By Brian D. Wallace
NORWALK— “This is a man of great faith, of great prayer, a man who listens very deeply. But of all the qualities of Father Hoffman, the one that I find the most endearing and the one that he put to use most beautifully when he was Vicar of Clergy, was that he was a man of deep compassion,” said Bishop Frank J. Caggiano on September 23 at the Installation Mass for Father Frank Hoffmann as pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Norwalk.
The bishop told parishioners that Father Hoffmann, who most recently served as Vicar of Clergy for the diocese, is a man who is sensitive to others feeling and to the needs of those around him.
“Whether it’s times of joy, times of challenge, in times of sorrow, he listens with his ears, but he also listens with his heart. And in a family as big and diverse as you have here in this wonderful parish of St. Matthew’s, I could not imagine someone else doing that for you in the years ahead,” the bishop said.
At the end of the installation Mass, the Bishop also acknowledged Father Jeff Couture, former pastor, who was in attendance. Father Couture resigned as pastor in May 2023, as he continues to receive treatment for a chronic autoimmune condition, which originates in the spine. While his health has improved in recent months, Father Couture has much more treatment ahead of him in the recovery process.
“I’m grateful to Father Jeff for his leadership when he was here. And we’re praying for your good health that it continued to remain good.,” said Bishop Caggiano.
In his homily for the Mass of Installation, Father Hoffman reflected on the life and ministry of St. Matthew, and on his own vocation to the priesthood and the vocation of the laity.
“I believe that God’s call to the priesthood for me was his way of saving me, maybe the only way of saving me: that my salvation lay in becoming a priest of God,” he said. “I’ve thought a lot about that. And I think that God has chosen all of us too, out of his boundless love and mercy, that we too may be saved. And we know he suffered and died for us on the cross because of this great mercy. But the manner in which each of us has been called is different in many different ways.”
He said that God’s call most often comes “in ordinary ways and ordinary things but we do know that the answering of it in faith will have huge consequences for us in the future. It could be our call to married life, or single life or parenthood, religious life, clerical life. It can be a variety of careers that we have chosen if they are careers where we benefit others and make Christ more present in the world. And if they’re not, we may do that anyway. It can be in the ways we give of our time outside of work furthering Christ’s presence in the world today, we reminded that like St. Matthew, Christ has seen each and every one of us through the eyes of mercy and has chosen us and said, follow me. He continues to mercifully choose us, calling us to show follow him every single day. We each know in our own ways how we’ve responded to him in the past. How will we continue to respond to that call in the future?”
Following the Mass, Bishop Caggiano blessed the new Father McGivney playground located behind the church. Members of Knights of Columbus Council 14360 in Norwalk completed construction of the playground in September.
Plans for the playground were set in motion when Father Couture recognized that the demographics of the parish were changing and there were more and more young families joining St. Matthew’s. Labor for the project, which included clearing and preparing a suitable space, assembling the playground equipment, building a sur- rounding fence, and laying down mulch, was provided by many different members of Council 14360, along with their family members. The playground was self-funded by members of the council, generous donors, and parishioners of St. Matthew.
Father Frank Hoffmann was appointed by Bishop Caggiano to serve as pastor of St Matthew Parish effective July 1, 2023. Father Hoffmann had served as the parish’s parochial administrator since January 1, after Father Couture took medical leave. At the same time, Father Hoffmann continued serving in his full-time position as Vicar for Clergy and Religious in the Diocese of Bridgeport, a post he held since 2020.
Father Hoffmann earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Fairfield University in 1977, as well as a Master of Arts in religious studies from Sacred Heart University, a Master of Divinity in pastoral ministry from Seton Hall University in 1991, and a Master of Art’s in theological studies from Seton Hall in 1991. He served as pastor of St. John Parish in Darien from 2014 to 2020, and as parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Parish for nine years.
