Bridgeport Diocese Has New Bishop: Frank J. Caggiano of Brooklyn

By Bernard T. Davidow
The Hartford Courant
July 31, 2013

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-bridgeport-bishop-announced-20130731,0,7156148.story

alt="Newly appointed Bishop of Bridgeport Frank Caggiano speaks with the press Wednesday."

Nine-year-old Emily Nguyen and her sister Haley, 5, are blessed by Bishop Frank J. Caggiano as he walks away from a press conference announcing his appointment as bishop of Bridgeport.

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano at his introductory press conference in Bridgeport Wednesday morning.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport finally has a new bishop: the Most Rev. Frank J. Caggiano, 54, of Brooklyn.

He replaces William E. Lori, who left to become archbishop in Baltimore in May 2012.

The pope announced Caggiano's appointment at 6 a.m.

"I come to you as a fellow pilgrim on the journey of faith," he said at a 10:30 a.m. press conference at the Catholic Center in Bridgeport.

Caggiano, who just returned from the church's World Youth Day celebrations in Brazil, which was also Pope Francis' first overseas trip, issued a special invitation to the young people of the diocese to join him on that journey.

In his 30-minute press conference, he stressed the church's need to evangelize and to reach out to young Catholics, who he said face special challenges.

He said he hopes to bring to the diocese "a gentle and compassionate heart" and cited Pope Francis as an example to emulate. He also echoed the pope's recent comments about gays and the church.

"First and foremost, we have to be very clear as Catholic Christians that the love of God is universal. Gay and lesbian Catholics are loved by the lord ... everyone is welcome into the Catholic Church." He said chastity was an important issue, however, and that gay marriage was unacceptable.

Asked about the priest sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the diocese in years past, he said, "It's a question of trust. When trust is broken, it takes a while to build that trust. We are still working to rebuild trust."

Caggiano's Installation Mass is scheduled for Sept. 19.

Caggiano, who is now auxiliary bishop in Brookley, was born in the borough in 1959 and has spent most of his life there. His parents were from Italy, and he was the only American-born member of his immediate family. As a priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn, he served at a number of parishes and has most recently been responsible for evangelization and pastoral life in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

He displayed a quick sense of humor when answering reporters' questions about his interests and background:

On being born Easter Sunday: "The doctor never let me forget that I ruined his Easter dinner. ... right about the time pasta was going to be served."

On his sports team: "I am an avid Met fan; I am a man of hope."

On finding out he would be bishop: "I received a call at a quarter to 5 three weeks ago. I first, honestly, thought it was a joke. I thought it was one of my classmates. ... It came out of the blue."

On the book that most changed him growing up: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which he said he read multiple times. "I think it's a brilliant parable of the basic themes of the Christian life. It also opened up my imagination. Imagination is an underutilized road to faith."

The Bridgeport Diocese said Monsignor Jerald A. Doyle will act as administrator of the diocese until the new bishop's Installation Mass.

Bishop's Background

A biography on the Bridgeport diocesan website says Caggiano was born in Brooklyn on March 29, 1959, to parents who came to the United States the year before from Italy — the town of Caggiano in the province of Salerno.

He briefly attended Yale University, arriving in 1978 as a political science major, before transferring to Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception the following year. After graduating, he worked for 18 months for the Gregg Division of McGraw Hill Publishing Co. as a sales representative.

He entered Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, N.Y., and was ordained a priest in 1987.

He was a parochial vicar at Saint Agatha, in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn, and Saint Athanasius in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, before pursuing advanced studies at the Gregorian University in Rome. He received a doctorate in Sacred Dogma in 1996.

That same year he was assigned as parochial vicar in the Shrine Church of Saint Jude in Canarsie. In 1998, he became pastor of Saint Dominic's Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and taught theology courses at Catholic universities.

In 2002, became director of the Permanent Diaconate Office. In 2003, he was named a papal chaplain by Pope John Paul II. In 2004, he became vicar for evangelization and pastoral life.

He has written for the Catholic Transcript newspaper in the Hartford Archdiocese, and Gregorian University has published his doctoral dissertation.

Reaction, Pro And Con

David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused By Priests, was wary of the new appointment.

He said the scandal has hit the Brooklyn Diocese hard. "We see no indication that during his 25 years in Brooklyn [Caggiano] took any steps that were any different from any Catholic priest anywhere. So we are not encouraged by his promotion," Clohessy said in a written statement.

"Bridgeport parishioners have endured years of poor leadership. Complacency won't reverse this. Connecticut Catholics must be vigilant and skeptical. Complacency protects no one. Vigilance is crucial.

"Many will be inclined to give Bishop Caggiano the benefit of the doubt. That's reckless. He's been a priest for decades, during a crucial time in the church. But he seems to have done little or nothing to distinguish himself from a largely callous, timid and deceptive church hierarchy. We hope our misgivings about him will be proven wrong."

Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell issued a written statement welcoming Caggiano's appointment.

"Bishop Caggiano has established a distinguished record of achievement over the years since his ordination as a priest in 1987 in Brooklyn, New York, and his ordination as an Auxiliary Bishop in Brooklyn in 2006," Mansell said. "Bishop Caggiano is highly admired by the clergy, religious, and laypeople who know him for all of his dedicated leadership in parishes as parochial vicar and pastor, for his teaching responsibilities at various Catholic universities, and for a wide variety of administrative services that he has managed, including that of Vicar General in the Diocese of Brooklyn."

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said in a statement: "I welcome Bishop Caggiano to Connecticut. He has big shoes to fill, but I have every confidence that his impressive background and commitment to faith and service will serve him and Bridgeport area residents well. I look forward to working closely with him in the future."

Contact: bdavidow@courant.com