STAMFORD—Msgr. Thomas Powers, vicar general of the Diocese of Bridgeport, will be honored at the St. John Fisher Seminary First Annual Rector’s Dinner on Saturday, April 28, at 6 pm at Trinity Catholic High School, 926 Newfield Ave., Stamford.
Tickets for the evening are sold out. A gathering of almost 300 people is expected to launch the first Rector’s Dinner sponsored by the seminary.
Bishop Frank J. Caggiano and Father Paul Check, rector of the seminary, are hosting the evening. “We’re looking forward to this very special evening that will benefit St. John Fisher Seminary and honor Msgr. Powers,” said Bishop Caggiano. “I am deeply grateful for his leadership and his priestly example. Msgr. Powers has influenced many seminarians and we are blessed to honor him in this inaugural event.”
Bishop Caggiano said that Msgr. Powers discerned his vocation at St. John Fisher in 1992, and later served as Spiritual Director at the diocesan seminary, which was established by Bishop Edward M. Egan in 1989 to encourage and nurture local vocations.
“Priestly formation requires the support and encouragement of many. St. John Fisher Seminary has been a strong presence in the Stamford community and I am grateful for the support of so many people,” the bishop said.
“Forming Fishers of Men” is the theme of the evening to benefit the seminary. To date, 92 men who resided at St. John Fisher have been ordained to the priesthood. The seminary is undergoing a 30-month renovation project to improve and expand facilities for future use.
St. John Fisher Seminary is an initiative of the Diocese of Bridgeport to prepare college-aged men and young adults for entrance into major seminary and eventual ordination to the priesthood. Seminarians are able to pursue their undergraduate degrees at Sacred Heart University or Fairfield University while living in community and discerning their vocations.
St. John Fisher Dinner Committee chairs include: Mary and Paul Giordano, Maureen and Brian Hunter, Jennifer Ingallinera, Bridget and Thomas MacDougall, Michael Marchetti, Kathryn and Michael Prendergast, Deacon William Santulli, Joanne Santulli, Carol and Richard Stockley, Theresa and Finbar Sullivan, Kathryn and Steven Tafuro, Susan and Frank Trotta and Terry Wilmot.
Msgr. Thomas Powers was raised in Newtown with his three sisters and one brother. He attended St. Rose of Lima School in Newtown and Immaculate High School in Danbury and graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1987 with a B.A. in economics. After graduation, he worked as a financial consultant with Andersen Consulting in New York, and in 1991, spent one year performing volunteer work in Puerto Rico through the Center for Social Concerns of the University of Notre Dame.
In 1992, he entered St. John Fisher, then located in Trumbull, and in 1993, was sent to the Pontifical North American College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a licentiate from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Msgr. Powers was ordained on May 24, 1997, at St. Augustine Cathedral.
After serving as parochial vicar at St. Theresa Parish in Trumbull and as the spiritual director of St. John Fisher Seminary and chaplain of Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford, he was assigned as an official in the Congregation for Bishops in Vatican City from 2005-15. During that time, he lived at and served as a spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College.
While in Rome, he was also tapped to be the “English-language voice of the Vatican” during Christmas Midnight Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. In 2015, Bishop Caggiano called Msgr. Powers back to the diocese to serve as vicar general, and to reside at St. John Fisher Seminary so that he could continue to play a role in the formation of seminarians.
(To learn more about St. John Fisher Seminary, visit www.bridgeportpriest.org.)
