New Bishop Installed For Bridgeport Diocese

FAIRFIELD (AP) — William Edward Lori fulfilled much more than his childhood dream as he was installed Monday as the fourth Bishop of Bridgeport.

“I thought since the second grade I’d stand at an altar,” Bishop Lori told reporters minutes before he was installed in front of cardinals, bishops, and thousands of the Roman Catholic faithful. “But to stand here and become the Bishop of Bridgeport – never.”

Bishop Lori, who was installed at a ceremony at Sacred Heart University, will lead a diocese of 87 parishes in Fairfield County and some 365,000 Catholics. The diocese includes some of the wealthiest towns in America as well as some of the state’s most impoverished.

Underscoring the need, Bishop Lori announced during his homily that Mother Teresa’s nuns, known as the Missionaries of Charity, will open their first Connecticut convent in Bridgeport in the coming weeks. The nuns are famous for their work among the poorest of the poor.

The Missionaries of Charity, whose plain dress features white with blue trim, were among the many who attended Lori’s installation. The audience also included Lori’s parents from Kentucky and his predecessor, Cardinal Edward M. Egan of the New York Archdiocese.

The procession alone took more than 30 minutes and included the Knights of Columbus – wearing bright purple hats and white gloves – as well as the cardinals, bishops, and others.

Bishop Lori, 49, was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. He has said he expects his major responsibilities will be strengthening parochial schools and vocations in the diocese and promoting healing after a legal settlement over alleged sexual abuse by priests.

During his homily, Bishop Lori emphasized the importance of daily prayer and church attendance. He also vowed “vigorous evangelization.”

“May we continue to reach out in love to the vulnerable – especially the unborn, the frail elderly, the sick, the troubled, the impoverished, the imprisoned, victims of racial and ethnic intolerance,” he said.