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“A life with Christ is a life filled with the greatest joy.”
Father Gannon Named Pastor
By PAT HENNESSY
Published in the February 2010 Issue of the Fairfield County Catholic
Bishop William E. Lori
has announced that Father
Brian Gannon will be the new
pastor of St. Theresa Parish
in Trumbull. He succeeds
Father Richard Murphy,
who became the pastor of
Our Lady of Peace Parish in
Stratford. The appointment
will be effective February 16.
Father Gannon, 44, was
born in Greenwich, one of
seven children of Jane and
John Gannon, and grew
up in St. Agnes Parish. He
attended Cos Cob elementary
school and Greenwich High
School. He earned his bachelor’s
degree from St. Anselm
College in New Hampshire
and a master’s
in history
from the
University of
Maine.
Father
Gannon
entered the Saint John Fisher
Seminary in 1991. He completed
his baccalaureate in
Sacred Theology (S.T.B.)
at the Pontifical Gregorian
University and his master’s in
spirituality at the Angelicum
University, both in Rome.
He was ordained by Bishop
Edward M. Egan at Saint
Augustine Cathedral on May
24, 1997.
Extraordinary Capacities
Prior to ordination Father
Gannon served as transitional
deacon at Our Lady
of the Assumption Parish in
Westport. His first priestly
assignment was as parochial
vicar and director of religious
education at St. Marguerite
Bourgeoys Parish in
Brookfield.
“I’ve known Father
Gannon since before he was
ordained, and I’ve worked
with him for many years,”
says Father Albert D.
Audette, Jr., who was pastor
of St. Marguerite at the
time. “He is self-confident,
with a great sense of humor
and extraordinary capacity
for learning. He has so many
positives: he is an educated and
well-thought out homilist, conversationalist,
and leader.
“I love to pray with him.
He’s tremendously spiritual, and
at the same time he’s wonderfully
human. He’s able to focus
on the details of a person’s
problems with
sensitivity and
a keen sense of
compassion.”
Father
Audette, a
parent and
grandparent himself, praises
qualities not always recognized
in a priest. “He has dimension
of manliness and courage that
people immediately feel comfortable
with. He’s an Eagle
Scout, and he’s also a tremendous
athlete. He can pitch a 70
m.p.h. ball. He’ll deny that, but
I’ll stick by it. He’s a man’s man
for every man, woman, and kid
he meets.”
Following his assignment
at St. Marguerite’s, Father
Gannon became the spiritual
director and religion teacher
at Notre Dame High School
in Fairfield, while residing at
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Parish in Shelton. In 2004, he
returned to Rome to pursue a
license and doctoral degree at
the Alphonsianum Academy
of the Pontifical Lateran
University. His doctorate in
Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) was
awarded in May, 2009. His
doctoral thesis examines the
role of divine grace in living
the moral life.
Sharing the Life of Grace
Father Gannon returned
to the U.S. in 2009, and was
named parochial vicar at St.
Mary Parish in Ridgefield.
He has been a columnist for
Fairfield County Catholic
since 2003.
“I’m tremendously grateful
to the people at St. Mary’s,
and it’s been a pleasure to
serve here,” says Father
Gannon. “This parish is active
in so many different ways,
and it’s great to have been a
part of it.”
He has already visited
St. Theresa’s, and has had a
chance to talk to the priests
and some of the parishioners
there. “A life with Christ is
a life filled with the greatest
joy,” he observes. “The real
happiness of a priest is sharing
that life through the grace of
the sacraments, and teaching
the beauty of the Catholic
faith. I look forward to doing
that at St. Theresa’s.”
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