The Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano

The Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano was installed as Fifth Bishop of Bridgeport on Thursday, September 19, 2013 at St. Theresa Church in Trumbull. In his installation homily, he spoke of the needs to build bridges to youth, to all those who are troubled, who are neglected and to Catholics who no longer participate in the life of the Church.

On February 22, 2014, he formally convoked the 4th Synod of the Diocese of Bridgeport, the first in 32 years, as an opportunity for renewal and pastoral planning for the future of the local Church. After a series of listening sessions with over 4,000 comments by laity, priests and religious across the diocese, the bishop announced the Synod 2014 themes of empowering youth, building up the community of faith, fostering evangelical outreach, and promoting works of charity and justice.

In an historic move of reconciliation, Bishop Caggiano met with the membership of Voice of the Faithful in March 2014 to discuss issues that have divided the local Church for decades. He also reconstituted the Review Board of the Diocese to oversee implementation of diocesan Safe Environments policy, and announced the formation of a new Ministerial Advisory Board to review cases in which the bishop must consider action regarding the assignment of a priest or deacon accused of adult misconduct. In the spring of 2014, the bishop initiated a major reorganization of diocesan offices to improve the level of service and communication with parishes.

Bishop Caggiano came to Bridgeport from the Diocese of Brooklyn, where on June 6, 2006, he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and Titular Bishop of Inis Cathaig by Pope Benedict XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 22, from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, with Bishops Thomas Daily and Ignatius Catanello serving as co-consecrators.

He was born in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn on Easter Sunday, March 29, 1959, the second of two children of Arnaldo and Gennarina Caggiano, both of whom came to this country in 1958 from the town of Caggiano in the province of Salerno, Italy. He grew up in Saints Simon and Jude Church and attended the parish’s grammar school. The bishop’s education continued at Regis High School in Manhattan, conducted by the Jesuits, where he was a member of the class of 1977.

Bishop Caggiano entered Yale University in September, 1977, as a political science major. After further discernment, he transferred into Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in January, 1978. He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in June, 1981.

After graduating from Cathedral College, the bishop worked for 18 months as the sales representative for the Gregg Division of McGraw Hill Publishing Company, serving the entire New York metropolitan area. At the end of this brief period of secular employment, the bishop began his major seminary studies at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, New York. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 16, 1987 in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, Queens.

A noted catechist, Bishop Caggiano was invited by Pope Benedict XVI to deliver World Youth Day talks in Sydney in 2008, Madrid in 2011, and by Pope Francis to serve as a catechist at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, 2013. He also preached at the Youth 2000 Summer Festival in Tipperary, Ireland. He is a member of the sub-committee on the catechism of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. In November, 2013, he was appointed to a three-year term as episcopal advisor of The National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry.