Catholic Center staff surprised Bishop Frank J. Caggiano on his 10th anniversary as a Bishop today when they presented him with signed photos of the World Series Championship N.Y. Mets from the 1969 and 1986 seasons.
The Bishop, who grew up in Brooklyn and is a lifelong Mets fan, was genuinely surprised and delighted by the framed photos and autographs of Met legends. He thanked all diocesan employees for their dedication and teamwork in making the diocese successful.
“My ten years as a bishop have been the most marvelous and challenging in my life,” the Bishop told the gathering of about 70 employees and the seminarians who came up from the St. John Fisher Seminary in Stamford to participate in the Mass and brunch that followed.
Employees stood and applauded the Bishop, who quickly studied the photographs and looked for the faces of his favorite players. (The Bishop will be leading a trip of young adults to a Mets game on September 3).
After the presentation, the Bishop said he remembered 1969 well because it was the year that the Mets won, men walked on the moon, and he broke his arm as a young boy in Brooklyn.
In his brief remarks celebrating the Bishop’s 10th anniversary, Msgr. Thomas Powers, Vicar General of the Diocese, said that the Cross is a vertical “I” that quick gets crossed out. He said that the Bishop has inspired his co-workers and the entire diocese by working tirelessly and selflessly to put Jesus at the center of his own life and the life of the local Church.
Priests throughout the diocese joined Bishop Caggiano in celebrating the annual Employee Mass to mark the end of Summer and the beginning of the new work year. In his homily reflection on the Gospel of St. Matthew (25:1-13), the Bishop said that all Christian must live the message of the Cross, which gives meaning and healing to all people when other dreams and plans fade.
He said that the problem of the young women who failed to put oil in their lamps to celebrate a bridal feast “is not that they did something wrong,” but that they were unprepared to celebrate a greater gift because they were too caught up in day-to-day life.
The Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano was installed as Fifth Bishop of Bridgeport on Thursday, September 19, 2013 at St. Theresa Church in Trumbull.
He was ordained to the priesthood on May 16, 1987 in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, Queens. In June 2006, he was named Bishop of Brooklyn and Titular Bishop of Inis Cathaig by Pope Benedict XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 22, from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, with Bishops Thomas Daily and Ignatius Catanello serving as co-consecrators.
