When news came that Bishop Frank Caggiano had been named the fifth Bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., it was not really a shock. It was expected that Bishop Frank, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Brooklyn, would someday become the Ordinary Bishop of a diocese. A priest with the talent and abilities of Bishop Frank is a natural to lead a flock. As a matter of fact, many people wondered what took so long. Since his ordination as an auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn in 2006, it was really a question of how long he would remain here.
There was great joy in Bridgeport last week when it was announced that the New England See would again have a bishop after a year and a half had passed since Bishop William Lori was transferred to the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
In that time of vacancy, the diocese was the site of the Sandy Hook School shooting incident in which 20 elementary school children and six school personnel had been gunned by a local disgruntled 20-year-old. Bishop Caggiano announced that he has requested to celebrate Mass on the weekend following his installation in the town of Newtown where the incident occurred. He also was quick to praise the local pastor and priests who responded so pastorally to that tragedy.
That type of pastoral concern will endear Bishop Caggiano to the people of Bridgeport. Not only is he bright and a great organizer, but he also genuinely cares about people. As an example, he walked throughout the Catholic Center in Bridgeport last week after his initial press conference and greeted each employee individually. He just has to be himself, and he will be greatly loved by the people of his new diocese.
The loss of his presence will be felt immediately in Brooklyn and Queens. It will not be easy to replace him in everything he did. A tireless worker, he led the diocesan programs that restructured our schools and parishes. He faced problems head on. When those affected by his decisions had questions, he went directly to the scene and answered them. He never sugarcoated the situation. He always supplied the facts and information needed to understand the problem and solution and presented them in as gentle a way as possible. In an interview last week, he explained that ministry is the willingness to be present to people.
Between now and Sept. 19, the date of installation in Bridgeport, he will travel back and forth to his new home as he begins to get to know the lay of the land. His new assignment is not without its challenges. He faces the task of rallying a presbyterate that has been racked with some high-profile misbehavior. He needs to bring a message of hope to a diverse urban community that is experiencing its own renewal. And he will confront the same economic questions that every other diocese in the country is experiencing.
We know that Bishop Frank is up to the task.
As of now, the plans for his installation are still incomplete. First, a site must be found to accommodate the many people who will want to attend. When Bishop Lori was installed, the campus of Sacred Heart University was used. Bishop Frank has made it known that he would prefer a church setting, even though the largest church in the diocese only seats 1,200 people.
When the final details are worked out, many of his friends from Brooklyn and Queens will be on hand to wish him well, and there will be no shortage of folks who will be congratulating the people of Bridgeport on receiving such a wonderfully human pastor as their new chief shepherd.