Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

By Rose Brennan

BRIDGEPORT—The pews of St. Augustine Cathedral were filled on the afternoon of March 9, where on the First Sunday of Lent, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano celebrated the Rite of the Elect and the Call to Continuing Conversion for those preparing to fully enter the Church at Easter.

During the Rite, the bishop welcomes both catechumens (those who are not baptized) and candidates (those who are baptized but have not received the Sacraments of Holy Communion or Confirmation), who then declare their wish to become fully initiated members of the Catholic Church through a series of questions and responses.

“You have been called to this special period of your life so that … the preparation you will undergo intensely in these next weeks will allow your heart and spirit and soul to receive the gift of eternal life: the promise to share in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, whom you have come to know is Lord and Savior,” the bishop said to them.
Acknowledging the diverse makeup of catechumens and candidates, the bishop celebrated the Rite in English and Spanish, encouraging those gathered to respond to his questions in the language with which they were most comfortable.

In his homily, Bishop Caggiano reflected on his childhood in Brooklyn, and two of the most prominent “signs of spring” he would notice as a boy. The first, he noted, happened earlier that morning, when the clocks moved ahead one hour, which meant extended daylight hours—and, for the young bishop, extended time to play outside.
The second, however, was less fun for the young boy: his mother’s “solemn proclamation” of a period of spring cleaning. The bishop learned quickly, he joked, that the best way for him and his father to cooperate with his mother during this time was “to get out of her way.”

As such, the bishop and his father’s spring cleaning responsibilities took place outdoors, notably in the garden, where the two would prune back the bushes, till the garden soil and rip out the weeds by their roots so they would not return. That would make the garden ready for his father to plant seeds for vegetables a few weeks later, which would eventually be enjoyed by the family later that summer.

Photos by Amy Mortensen

Bishop Caggiano noted that his father’s annual spring cleaning work in the garden was not all that different from the spiritual call of the Lenten season—both for those already in full communion with the Church and for those seeking it.

“We are here because God has asked us—in the garden of our lives—to do some spring cleaning,” the bishop said. “The Lord asks that we allow his grace to break open the hardness of our hearts, so that our hearts can be filled with what the water of compassion, mercy, love and forgiveness—which is, after all, the very life of Jesus Christ. He’s asking all of us to root out the sins—not just the symptoms of them, but the very roots of the sins, vices, faults and failings in my life and yours, so that the soil, the garden of our life, could be made ready to receive great gifts.”

But just like the bishop and his father tending their garden, life in the Church does not begin and end at the Easter Vigil for the catechumens and candidates. Like any garden, such a life requires maintenance, care and, sometimes, spring cleaning.

“I commend you and I thank you for saying yes to the divine gardener, and I ask you to allow him to lead you to tend the soil of your life—that whatever is not worthy, whatever is not holy, whatever will prevent you from receiving the full graces of the Easter mysteries, that you will with his help begin to root out,” Bishop Caggiano said. “And the yield given to you is eternal life.”

The bishop closed by remembering his mother’s spring cleaning, which he quipped was “an ordeal.” But at the end, he said, there was a clear difference.

“When you came into my house, you could smell the difference,” the bishop said. “You could see the difference. Everything was old, and yet everything looked new. Imagine my dear friends, as you and I, with the grace of the Holy Spirit praying for one another as we journey together in faith, imagine the sweetness. Imagine the newness. Imagine the richness … of the life that will never end. And that is the gift of Easter.”

By ROSE BRENNAN

BRIDGEPORT—The Diocese of Bridgeport and the Institute for Catholic Formation invite the faithful to the Diocesan Eucharistic Retreat from March 11 through 13. With sessions for English- and Spanish-speakers, the retreats are free of charge and will provide an opportunity to deeply explore our relationship with the Eucharist through inspiring presentations, Mass, Adoration and opportunities for Reconciliation.

The English language retreat, entitled “The Word Made Flesh,” will take place at Notre Dame Parish in Easton. Featuring Father Richard Veras, the retreat will explore Christ’s presence from the Old Testament through the present day. Each of the three days will offer opportunities for Mass in the morning sessions, Adoration and Confession in the evening sessions and a presentation on the theme of the day at both.

