Bishop Caggiano’s 2023 Bishop’s Appeal Message

My dear friends in Christ, each year, I have the privilege to come and stand before you with a grateful heart to ask once again for your help to make the annual Bishop’s Appeal a great success.
I do so this year very mindful that while each of us is blessed in so many ways, we can also look upon the year that has passed and see that in our midst, our world is deeply troubled, deeply divided, deeply conflicted. And so the theme I’ve chosen for the Appeal this year is simply, One in Christ, which celebrates not only the unity you and I form as sisters and brothers in the Lord and the mission you and I share amidst ourselves, but quite frankly, serves as a clarion call to go out into the world and invite others to experience what we have. And to see in real waysthe tangible, reckless, generous love of God that comes through you and me.
Consider for a moment our mission. We are committed in Christ to help our schoolchildren to experience the gift of Catholic education. Without your help, they would not have this transformative opportunity in their lives. Likewise, we are committed to care for our elders, and those who are sick, and those who are in need in our midst. That also means joyfully caring for our retired priests and also nourishing new vocations, which truly unite us as people of faith.
In countless ways and in the new initiatives that you and I are giving birth to, we always wish to draw closer together in bonds of unity, friendship, and love. Not simply for our own sake, but for our sisters and brothers in need, so that we might go out into the world hand in hand, heart to heart, shoulder-to-shoulder to serve others. Together in our works of charity and faith, we can invite them to see the true path that will allow the world the healing and hope, which is our right and destiny in Jesus Christ.
So I ask you, all of you, everyone listening to me today to please prayerfully consider giving generously to this year’s Appeal. Whatever gift you can make– big or small alike—is a tangible sign that we are together, “One in Christ,” as we go forward to bring our mission into the world.
As always, my friends, I am grateful for all that you have done, and for your fidelity, and for your generosity. Now this is the moment I am asking you once again to recommit to the unity we share, the mission that is ours, to give hope to a waiting world.
Thank you and may God bless you.

Sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano
Bishop of Bridgeport