framed certificate on his office wall. He showed signs of even deeper thinking by the time he accepted the Religious Press Association's lifetime award last September, recognising his contribution to religious publication over the past 23 years. He looked after the press releases for that himself and was keen to have a photo-record of the occasion.

When it came to dying, he felt obliged to share that experience with the world. In February 1999 he was told he had cancer. He could have suffered in solitude, and made the fact known only to a few close friends. Instead he wrote a book ‘Cancer Busters’, an account of how he came to terms with the last stage of his life, his suffering. Cancer Busters, released 24 November 1999, a month before he died in Salesian House, Crumlin, Dublin at the early age of 60. Cancer Busters, was typical of the man and the priest. Readable and profound, the work seems to have flown from his pen, as though he had ink, not blood, in his veins. His simple language hides the amount of pain, effort and honing Eddie put into the script. Over the years, he developed an awesome ability with words. His style was inspiring, reassuring and practical. He put his very best into preparing for his appearance on the Late Late Show with Pat Kenny on 25 November.

Communication is a form of love, for Fr Eddie Fitzgerald communication was the handing on of what was significant in his life, but in a way that made people think for themselves,

“I love stories and haven’t hesitated to tell my favourites. When I worked for RTE Television, I loved being able to share stories with people and left it up to them to discover their own meaning. I firmly believe that only when you discover something for yourself does it become significant in your own life, remote-control living and hand-me-down platitudes are no substitute for personal enlightenment.” (Cancer Busters)

In early December, Eddie told his oncologist: 'When I get to the stage where treatment is no longer effective, I want to be given ordinary palliative care, but I don't want any of this high-tech treatment. I don't want to be kept alive on a machine when I'm no longer conscious. Just let me go home.'