The Spanish-language retreat, entitled “Repara Mi Casa” (Repair My House), will take place at St. Peter Parish in Danbury. It will be hosted by Father Agustino Torres, CFR, and will explore Eucharistic amazement and love of neighbor. This retreat will have evening sessions only, with opportunities for daily Mass and a presentation on the day’s theme.

According to Dr. Patrick Donovan, executive director of the Institute for Catholic Formation, the idea for a Eucharistic retreat was born out of the successes of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and the Greater Danbury Eucharistic Procession last year. In addition, there was a desire to meet the need for parishes that might not host Lenten parish missions to offer an alternative during the Lenten season that focused solely on the Eucharist.

“Lent is a really good time to focus on how we encounter Christ to the Eucharist, how we accompany others at Mass, how we accompany our families during Lent, how we encounter silence,” he said. “Lent is always a perfect time for a retreat, because it literally is about new life. It’s about walking in the desert for 40 days. It’s about being alone. It’s about spending time in the quiet. So it’s a perfect time to come apart from the busyness of our lives and focus for a few nights just on the gift of the Eucharist.”

Donovan also said it was important to meet the needs of the diocese’s Spanish-speaking parishioners—leading to the idea to host a Spanish-language retreat in the Danbury area.

“The Danbury community is just growing by leaps and bounds, in terms of the Hispanic community,” he said. “We now have a satellite site for faith formation because there are so many parents who want their kids to be enrolled in faith formation, and there wasn’t enough room at some parishes. That seemed like the logical place to do (the retreat), even though there are (Spanishspeaking) communities everywhere. We wanted to make sure that we kind of gave a nod to the burgeoning community up there.”

In terms of the diocese’s English-speaking parishioners, the decision was made to have morning and evening sessions for the retreat to offer maximum flexibility—for those who are retired, who work night shifts, and for families and those who work during the day.

Donovan stressed that for both retreats, the daily themes build on each other, but also can stand on their own. As such, he encouraged the faithful to attend any to all of the sessions—whether they could only attend one session, or if they could attend all three. “If you can only go to one, do it; if you can go to all three, great,” Donovan said.

“If you want to bring your teenagers, your adult children, your young adult children, your spouse, do it. Anything to come and hear the story, to come and hear the challenge, to come and pray together—even if it’s only one night.”

The daily themes for the English language retreat, “The Word Made Flesh,” are as follows: March 11: “The Longing of the Heart and the Promise of Israel: Jesus in the Old Testament”

March 12: “Emmanuel, the Promise Fulfilled: Jesus in the Gospels”

March 13: “The Promise Remains Present: Jesus in the Church”

The daily themes for the Spanish language retreat, “Repara Mi Casa,” are as follows:
11 de marzo: “Asombro Eucaristico”
12 de marzo: “Reafirmar”
13 de marzo: “Amor el Projimo”

(Registration for both events is open now. For more information or to register for the English retreat, visit www.formationreimagined.org/event/eucharistic-retreat-en. Para mas informacion o para registrarse al retiro en español, visite www.formationreimagined.org/event/eucharistic-retreat-sp.)

By Joe Pisani

BRIDGEPORT — Thirty years ago when he was studying to be a minister, Kendall Palladino went to work with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. He had previously cared for people with leprosy in South Thailand and wanted to go to medical school, but was uncertain about his future … so he turned to her for advice.

“I shared with her that I was confused about what I should do—I was only 25 at the time,” he recalled. “I was hoping she’d say, ‘Atta boy, go to it.’ But she didn’t. She said there’s nothing sacred about an ocean, that it’s the same world on both sides, and she talked about Bridgeport, where she had sisters. She said, ‘There’s a leprosy in the West, and that leprosy is loneliness—emotional, social, spiritual loneliness.’”

That encounter led him on a spiritual journey. He finished seminary and became a Baptist minister and served as a chaplain in a California medical center. He also worked in a drug and alcohol rehab and later at hospice with people at the end of life, until coming to Connecticut, where he founded the Healing Hearts bereavement center at the Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut. That initiative, he believes, was a response to Mother Teresa’s counsel.

Along the way, he followed a long-time spiritual prompting and became a Catholic. Today, he serves as Hartford HealthCare Fairfield Region’s Vice President of Mission Services, providing spiritual care and health services for St. Vincent’s Medical Center and the community—in Bridgeport, just as St. Teresa of Calcutta suggested.

