Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries In the 17th and much of the 18th centuries,
Puritan ministers in the British
Province of Connecticut were vociferously anti-Catholic in their writings and preaching. They considered the Catholic Church to be a foreign political power, with Catholics only having loyalty to the Vatican. Catholics were prohibited from buying land or running for public office without first publicly disowning their church. This began to change with the onset of the American Revolution:"In the summer of 1781, French Marshal
Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau and his army marched through Connecticut, encamping in the
Ridgebury section of
Ridgefield, where the first Catholic mass [in Fairfield County] was offered. His troops were mostly Catholic and were ministered to by Reverend Fathers Robin, Gluson, Lacy, and Saint Pierre." After the
American Revolution, between 1780 and 1781 in
Lebanon the first Catholic "Mass was first celebrated, continuously and for a long period, within the limits of the State of Connecticut." On June 26, 1881, St. Peter's Parish in Hartford celebrated the centenary of that first mass. The
Connecticut General Assembly passed an act of toleration in 1784, allowing any
Protestant to avoid paying taxes to support the local
Congregational Church, provided that they could prove membership and regular attendance at another Protestant church. In 1791, the Assembly granted the same right to all Christians, including Catholics. However, the act had little practical effect for Catholics as there were no parishes then in the state.
Nineteenth century The first Catholic church in Connecticut was established in 1829 in
Hartford. In 1830, James Fitton celebrated mass in Bridgeport in the home of James McCullough on Middle Street. From 1832 to 1837, James McDermot visited Hartford from
New Haven. He said mass at the Farrell residence, also on Middle Street. By 1835, the rector of the New Haven church estimated there were 720 Catholics in Fairfield County, with Bridgeport home of the biggest community, about 100 people. McDermot was followed by James Smyth, also from New Haven. In 1842, St. James the Apostle Church (Irish) was dedicated by Bishop
Benedict Fenwick of the Diocese of Boston in Bridgeport. The town then had a population of about 250 Catholics. The church rector was given responsibility for small Catholic communities in
Derby and Norwalk. Catholics in Stamford,
Greenwich and other towns were ministered to by the Bridgeport rector and by
Jesuit priests based at
Fordham College in New York City. Synnott opened St. Augustine (Irish) Parish in Bridgeport in 1869. Sacred Heart Parish (Irish) was organized in 1883; until the church was ready for services, mass was held at the Opera House. In 1890, James Nihil purchased the Eli Thompson estate; the Board of Education allowed the use of the Grand Street School until St. Patrick's Church was ready for services. St. Michael's "Chapel of Ease" (funded and administered by Sacred Heart Parish) was constructed in Bridgeport in 1895; the
Sisters of Mercy operated a school in the rear portion of the building. The diocese established several ethnic parishes during this period: • St. Joseph's (German) • St. Anthony of Padua (French) • St. Stephen of Hungary (
Hungarian) in Bridgeport (1887) • St. John Nepomucene (Slovak), the first
Slovak church in New England in Bridgeport (1881) In 1843,
Pope Gregory XVI split the
Diocese of Hartford off from the
Diocese of Boston, which had previously covered all of
New England. The new diocese consisted of all of Connecticut and
Rhode Island. The Bridgeport area would remain part of the Diocese of Hartford for the next 110 years.
Twentieth century Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Bridgeport on August 6, 1953, removing its territory from the Diocese of Hartford. The pope named Auxiliary Bishop
Lawrence Shehan of the Archdiocese of Baltimore as the first bishop of Bridgeport. During his tenure in Bridgeport, Shehan established 18 new parishes, built 24 new churches, and founded three high schools. He also formed a
Catholic Youth Organization, promoted vocations to the priesthood and
religious life, and began parish ministry for the increasing number of
Hispanic, Portuguese, and
Brazilian immigrants. •
Sacred Heart University at Fairfield in 1963 He established two
nursing homes: Pope John Paul II Health Care Center in
Danbury and St. Camillus Health Care Center in
Stamford Pope Benedict XVI named Lori as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 2012. Auxiliary Bishop
Frank Caggiano of the Diocese of Brooklyn was appointed bishop of Bridgeport in 2012. One of Caggiano's first actions as bishop was to publicly announce the financial deficit incurred before his installation. He mandated that pastors serve six-year renewable periods at parishes and required that they submit their resignations when they turned 75. In 2014, Caggiano convoked the 4th Synod of the Diocese of Bridgeport, the first in 32 years (themed "Building Bridges to the Future Together"). In an interview with
America Magazine, Caggiano said that one of his first priorities as bishop was reaching out to the high percentage of Catholics in the diocese who no longer attend mass. One of the major concerns that the synod focused on was the decline in mass attendance and sacramental reception as well as the need to bolster Catholic schools due to declining enrollment. In 2018, Caggiano announced that
liturgical norms and regulations in the diocese would be revised over the next four-year period as a result of discussions from the diocesan
synod. Caggiano said that these newer regulations would "allow us to pray effectively and reverently as a Church" and would be the newest norms implemented since 1983. As of 2023, Caggiano is the bishop of Bridgeport.
Reports of sex abuse In 1993, 23 lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Bridgeport, alleging sexual abuse by priests. The diocese settled all 23 claims in 2001. Kieran Ahearn of
Bethel was arrested in January 1993 on charges of indecent assault on a minor during a ski trip to the
Berkshire Mountains. Ahearn was acquitted of sexual abuse, but convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to two years of probation. In May 2001, John J. Castaldo of Stamford was charged in New York with the attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor. He was accused of sending sexually explicit messages to a police investigator posing as a 14-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty and received one weekend in jail and five years of probation. Paul Gotta was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexually abusing a teenage boy. He forced the boy to strip naked and performed sexual acts on him. The sexual abuse charges were dropped. The diocese removed Gotta from ministry in 2013. In 2017, Gotta was convicted of having another teenage boy purchase thousands of rounds of handgun ammunition and giving that boy explosives. Gotta was sentenced to nine months in prison. In November 2014, the diocese revealed a list of 14 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of children. In May 2014, Bishop Caggiano removed John Stronkowski from his post at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Church in
Shelton, citing
absenteeism. He was not re-assigned to another post. In June 2016, citing credible accusations of sexual abuse, Caggiano suspended Stronkowski from ministry. In October 2018, the diocese released a report of financial settlements with abuse victims. The majority of the cost of settlements (approximately 92%) was provided through the sale of diocesan property, insurance recoveries and other co-defendants. The diocese paid approximately $52.5 million to settle 156 abuse cases dating back to 1953. In March 2019, ten additional names were later added to the original 2014 list. Holzberg's report accused 71 priests of sexually abusing 300 children since 1953. In January 2020, Jaime Marin-Cordona of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in
Danbury was arrested and charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to child and three counts of illegal sexual contact. In 2022, Marin-Cordona was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to one year in state prison. ==Bishops==