Pope Francis Hand Picks New Diocese of Bridgeport Bishop

CBS New York
July 31, 2013

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/07/31/pope-francis-hand-picks-new-diocese-of-bridgeport-bishop/

Rev. Frank Caggiano

[with audio]

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) – The new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport calls his new job “an awesome and exciting ministry” and is pledging to listen and learn about the needs of the diocese and collaborate with others.

Rev. Frank Caggiano, an auxiliary bishop in Brooklyn, will take over a post left vacant since the departure of Bishop William Lori, who was named Archbishop of Baltimore in March 2012.

Bishop Caggiano made a point of saying he’s eager to learn of all the good work done by the diocese since the taint of child sex abuse committed by priests decades ago still lingers.

The 54-year-old Caggiano praised Lori’s handling of the sex abuse crisis and says all bishops have the same commitment to protect children but it takes time to rebuild trust.

“It’s a question of trust. In fact, when trust is broken it takes a while to rebuild that trust. And perhaps now, 11 years after, we are still working to rebuild trust among some individuals,” Caggiano told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau.

Caggiano said gays are loved by God and welcomed in the church, but he reiterated the church’s opposition to gay marriage.

He called himself an avid New York Mets fan, joking he is a man of hope.

Caggiano was hand-picked by Pope Francis after the two visited during the pontiff’s recent tour of Brazil.