by Michael Rizzo’

An annual tradition at St. Josaphat Church in Bayside is the Mass and neighborhood procession of the Padre Pio Prayer Group. Another tradition is that Bishop Frank Caggiano usually is the main celebrant.

Even though Bishop Caggiano is now leading the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., he made the trip back to the Diocese of Brooklyn for the event at St. Josaphat on June 16.

“I love these people and their devotion and enthusiasm to Padre Pio,” Bishop Caggiano said as he prepared for Mass. “Padre Pio was a straight talker who didn’t mince words about the sacrifice and commitment needed in the modern Church. He inspires me.”

The Padre Pio Mass and procession have been held at St. Josaphat since 2008 and are usually conducted around the June 16 date when Padre Pio was canonized as a saint in 2002. Bishop Caggiano was the main celebrant for several years when he was an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

“The bishop always brings joy to this gathering,” said Achille DiLibero, who organizes the event. “People come from all over to be here.”

Stephanie and Domenick Puleo, who are friends of Bishop Caggiano, came from St. Bernard of Clairvaux parish in Mill Basin to be at the Mass and see him for the first time since he was installed in Bridgeport.

“We have a great devotion to Padre Pio,” Stephanie Puleo said, “and so does Bishop Caggiano. That’s what makes this Mass special for us.”

About 300 people were at the service, which honored not only St. Padre Pio but also the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a statue of each was placed by the altar rail and elevated for the entire congregation to see.

“It feels very good to be here,” Carmella Augello of the neighboring Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament parish said. “I didn’t want to leave my house at first, but then I said I had to come for Padre Pio.”

In his homily, Bishop Caggiano described St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary as two great examples of persons who despite their sufferings never lost their trust in God.

At the conclusion of the liturgy, the churchgoers took their faith and devotion to the streets of Bayside. With the statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary carried on the shoulders of volunteers, Bishop Caggiano and St. Josaphat pastor Father Andrzej Klocek led the procession, which began under a blue sky. The growing darkness simply accentuated the lit candles carried by the worshippers.

Joe Ruggiero, a leader of the Padre Pio Prayer Group, used a loudspeaker to lead the marchers in reciting the Rosary. The group’s voices echoed through the leafy trees and across the manicured lawns of this northern Queens community.

Throughout the procession, Bishop Caggiano saw old friends and acquaintances and didn’t hesitate to walk over and say hello.

“It’s beautiful to see everyone come out for this and see the bishop again,” Douglas Farrell of Bayside’s Pope Pius XII Knights of Columbus Council said after Bishop Caggiano came off the procession to give his blessing to the Council, as well as a council member’s dog named Lucy.

About 35 minutes after the procession began, it ended back at St. Josaphat.

With a small band in the church playing a rousing version of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” the statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary were returned to their spots at the altar rail.

“We love you dearly,” Ruggiero said to Bishop Caggiano during some final words to the congregation. “I knew you wouldn’t fail us when we asked you to come. Thank you.”

Just before the faithful venerated a relic of St. Padre Pio, Bishop Caggiano gave his final blessing along with an enthusiastic farewell: “Viva”