Fitzgerald presided over a period of great growth in the Little Rock Diocese. Arriving in Arkansas by steamboat in March 1867, he found four parishes, five priests, and 1,600 Catholics; by the time of his death in 1907, there were 41 churches with resident priests, 32 missions, 60 priests, and 20,000 Catholics. He first rebuilt the churches and missions ravaged by the Civil War. From 1869 to 1870, he attended the First Vatican Council in Rome. At the Council, Fitzgerald was one of the only two bishops (the other being Aloisio Riccio) to vote against papal infallibility.Petersen, Svend. "The Little Rock against the Bog Rock", Arkansas Historical Quarterly 2 (June 1943} p. 164 While he believed in the theological grounds for infallibility, he feared that its dogmatic definition would hamper the conversion of non-Catholics in Arkansas. However, he fully submitted to the Council's decision when the tally ended.
