DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Brooklyn's loss in Connecticut's gain.
Pope Francis appointed 54-year-old Brooklyn native, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, to be fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, filling a position that has been empty since May of 2012.
Before his appointment, Caggiano was serving as an auxiliary bishop in the Brooklyn Diocese.
“For twenty-six years, Bishop Caggiano has faithfully served the faithful of Brooklyn and Queens, and I can attest that he is an outstanding priest. He has been one of my closest collaborators,” said Brooklyn's Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio in a statement. “I had the privilege of ordaining Bishop Caggiano to the Episcopacy, and I can unequivocally state that he will be an outstanding pastor to the faithful of Bridgeport.”
Caggiano was born in Gravesend and graduated from Regis High School in Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1977. After a stint at Yale he decided to enter the priesthood, attending the Cathedral College in Douglaston. He was ordained a priest in 1987. After study in Rome and years of serving the Diocese of Brooklyn, he was appointed auxiliary bishop in Brooklyn in 2006.
Caggiano named the The Lord of the Rings trilogy as the most influential books in his young life and called himseld an "avid Met fan," adding that he is a "man of hope," in a press conference after his appointment this morning.
