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After a disagreement with the Pope, a bishop resigned his position and spent the next 34 years working in a petrol station and writing a weekly column for his local newspaper.
In 1903 Bonaventure Finbarr Francis Broderick, at the early age of 34, had been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana by Pope Pius X.
Two years later he resigned after a misunderstanding with the Pope and the Vatican over the collection of some funds.
The Holy See assigned him a pension of $100 per month but without any episcopal appointment.
To sustain himself, Broderick spent the next 34 years selling car parts and petrol in Millbrook, a town which is about 80 miles from New York.
Then, while doing some archdiocesan business in Millbrook the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, Francis Spellman, came across Broderick.
In November 1939, the Vatican asked Spellman to rehabilitate Broderick and Spellman complied.
Broderick resumed his life as a Bishop and was made a chaplain of a hospital in Riverdale, New York.
He passed away on Thursday, November 18, 1943, in the morning, aged 74.
In his will he left Archbishop Spellman his pectoral cross, its chains, his episcopal ring and crosier. Read more
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