Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

NORWALK—A priest in Norwalk says it’s a blessing the Notre Dame cathedral’s structure remains intact after a fire partially destroyed the building.

Father Peter Lenox, of St. Joseph Church in Norwalk, studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome and spent a summer studying French in Paris.

He says he had the honor of visiting Notre Dame several times.

“When I first saw the fire, I was heartbroken,”  Lenox says.

Father Lenox says he not only celebrated Mass at the cathedral, but also participated in priesthood ordinations of the Archdiocese of Paris and even played the organ.

He’s friends with the organists at the cathedral who say relics, including the Crown of Thorns, were saved.

Lenox says it’s a symbolic gesture because it’s Holy Week.

He says it’s a blessing the cathedral’s structure remains.

“It’s wonderful to see that God did not allow it to be completely destroyed. But he has allowed it to be placed in a need for this current culture and citizens and this current generation to take care of the treasure that they have,” Lenox says.

This article, along with a video, first appeared on News 12.

 

My Dear Friends in Christ,

“Sic transit Gloria mundi.” So passes the glory of the world. That simple Latin phrase was used for nearly 660 years, each time a bishop assumed the throne of Peter. And it was during that ceremony of coronation that as the bishop soon to be Pope was carried through St. Peter’s, three times one of his masters of ceremony would fall to his knees while holding in their grasp a golden rod, at the very end of which was a piece of wax that was burning slowly—becoming ashes.

He would proclaim those words sic transit Gloria mundi. For all the pomp, circumstance, glory and power that the new Peter would receive, he was reminded that much of what the world considers to be glory will end up in ashes.

We’ve come here in the beginning of this time of penance to be reminded of the same thing. We enter into the desert for forty days and forty nights so that we may come to the cross of Jesus Christ renewed with our minds and hearts clear that we do not place our trust in the glory of mundi but in the glory of Christi and that our dreams, our hopes, our desires and our longings will find their answer in Christ—the one who freely gave his life so that you and I might have eternal life.

And we will walk these forty days mindful of the fact that you and I have chosen the glory of mundi over and over and over again, each time you and I have sinned. And we see the forgiveness of those sins and repentance of life and new beginning in Jesus Christ. For each time you and I have chosen to follow the ways of the world, believe what the world teaches us, we have come to its glory and we have sinned. Each time you and I have believed and followed the ways of the world and not sought to live a life of patience and love forgiveness and mercy when our hearts have become hardened, we have sinned. And much of what we have done will wind up in ashes.

Each time you and I my friends have chosen to follow what the world wants us to believe—that the only person that ultimately matters is me and it is my will to prevail, my desires that should lead me, my thoughts and opinions should guide everything I do, regardless of what the Lord has taught us, shown us and given us, we have sinned, we have chosen the glory of the world and it will wind up in ashes.

The purpose of Lent, my friends, is to begin with ashes and leave them behind. And in the weeks ahead, to take on the mind of Christ. And we do that by following the words of the Master—by going into our inner room and praying with minds and hearts in devotion. To find the time in our busy lives to do less talking and more listening, to allow Jesus to speak to us, to caress us, to love us and to forgive us. It is to do fasting and abstinence, so that we may go hungry, not for the things of the world but the gifts only Christ can give, most especially His body and blood, soul and divinity that will fill our hearts, our stomachs, our minds and our lives with the only thing we need. And in almsgiving to do the works of charity so that we might become the ambassadors of Christ’s good news of salvation in a world that desperately needs and new way of living.

We begin Lent mindful that we have all at times chosen the glory of this world over the will of God. Let us be resolved to end Lent not being afraid of the words sic transit Gloria mundi, because we will have already left the glories of the world behind to embrace the one who is our glory, our hope and our salvation.

 

 

October 1, 2019

Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I write today to inform you that retired Connecticut Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg has released the Clerical Sexual Abuse Accountability Report for our Diocese, which I commissioned on October 3, 2018.

The report, nearly a year in the making, was compiled by the Judge and his investigative team who had unfettered access to diocesan files, reviewing over 250,000 records, hundreds of thousands of individual documents, inspection of parish offices, files, and computers and interviews with key participants. It provides an independent and comprehensive accounting of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy along with the response of diocesan leadership since the inception of the diocese in 1953. It is available in its entirety on the diocesan website, (www.bridgeportdiocese.org) and includes an executive summary for the reader.

While this is a difficult day in the life of our Church, I hope and pray that it is also an historic step toward closure and reconciliation for all those affected by the crisis, particularly the victims and their families who have suffered so much. The report explores a deep wound in the life of our Church, one that has profoundly changed and challenged all of us. Yet there is reason for hope because so much work has already been done to create awareness, to protect our children and prevent future abuse.

I believe the publication of the report is a crucial step forward, among many other pastoral and administrative measures that the Diocese has taken over the last eighteen years, to ensure complete accountability and transparency in the handling of abuse and also to maintain the strongest Safe Environment policies to protect our children and young people.

Together with the Financial Accountability Report which was originally published in October 2018, this report continues our commitment to full and ongoing transparency in these matters. Furthermore, the first annual update of the Financial Accountability Report, expected to be released before December 31, 2019, will include a full accounting of the costs associated with the Judge’s Report.

I wish again to offer my profound and heartfelt apology to all who have suffered abuse at the hands of any cleric in our Diocese. I also apologize to all those who have lost a sense of trust or feel betrayed by Church leadership. My personal commitment is to do whatever is humanly possible to eradicate this evil from our midst. I also pledge to swiftly implement the recommendations included in Judge Holzberg’s Report in the months ahead.

As we move forward, I wish to thank those survivors and family members who have joined our efforts to prevent this crime from ever happening again. Likewise, to our good and faithful priests, who represent the vast majority of those in ministry, I recognize the pain and challenges you face in this time of challenge and remain grateful for your support.

Finally, I wish to thank Judge Holzberg, who served as lead investigator and his team for their exhaustive work on this effort and their professionalism throughout the process.

It is my sincere hope and prayer that with the release of this historic report, we can come to terms with the sins of the past, move towards deeper reconciliation, continue to walk with our survivors on their journey of healing, and work together for the spiritual renewal of the diocese.

I ask for your prayers and support as we work together to renew our Diocesan Church.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano,
Bishop of Bridgeport

Retired Connecticut Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg, who has led an independent investigation into the handling of the abuse crisis by the Diocese of Bridgeport, released a report on his findings today (October 1, 2019) in a press conference.

The press conference can be viewed below, as well as on the Diocese of Bridgeport’s Facebook page. It begins approximately at 10:43 of the video.

The Diocese of Bridgeport was deeply disappointed to learn that Kevin Wallin failed another drug test during his house confinement and probation period.

The diocese realizes the challenges faced by those struggling with addiction and has worked to guide and support Kevin Wallin in the recovery process since his initial release from prison in July 2016.

As part of that support structure, he has attended support groups and 12-step meetings in the area and has been meeting regularly with a member of the Diocesan Addiction Support and Healing Team to develop a strong platform for sobriety. He has also taken part in the Support Court program offered by the US District Court. This program is a supervised, comprehensive treatment program for substance abusers under Federal pre-trial and post-conviction supervision.

The Court’s decision today based on the violation of his probation through repeated relapses reminds us all that addiction is a terrible disease that continues to haunt all those affected by it.

Bishop William E. Lori formally removed the priestly faculties of Kevin Wallin in October 2011, which prohibited him from active ministry or representation of himself as a priest. He has not ministered publicly since July 2011. His laicization process is underway.