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Jan and Bob Dilenschneider, Chair-couple of the 2009 Appeal -- “It is time to step up, give back, help others”. Read more...
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The Diocese of Bridgeport has an email newsletter, Living Our Faith, in addition to our periodic e-mail updates on the Appeal and other areas. Sign up for our e-newsletter today!
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Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal Begins:
Needs are Vital as Demand Rises
AFTER DAILY MASS at Saint Clement of Rome Parish in Stamford, Father Joseph Malloy, pastor, visits withparishioners (l-r) Sheila Samson, Betty Calarco, Trudy Merkle, and Tony Rocco. “We have a good many retirees, and they suffer when prices go up as tremendously, as they have lately,” says Father Malloy. Nonetheless, he notes with pride, “Parishioners respond very generously when they see a need.” (PHOTO BY JOSEPH MCALEER)
Article Appears in the February 7, 2009 Edition of the Fairfield County Catholic
BY PAT HENNESSY
“There is not one person in this parish who does not directly benefit from the diocese and the Annual Bishop’s Appeal,” says Msgr. Kevin Wallin, pastor of Saint Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport. “They understand the needs addressed by the Appeal.”
The 2009 Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal kicked off this month in all 87 parishes of the Diocese of Bridgeport. Funds raised support the essential services and ministries of the Catholic Church in Fairfield County. This year’s goal, $12.3 million, will support, among others, Catholic Charities, the largest private provider of charitable services, and Catholic schools, the largest private education system, not to mention vocations; priest chaplains in hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons; and parish religious education programs.
Challenging Time
The 2009 Appeal, which concludes on June 30, takes place during a time of unprecedented financial turmoil. “Each of us is deeply aware of the economic downturn and its effects on our families, our loved ones, our colleagues, and our friends,” says Bishop William E. Lori. “All of us are seeking to stretch our resources through a difficult and uncertain period we pray will be short-lived.
“But if these are difficult times for most people, they are disastrous for the chronically poor and disadvantaged,” the bishop continues. “It is on their behalf that I make this Appeal. The demand at our soup kitchens is up 30 percent – we may serve one million meals this year. Emergency services and all forms of counseling are stretched to the breaking point. And we must maintain our Catholic schools, which play an irreplaceable role in both Church and society.”
To see how the economic crisis is impacting people throughout the diocese, Fairfield County Catholic spoke to pastors in three very different parishes. Saint Augustine’s is a quintessential inner-city parish; the much smaller Saint Clement of Rome Parish lies in a modest neighborhood of quiet homes on the outskirts of Stamford’s downtown; and Saint Mary Parish in Ridgefield, with many parishioners who work in New York City, includes families who have been directly affected by the crisis on Wall Street. Two of the pastors, Msgr. Wallin and Msgr. Bronkiewicz, are on the Priests’ Advisory Committee (PAC), which sets parish goals for the Appeal.
Saint Augustine Cathedral, Bridgeport
Saint Augustine’s has 1,400 households including a number of older, single people; families who can boast of generations attending the parish; and parishioners from a variety of backgrounds, including Africans, Vietnamese, and Hispanics from all areas of Central and South America.
“We see that the concerns addressed by the Appeal are vital – in feeding, in education, in social justice,” says Msgr. Wallin. He points out that Saint Augustine Elementary School and Kolbe-Cathedral High School are both on the parish property. “We see the increased need for financial assistance to lift inner-city children out of poverty through education – which has been the Church’s mission since forever,” he says.
“Catholic Charities’ Thomas Merton Center is also in our territory, as is the Cardinal Shehan Center,” Msgr. Wallin continues. “We have two young priests here, Father Leonel Medeiros who was ordained five years ago, and Father Jhon Gomez, who was ordained two years ago. We know that the vocation program of the diocese is extremely important to us.”
He adds, with justified pride, “The number one parish in regard to vocations to the priesthood and religious life is the Cathedral.” Msgr. Wallin has hit virtually every ministry supported by the Living Our Faith Appeal. It helps inner-city students in the Cathedral Cluster schools in Bridgeport and ensures ongoing training for all Catholic school teachers. Through the Office of Pastoral Services, it aids the faith formation and training of catechists and directors of religious education in parish religious education programs. The Appeal funds the training of future priests at the Saint John Fisher Seminary Residence in Stamford, provides for chaplains to hospitals and nursing homes, and cares for retired priests at the Catherine Dennis Keefe Queen of the Clergy Residence in Stamford.
