Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

NEW CANAAN—Hundreds filled St. Aloysius Parish on Divine Mercy Sunday for the Mass of Thanksgiving to celebrate the three diocesan priests who were honored by Pope Francis with the rank of Chaplain to His Holiness with the title of Monsignor.

Monsignor Robert J. Crofut, Monsignor Donald Guglielmi, and Monsignor Robert M. Kinnally, who were notified of their new titles on January 6, were honored by parishioners, friends and families in a joyful Mass and reception that followed.

Joined by more than 30 priests throughout the diocese, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano was the principal celebrant of the Mass. The bishop also welcomed Bishop James Massa, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and the rector of St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.

“The lesson of this festival of Divine Mercy is that we who have received it must give it away to neighbor, spouse, child, grandchild, nephew, niece, neighbor, coworker, stranger and enemy to give mercy,” the bishop said as he praised the new monsignors for being “ambassadors of Christ’s mercy.”

“That is to meet people in their profound moments of need, to give what is good for them in that moment and to invite and lift them up to a greater fuller life and to walk with them every step of the way,” he said.

Twice during the Mass, the congregation broke out into prolonged applause for the three men.

“You see my friends, you can glimpse now why we are here tonight: to honor these three remarkable priests because of their personal humility, pursuit of service and selfless giving to others,” Bishop Caggiano said.

He praised the men for the “countless hours that they have served the parishioners of their many parishes, listening to their sorrow, sitting with them in their silence, offering them a shoulder to laugh on and cry on, to celebrate in their moments of joy and to walk with them in solidarity in their moments of profound sorrow.”

The bishop said that in addition to ministering to the young and old, the three men “have worked with seminarians for many years and they have not only by what they have done, the advice they have given, but the example of their priestly hearts that they have formed them so that they too can worthily carry the name ‘Father’ and to do for others what was done for them in their years of most important formation.”

In his homily, the bishop reflected of Gospel of John (20:19-31), in which the apostle Thomas touches Jesus’s wounds and cries out, “my Lord and my God,” after originally doubting that Jesus had risen.

“It would have been a huge leap for Thomas to have believed that his beloved master had literally come back to life and therefore his skepticism perhaps was something to be expected. And so the Lord in his mercy met Thomas in his need,” the bishop said, adding that Christ’s love “raised Thomas to an ever great life, life so that he was the first to call Jesus, Lord and God.”

The bishop said it was important to realize that every person in the church is a recipient of God’s mercy.

“Divine mercy is not charity as the modern world understands it. Divine mercy is the generous, reckless love of God that meets us where our needs are and invites us to be lifted up to be transformed to a greater life, to a fuller life, to holiness of life. He doesn’t leave us in our need, but invites us to greatness in him.”

The bishop ended his homily with a challenge to priests and laity.

“How far will you and I walk in order to be that ambassador of mercy,” the bishop asked after noting that “Doubting Thomas” became the first person to proclaim the divinity of Jesus. member, “He walked all the way to India to be the fearless ambassador of the message of mercy and salvation in Jesus Christ. And so perhaps this week as we go about our duty and business, let us ask ourselves, how far will you or I walk for mercy?”

In a brief blessing following his homily, the bishop prayed that the new monsignors would remain “humble of heart” and instruments of the “peace of Christ” in their ministries.

The beautiful music for the liturgy was provided by the St. Aloysius Parish Choir under the direction of John Michniewicz, D.M.A., Music Ministry.  The Knights of Columbus formed an Honor Guard for the ceremony.

For the full biographies of Monsignor Crofut, Monsignor Guglielmi, and Monsignor Kinnally, click here.

By Brian D. Wallace