Community Corner
Darien Pastor: Diocese's New Bishop Seems Youth-Oriented
Meet Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Brooklyn, NY, named Wednesday as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, which covers Fairfield County.
Update 2:45 p.m., Friday:
Bishop Frank Caggiano, recently named as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, seems interested in the spiritual development of youths and collaborative in his approach to administering the diocese, said a Darien pastor.
"I was taken by the fact that he's committed and experienced in trying to enkindle the florishing of faith in the hearts of our youth," said the Rev. Paul Murphy, pastor of Darien's St. Thomas More Church.
Murphy, who said he's relying on what he saw in Caggiano's news conference earlier this week, said the incoming bishop "seems very pastoral and prayerful, a collaborative listener [...] and in a very joyful way, willing to share the Gospel with whoever is willing to listen."
Original article, Thursday:
Frank J. Caggiano, 54, a native of Brooklyn, where he's an auxiliary bishop, was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, the Vatican announced Wednesday morning.
"My friends," Caggiano said at a news conference Wednesday morning, according to The Hartford Courant, "I come to you today as a fellow pilgrim in the journey of faith ... and I stand here committed to collaborate with all who are in leadership in our parishes, in our schools, in our colleges, in our institutions that serve the poor, and in a very special way, to collaborate with my brother priests, deacons, women and men in consecrated life, and lay leaders throughout this great diocese."
“The Diocese of Bridgeport welcomes the news of Bishop Caggiano’s appointment,” said Monsignor Jerald A. Doyle, who will continue to serve as administrator of the diocese, as he has since since May 2012. Doyle was quoted on the Diocese website.
Caggiano succeeds Bishop William E. Lori, who became Archbishop of Baltimore in March 2012. The new bishop's installation is scheduled for Sept. 19, according to the Connecticut Post.
"The Holy Father has blessed us with a priest, pastor and teacher with extensive experience at every level of diocesan ministries," Doyle said. " Most importantly, he is a man of deep faith, love for the Church and commitment to the Gospel. On behalf of the Clergy, Religious and Laity, we welcome him with open arms and with our prayers that God will bless him as the Shepherd of our diocese."
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Caggiano auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn and titular bishop of Inis Cathaig in 2006.
Brooklyn-born
The man who will become the fifth bishop of the Bridgeport Diocese was born in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn on Easter Sunday March 29, 1959. He is the second of two children of Arnaldo and Gennarina Caggiano, 1958 immigrants from the town of Caggiano in the province of Salerno, Italy.
He attended a parochial grammar school, then the Jesuit-run Regis High School in Manhattan, from which he graduated in 1977.
Caggiano entered Yale University in 1977 as a political science major then transferred the following January to Brooklyn's Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception (now called Cathedral Preparatory Seminary). He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in June 1981.
From book sales to the Good Book
Caggiano then worked for 18 months as a sales representative for the Gregg Division of McGraw Hill Publishing Company, serving the entire New York metropolitan area.
Bishop Frank Caggiano, recently named as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, seems interested in the spiritual development of youths and collaborative in his approach to administering the diocese, said a Darien pastor.
"I was taken by the fact that he's committed and experienced in trying to enkindle the florishing of faith in the hearts of our youth," said the Rev. Paul Murphy, pastor of Darien's St. Thomas More Church.
Murphy, who said he's relying on what he saw in Caggiano's news conference earlier this week, said the incoming bishop "seems very pastoral and prayerful, a collaborative listener [...] and in a very joyful way, willing to share the Gospel with whoever is willing to listen."
Original article, Thursday:
Frank J. Caggiano, 54, a native of Brooklyn, where he's an auxiliary bishop, was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, the Vatican announced Wednesday morning.
"My friends," Caggiano said at a news conference Wednesday morning, according to The Hartford Courant, "I come to you today as a fellow pilgrim in the journey of faith ... and I stand here committed to collaborate with all who are in leadership in our parishes, in our schools, in our colleges, in our institutions that serve the poor, and in a very special way, to collaborate with my brother priests, deacons, women and men in consecrated life, and lay leaders throughout this great diocese."
“The Diocese of Bridgeport welcomes the news of Bishop Caggiano’s appointment,” said Monsignor Jerald A. Doyle, who will continue to serve as administrator of the diocese, as he has since since May 2012. Doyle was quoted on the Diocese website.
Caggiano succeeds Bishop William E. Lori, who became Archbishop of Baltimore in March 2012. The new bishop's installation is scheduled for Sept. 19, according to the Connecticut Post.
"The Holy Father has blessed us with a priest, pastor and teacher with extensive experience at every level of diocesan ministries," Doyle said. " Most importantly, he is a man of deep faith, love for the Church and commitment to the Gospel. On behalf of the Clergy, Religious and Laity, we welcome him with open arms and with our prayers that God will bless him as the Shepherd of our diocese."
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Caggiano auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn and titular bishop of Inis Cathaig in 2006.
Brooklyn-born
The man who will become the fifth bishop of the Bridgeport Diocese was born in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn on Easter Sunday March 29, 1959. He is the second of two children of Arnaldo and Gennarina Caggiano, 1958 immigrants from the town of Caggiano in the province of Salerno, Italy.
He attended a parochial grammar school, then the Jesuit-run Regis High School in Manhattan, from which he graduated in 1977.
Caggiano entered Yale University in 1977 as a political science major then transferred the following January to Brooklyn's Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception (now called Cathedral Preparatory Seminary). He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in June 1981.
From book sales to the Good Book
Caggiano then worked for 18 months as a sales representative for the Gregg Division of McGraw Hill Publishing Company, serving the entire New York metropolitan area.
According to the Advocate of Stamford, Caggiano said at his morning news conference that the McGraw-Hill job "helped me to discern my vocation as a priest. I thought I wanted a nice car and a good salary. God in his wisdom gave me everything I wanted and I discovered that I wasn't happy. It helped me to trust the will of God.''
He then began major seminary studies at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, NY, and on May 16, 1987 was ordained as a priest.
In Brooklyn and Rome
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For three years he served as a parochial vicar in the parish of Saint Agatha, then for Saint Athanasius Church, both in Brooklyn. In August 1991 Caggiano was assigned to the Pontifical North American College in Rome to pursue advanced studies in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University there. He received a doctorate in sacred dogma in May 1996.
Caggiano was appointed the pastor of Saint Dominic’s Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in December 1998. While he was a pastor, he also taught theology courses at various Catholic universities.He also was appointed to various posts in the Brooklyn Diocese and has written for two Catholic newspapers -- The Tablet of Brooklyn and the Catholic Transcript of Hartford both official newspapers of their dioceses.
"He is an outstanding priest. He has been one of my closest collaborators,” said Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, according to Catholic News Service.
Out of about 926,000 people in Fairfield County, nearly 411,000 (or 44 percent), are Catholic, according to Catholic News Service.
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