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NOW MORE THAN EVER 

YOUR GIFT IS VITAL!

Did you know the Annual

Bishop’s Appeal…• Provides over one million meals this year through

Catholic Charities

• Educates more than 34,000 children and adults inreligious education programs

• Educates over 10,000 students in Catholic schools

• Offers funds to support the Cathedral Cluster Schoolsin Bridgeport, enabling inner-city children to receivea quality education

• Supports 28 men in formation for the priesthood and17 men in the permanent diaconate formation program

Please visit www.bridgeportdiocese.com to make 

your donation and learn more about the 

2009 Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal.

238 Jewett Avenue • Bridgeport, Connecticut 06606-2892 • 203-416-1479 • e-mail: aba@diobpt.org

2009 LIVING OURFAITHANNUAL BISHOP’S APPEAL

DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

Room To Grow is a School Readiness Program,accredited by the National Association for the Education of 

Young Children, operated by Catholic Charities in Norwalk.Program Director Nancy Owens is used to stretching every

dollar and finding creative ways to serve the 83 children andtheir families above and beyond education.

Enter Panera Bread in Norwalk and their Operation

Dough-Nation Program that

packages unsold bakeryproducts at the end of each

day for donation to local

food banks and charities.

Each Wednesday justbefore 9 p.m., Nancy and her

husband make the drive to

the Norwalk Panera Bread

and pick up a donation of day-end breads, bagels and

pastries. Depending on the

day there could be one large

box of food or there could be

as many as 8-10 largeplastic lined bags filled with

boxes of food. Everything is

Extending the Reach of the Living Our Faith AppealCatholic Charities in Norwalk partners with Panera Bread to help young families in need 

DONATIONS TO THE 2009 APPEAL can be made securely online at

www.bridgeportdiocese.com , click on Bishop’s Appeal, then Donate Now

Online to make a gift using a credit card. For more information on the

Appeal, please inquire at your parish, or call the Development Office:416-1479

If you would like to receive the Living

Our Faith newsletter and other diocesanupdates by e-mail, please send your name

e-mail address and phone number, and

place “Newsletter” in the subject line.

Send to: aba@diobpt.org. We will addyour name to our list. Thank you.

M ARC H 2 0 0 9

carefully wrapped and transported to Room To Grow.

Each Thursday morning, now known as “bread day” at

Room to Grow, the food is used for snacks for the childrenand is distributed to families struggling to make ends meet.

Ruth and Karla, two volunteer moms, prepare the breads

for the children and then determine what is left over. Nancy

identifies families with children in the program who are incritical need of food then Ruth and Karla individually bag the

food so every family is provided for.

Nancy learned about the program through another

Catholic Charities colleague, MichelleConderino. Michelle is the director of 

Homeless Services in the GreaterDanbury area. “I was so fortunate to

find this program and we are all soappreciative of Panera,” says Nancy.

“Operation Dough-Nation defrays our

food costs and allows us to support our

families. This means we can leveragedollars that we need to run the center.”

Nancy admits that it is sometimes

difficult, after working a full day

operating a preschool, to get in thecar and make that late night trip.

But the knowledge that those

few hours of extra effort will

feed so many of her families isall she needs.

Room To Grow is just

one of the programs of 

Catholic Charities and this

partnership is just one of theways that Living Our Faith

Appeal dollars are expanded.

NONPROFIT

US POSTAGE

PAID

STAMFORD, CT

PERMITNO 248

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The 2009 Living Our Faith

Annual Bishop’s Appeal is launched!

The 2009 Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal

launched in early January with receptions throughout Fairfield

County. Bishop Lori greeted guests throughout the region and

presented the mission and goals of this year’s Appeal. The 2009

Living Our Faith video was shown highlighting how the Appeal

is making a difference in the lives of people throughout Fairfield

County as a result of the generous support of parishioners.

“As I share the mission and vision of this year’s Appeal,

it is a privilege to meet with parishioners, hear their concerns,

and answer their questions,” says Bishop Lori.

We are most appreciative to the following pastors who

hosted the regional receptions:

Fr. Victor Martin, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Fairfield

Msgr. Robert Weiss, Saint Rose of Lima, Newtown

Msgr. Frank Wissel, Saint Mary Parish, Greenwich

Msgr. Nicholas Grieco, St. Francis of Assisi, Weston

Deacon Rudolf and Jean Trankowitz 

Msgr. Nicholas Grieco, Carmen and John Bartholomew,

and Ralph Lazzaro

“I believe real charity happens when you

yourself have to scrimp at home and then

you turn around and give to someone who

is in a worse situation.” – Jan Dilenschneider 

Jan and Bob Dilenschneider, Chair-couple of the 2009 Appeal, with

former Chair-couple Cissie and Robert Ix.

Andy Vill is a

second year

seminarian atSaint John Fisher

and his calling to

the priesthood is ac o m p e l l i n g

account of events.Here is his story.

“I can remem-

ber the exact day I

felt called to thepriesthood. I had

not been thinking about being a priest

prior to that morning, although I had

been trying to work my faith into mydaily schedule. That morning, I had a

thought that God wanted me to be a

priest.

I prayed to Him and remembersaying, “God, if you are serious about

this, give me some sort of sign.”

Later that evening, Father Paul

Murphy gave the homily at the 5PM

Sunday Mass and he talked about his lifebefore becoming a priest and his decision

to follow God’s will for his life.

I prayed to God for another sign justto be sure.

The next day I had a Boy Scout

meeting in Milford, CT and had to leave

from UCONN in Stamford. I usually

would have taken the Merritt Parkway,but decided to travel by way of I-95.

As I was driving through Stratford

I saw a large red billboard, which read,

“Do you know what you want to be?Have you asked me?” - God.

There was my answer. I noticed that

there was a website listed on the

billboard, www.HearTheCall.org. On thewebsite, I noticed the Spiritual Director,

Father Nick, who I had met six months

earlier at a retreat. I called Fr. Nick andbegan my journey to the priesthood.

Through gifts to the 2009 Appeal, the 

Diocese is able to promote the priesthood 

and offer a sound priestly formation to serve parishioners. There are currently 28 men in

formation and six new priests will be 

ordained in the spring.

Support to the 2009

Annual Bishop’s

Appeal supports

seminarians

2009 Living Our Faith Annual Bishop’s Appeal Kick-off Receptions

Saint Rose of Lima Parish, NewtownMsgr. Robert Weiss hosted parishioners on Thursday, January 8, 2009.

Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, WestonMsgr. Nicholas Grieco welcomed guests as part at the 2009 kick-off receptions on

Tuesday, January 13, 2009.

Msgr. Frank Wissel greeted and entertained 

guests on Friday, January 9, 2009.

Saint Mary Parish, Greenwich

Elsie Palmieri and Fr. Michael 

Dogali 

Mrs. And Mrs. Yerger Morehdad 

Wanda Borges, Msgr. Edward Surwilo

Geza and Esther Ziegler with Bishop Lori 

Raymond and Louise Spagnuolo, with Fr. Amal 

Raj Chellakan, a visiting priest from India.

Suzanne McEmber, Fr. John Inserra, Alan McEmber,Fr. Milan Dimic, and Steven Moore 

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