DANBURY—Redemptoris Mater, the Diocesan Missionary Seminary of Bridgeport, held its 4th annual gala Sunday and honored Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of the Archdiocese of Hartford and Kelly Weldon, director of Foundations in Faith, for their efforts in furthering the work of the seminary.
The event, which attracted more than 400 guests to the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury, was hosted by Bishop Frank J. Caggiano and Father Marco Pacciana, rector of the seminary.
The Redemptoris Mater Seminary is under the direction of Father Pacciana, along with Father Giandomenico Flora, the spiritual director. Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer) seminaries are under the auspices of the Neocatechumenal Way, a 55-year-old charism in the Church dedicated to Christian formation and the New Evangelization. The seminaries form men as missionaries for the New Evangelization as diocesan priests to serve the local church or in any part of the world the bishop chooses.
Bishop Caggiano in his opening prayer praised the seminarians, who are studying for the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Archdiocese of Hartford, and said that one day “we hope to see them ordained to be your sacred priests.”
Father Pacciana expressed his gratitude and said, “I am very happy and grateful for all of you coming tonight for your support.” He talked about the founding of the seminary and the formation of the seminarians, and added, “We are here as a community because this is what the Church is—a community of people who have witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ and have witnessed him in their lives.”
The seminary in Stamford was established in 2015 on the Feast of Immaculate Conception, and he said it was further blessed when Archbishop Blair asked for a section of the seminary to prepare men for vocations in the Archdiocese of Hartford. “And tonight, we honor him for his great support,” Father Pacciana said.
He said the seminarians have been very enthusiastic to start working on their new house in Stamford, formerly St. John Fisher Seminary, and he then introduced the men currently in formation and said, “They are not angels but they said yes to the call of God in their lives and were pulled away from their families, their friends and their countries to come here to become missionary priests.”
Kelly Weldon was recognized for her “tireless support” on behalf of the seminarians and the mission of Redemptoris Mater.
In accepting the honor, she said, “Take a look around the room. We see such beauty and diversity in age, culture and gender. This is what God intended fellowship to look like.”
She invoked the words of Bishop Caggiano, who said, “Pastoral care is all about discipleship. How we encounter and learn about Christ and then reach out and include others, especially the most vulnerable on our lifelong journey of faith.”
She explained there are nine pastoral care funds in Foundations in Faith and that it has a special commitment to vocations and seminarians, retired priests and missionary parishes.
“It is our pleasure to support Redemptoris Mater with an annual grant each year because of your remarkable work nurturing and forming these young men,” she said. “Vocations are of critical importance, and we all need to make it a priority to support this work.”
She said: “When I first met the Redemptoris Mater seminarians, it was striking how these young men embody the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, in particular their gift of courage, leaving their families and their countries, to be fully immersed in a new culture as they discern and begin forming for the priesthood. Upon becoming priests, they will receive word of where they will be sent to, perhaps another foreign land to do their missionary work, evangelizing in their words and deeds every step of their journey.”
Foundations in Faith is a 501c-3 recognized charity that is committed to supporting and transforming pastoral ministries in the Diocese of Bridgeport. Weldon joined the organization in 2019. She is also a member of the newly formed Diocesan Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism.
She attended Catholic University of America, where she met her husband Chris, who was a law student. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in social work, she began her career in roles that combined social work and law. She worked at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in the Witness Aid Program and later with children in foster care, representing their interests at Family Court hearings.
She and her husband Chris have three adult children.
Archbishop Blair received a standing ovation for embracing the Neocatechumenal Way when it first came to the Archdiocese of Hartford and began catechesis and evangelization. Today there are six communities and two new ones are being formed. In 2019, he requested that a section be opened in the seminary in Stamford for vocations from the archdiocese, which currently has three seminarians in formation.
Archbishop Blair was praised for being an embodiment of his motto, “Feed my sheep.”
Upon accepting the award, he said, “Thank you for that gracious introduction…I didn’t know I was that good.” He applauded the work of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and said its efforts will truly benefit the archdiocese and the new evangelization.
“I have had a lot of experiences of different places and different situations in my priesthood of 45 years and as bishop since 1999. It has spanned all the changes and challenges in our Church, which are tied to changes and challenges in our world,” he said. “And I was very struck to hear the voices of the popes in the video, all speaking about the importance of evangelization…and yet sometimes I am discouraged that when it comes to evangelization and moving the Church forward, we have been a Church of documents, a Church of words, as if we know what we need to do and yet how do we do it? What is the divine spark, what is the inspiration, what is the movement of God that will bring about this new evangelization that we all thirst for and long for?”
He said he was happy to embrace the Neocatechumenal Way because it is about the movement of the Holy Spirit and about the fruits of evangelization.
“It is so encouraging for this to be happening in the Church and taking the form here in Connecticut as the Redemptoris Mater seminary by providing future priests and offering a way forward for all of us with the marks that it is the grace of God.”
He said he was profoundly grateful to welcome the seminarians on behalf of the Archdiocese of Hartford to be part of this movement, this gift of the Holy Spirit that bears fruit. “There is nothing more important than that,” he said. “By the fruits, you shall know them…and the evangelization that takes place in people’s lives.”
Archbishop Blair, born in Detroit, was named the Archbishop of Hartford on October 29, 2013, and installed in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph on December 16, 2013.
He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Detroit on June 26, 1976, following studies at Sacred Heart Seminary College, Detroit; the North American College, Rome; and the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. Archbishop Blair holds a bachelor of arts in history from Sacred Heart Seminary College; a bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University; a licentiate in Theology with a specialization in Patristics and the History of Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University; and a doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome.
On July 9, 1999, he was appointed as Titular Bishop of Voncariana and Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, and his episcopal ordination took place on August 24 of that same year. He was then appointed as Bishop of Toledo, Ohio, in 2003, being installed as the Seventh Bishop of Toledo on December 4, 2003. In 2013, he came to Connecticut, being appointed and installed as the fifth Archbishop of Hartford.
Over the years, he has served on several committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including the Committee on Women in Society & the Church; the Committee on Catechesis; and the Subcommittee on the Catechism, which he chaired. In recent years, he also served as the chair of the Committee on Evangelization & Catechesis and as a member of the Doctrine Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. He currently serves as the chairman of the Committee on Divine Worship.
In gratitude Bishop Caggiano offered the final blessing and said, “This night has been an occasion of great joy as we have come together to celebrate what connects us. So as we leave this place, may our heats be renewed that we may be ever more joyful, that we may be ever more confident that you, Heavenly Father, will help us to meet all the challenges before us, that we may bring the Good News to the world. We ask that you continue to bless the men in formation, and guide them in your grace that if it is your holy will, bring them to the altar of ordination that they may lay down their lives in service to your people.”