Through Catholic Charities, the Appeal helps soup kitchens, provides assistance to newcomers to our country, and offers counseling to individuals and families at 33 locations throughout the diocese. The housing initiative of Catholic Charities has already provided safe, warm living space to 148 people in inner-city Bridgeport, with more housing programs in progress.
The diocese continues these ministries at a time when it is getting ever more difficult to sustain them. “While the generosity of our people have remained stable, the demands are great,” says Msgr. Wallin. “For people who are not working, the situation is desperate, and some working people have crossed the line into a certain kind of impoverishment.
The need is up; even our small food pantry has seen an increase in demand.” Even so, Msgr. Wallin is confident of the generosity of his parishioners. “Our percentage of participation increased last year, and I’m hoping we can increase the percentage again, even if it’s a small gift,” he says.
Saint Clement of Rome Parish, Stamford
In the southwestern end of the diocese, the 400 families of Saint Clement of Rome Parish are also feeling the burden of harsh economic times. “We have a good many retirees, and they suffer when prices go up as tremendously as they have lately,” says Father Joseph Malloy, Saint Clement’s pastor, adding that he also knows of parishioners who have lost their jobs.
Even while more people are reaching for the assistance of the parish food pantry, parishioners as a whole responded generously to two big food drives: the “Souper Bowl” on Super Bowl Sunday, a can collection run by the students in the religious education program, and a major food drive the following weekend for Person to Person. During the past year, “Tunes for the Troops,” run by the Youth Group, collected 2,000 CDs which were sent to the troops in Iraq. After a horrendous hurricane slammed into Haiti, the parish collected 400 sneakers for shipment to children in that country.
“Parishioners respond very generously when they see a need,” Father Malloy says. He adds that parishioners at Saint Clement’s can see close at hand the needs addressed by the Living Our Faith Appeal. The Yerwood Center, right down the street, houses Catholic Charities’ New Covenant House of Hospitality, which provides meals to over 200 low-income people each day.
Parishioners of Saint Clement’s make sandwiches regularly for New Covenant House. In addition, Msgr. Peter Dora, the Catholic chaplain at Stamford Hospital, lives at the parish. Saint Clement’s has been home to a number of seminarians, including some who stay at the rectory during school breaks from Saint John Fisher.
All of this, plus a lively parish life that includes everything from Bible study to hot dog nights, builds a climate in which an understanding of the ministries supported by the Appeal flourishes.
“Some people are having a very difficult time, but if they are involved in the life of the parish, they give as generously as they can,” says Father Malloy. Saint Mary Parish, Ridgefield “Our people recognize the importance of the ministries of the diocese, and how the Appeal benefits the wider Church. On the whole they see themselves as giving more than receiving,” says Msgr. Laurence Bronkiewicz, pastor of Saint Mary Parish in Ridgefield.
The vibrant parish of over 3,000 registered families has literally dozens of groups and ministries, from a van to pick up the fragile elderly for Mass to an energetic Life Teen youth ministry. Bible studies, a contemplative prayer group, a parish nurse program, and perpetual Eucharistic Adoration are among the many ways parishioners at Saint Mary’s express and enrich their faith.
“They’re grateful for the active nature of the parish and its strong sense of community,” Msgr. Bronkiewicz says. At the same time, Saint Mary’s is among the parishes most impacted by the financial crunch. “Most upscale parishes, and we’re certainly in that category, are affected by the economic downturn,” says Msgr. Bronkiewicz, noting that many of his parishioners work in the frenzied financial sector in New York City.
So many parishioners either have lost their jobs or find them in jeopardy that the parish has established the Saint Mary Parish Network Employment Support Group to help train people to apply for new jobs.
In this atmosphere, how can one ask for donations to the Living Our Faith Appeal? “Very carefully,” Msgr. Bronkiewicz answers. “I’m on the PAC – I recognize the need that the diocese has for the funds. At the same time, the country is in a deep recession. I’m confident that the people will respond. We hope they will respond as they have so generously in the past.”
The three pastors agree that increased participation from parishioners is vital to the success of the Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal. “It’s more important than ever for us to count on all the people,” says Msgr. Wallin. “With their help we can build on the bedrock of the Living Our Faith Appeal to sustain the Church’s services.”
(For more information about the 2009 Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal or to make a donation, call 416-1479 or visit online: www.bridgeportdiocese.com).
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