Father Robert J. Maty, remembered by many as the long-time pastor of the former St. John Nepomucene Parish in Bridgeport, passed away on Monday, January 17, 2022. He was 90 years of age.
He was ordained to the priesthood by the Most Reverend Lawrence J. Shehan, first Bishop of Bridgeport, at St. Mary’s Church in Bridgeport on May 25, 1957. During his many years of ministry, Father Maty served on the Priests’ Retirement Board, the Priests’ Council and as a member of the Board of Consultors.
Father Maty was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on November 15, 1931. He was baptized at St. John the Baptist Greek Catholic Church on November 29, Bridgeport Connecticut in the Byzantine Rite. As a result, Father Maty received First Communion and Confirmation on the same day. He transferred to the Latin Rite in 1953.
Father Maty attended grammar school at Sts. Cyril and Methodius School in Bridgeport and high school at Fairfield College Preparatory School in Fairfield, Connecticut, graduating in 1949. He attended college at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield from 1949-1951. Father Maty studied philosophy at St. Bernard Seminary in Rochester, New York, continuing there for his theology studies, which were completed in 1957. He was ordained to the priesthood by the Most Reverend Lawrence J. Shehan, Bishop of Bridgeport, at St. Mary’s Church, Bridgeport on May 25, 1957.
After his ordination, Father Maty first served as assistant at St. John Nepomucene Church in Bridgeport. In 1960, he served for one year as a teacher at Notre Dame High School while continuing to reside and assist at St. John Nepomucene Church.
From 1961-1967, he taught at St. John Nepomucene Commercial High School. In 1967, he was transferred to St. Benedict Church in Stamford, serving as assistant. From 1968-1974, he served as assistant at Holy Name Church in Stratford and St. Thomas the Apostle in East Norwalk, and, for a brief time, the administrator of St. Gabriel Church in Stamford. He returned to St. John Nepomucene as Assistant in 1974 and in 1978, Bishop Walter W. Curtis appointed him pastor of that church serving in that capacity until its closing in 1991.
He next served as parochial vicar at St. Teresa Parish in Trumbull from 1991-1996. Upon his appointment as director of the Office of the Propagation of the Faith, he took up residence at Holy Rosary Church in Bridgeport. He retired from active ministry in 2001, but continued to assist at Holy Name Church in Stratford for a number of years.
Bishop Frank J. Caggiano will celebrate Father Maty’s Funeral Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Stratford on Friday, January 21 at 10 am. There will be no viewing. Interment will be at St. Michael Cemetery in Stratford.