Dr. Palladino sees his new role at St. Vincent’s as an answer to his frequent prayer to God: “I want to be living out the vocation and the calling that I believe you gave me through Mother Teresa.”

“The fact that I’m actually in Bridgeport as vice president of mission services is amazing,” he said during a recent interview. “I feel that God is at work—God is always at work here, right now, in a special way in the Diocese of Bridgeport, and I’ve been invited to do my part to contribute to the work that God has already begun.”

Dr. Palladino said he has “a lot of hopes” about what the medical center and the diocese can accomplish together, and he is in frequent conversation with Deacon Patrick Toole, chancellor and secretary of the Curia, who serves on the Hartford HealthCare Fairfield Region Board. They discuss ways to partner on different initiatives that can accomplish—in the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta—“something beautiful for God.”

“We can extend the Daughters of Charity’s compassion and love to this place and really address the loneliness of the West, which in some ways, Fairfield County is the poster child for,” he said.

During his 25 years in Connecticut, he has seen loneliness among the homeless and among the affluent. While at hospice in Danbury, he said, “I worked with people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, and nobody, nobody at all, was talking about their career, how much they earned, or their belongings at the end of life. Everybody was talking about relationships. And some of the people who were the richest were the poorest … There is a lot of loneliness.”

In his new role, Dr. Palladino is also responsible for ensuring compliance with Catholic healthcare doctrine, which distinguishes St. Vincent’s—the only Catholic hospital in Fairfield County—from secular hospitals.

An agreement between Hartford HealthCare and Bishop Frank J. Caggiano ensures St. Vincent’s will remain a fully Catholic ministry that adheres to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services, promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The directives define how a Catholic hospital must conduct itself and make clear the procedures and medical interventions that should not be provided, such as abortion and assisted suicide. The mission of Catholic healthcare is based on reverence for every human being and access to care for the poor and underserved, the uninsured and the underinsured, children, the unborn, single parents, the elderly, those with incurable diseases, racial minorities, immigrants and refugees.

In addition, Dr. Palladino oversees the Pastoral Care Department, which is managed by Deacon Tim Bolton and has been an integral part of care at St. Vincent’s since it was founded by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in 1905. Their team includes lay and priest chaplains and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. The priests celebrate Mass, hear confessions, administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and sometimes do a crisis baptism.

The chaplains provide spiritual support to all patients, even those who are not Catholic, such as a Jehovah Witness, a Muslim, a member of the Jewish faith, or a person of no faith.

“We have nine chaplains who are such a wonderful group, including priests, sisters, deacons, as well as a rabbi, and I am touched by their gratitude for what they do,” Dr. Palladino said. “They’re mission-driven and a caring, compassionate and capable team managed by Deacon Tim Bolton. They provide the kind of pastoral care that is really a testimony to the Catholic identity of this place.”

Mass is celebrated daily at the medical center, which also broadcasts prayers in the morning and in the evening.

“We do a lot of things that hold on to the spirit of our Lord around us,” he said.

Dr. Palladino was previously director and system liaison for spiritual care at Yale New Haven Hospital and prior to that, director of pastoral care at the Hospital of St. Raphael. He received a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard University, a master of divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a doctor of ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. He and his wife Marianne have five children, from 11 to 24 years old, and are members of St. Gregory the Great Parish in Danbury.

Deacon Toole expressed his gratitude to Hartford HeathCare for continuing to invest in the original mission of the Daughters of Charity.

“Dr. Palladino is continuing the essential work of the late Bill Hoey to provide the most vulnerable within our community with access to exceptional healthcare,” he said. “Although the Daughters of Charity are no longer involved with the medical center, their spirit lives on through the Office of Mission Services and Community Impact, which he leads.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As Hurricane Milton fast approaches, I want to assure you of my heartfelt concern and prayers for each one of you who may be in Florida or have family and friends there. I send my prayers to all those who may be affected by this storm. These next few days may bring great challenges but remember that we are never alone. God is always with us, His grace ever-present, guiding us through every storm.

Please take all necessary precautions to ensure your safety. Let us also come together in prayer for those in the path of the hurricane, especially the vulnerable, that they may find refuge and comfort.

May our Blessed Mother, Star of the Sea, watch over us all, bringing peace in this time of uncertainty.

I am with you in spirit, and I will continue to have you in my prayers, especially at Holy Mass, during these difficult days.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano
Bishop of Bridgeport