Let Me Be Frank | Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Podcast | Diocese of Bridgeport, CT

How Easter is Celebrated Around the World

Happy Easter! He is risen!
Nota bene: Bishop Caggiano & I recorded this episode of Let Me Be Frank before the Holy Father passed away. In the next episode, we will certainly reflect on the pontificate, suffering, and death of Pope Francis… and perhaps talk about what lies ahead.
In the meantime… did the Easter Bilby (yes, Bilby) visit your house? My guess is... no. Unless you're Australian.
On Let Me Be Frank this week, Bishop Caggiano takes us on a voyage around the world to see how Easter is celebrated in Australia, France, Antigua, Greece, Sweden, Mexico, Bermuda, Poland, Philippines, New York, and Italy.
Well, you have all of Easter Season (until June 8th) to try some of these traditions out yourself.
Bishop Frank also gives a tip for evangelization... and I tell a story of mercy.
Pax Christi,
Steve Lee
The other guy on Let Me Be Frank

Ask Bishop Caggiano Anything...

You gotta see this… 
 
In something brand new for Let Me Be Frank, we recorded the show live in front of an audience at St Mary Church in Greenwich!
 
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked Bishop Caggiano before we started rolling the cameras.
 
“Let’s see what the people in the audience have on their minds,” he smiled.
 
And so this week’s episode is audience questions (and follow ups). We talked about: …why do pastors have term limits? …how do we get families of children in CCD to be more active? …how do we revitalize our Catholic schools? …how can we pray the rosary better? …can you help me forgive someone who continues to hurt me?
 
I’m sure you’ll enjoy this episode… and please join us for the next live audience session on Friday, May 30th at St Rose of Lima in Newtown!
 
Pax Christi,
Steve Lee
The other guy on Let Me Be Frank
 
LINKS
Email List: https://www.veritascatholic.com/
To Support Veritas: https://www.veritascatholic.com/donate
Other Shows
The Tangent on Veritas: https://www.youtube.com/@thetangentonveritas
Daily Reflections: https://www.youtube.com/@DailyCatholicReflections
Restless Catholic Young Adults: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1SbvGysG6C0mnQRAVcagkg
 

Bishop Caggiano Answers Your Questions!

This Friday, we’re taking the show on the road to St Mary’s in Greenwich. If you're able to attend on April 11th, please join us at 9:30am as Bishop Frank answers audience questions for a special episode of Let Me Be Frank!
 
Speaking of audience questions… we are diving in to the mailbag this week on Let Me Be Frank. Bishop Frank is on the mend from his 16-day sickness (unprecedented for him, but it gave him a new perspective during Lent), and he is back for a brand new episode. Among the topics...Did you know that God gives each of us two families that work together for our religious formation?
What should we call the bishop when we meet him and talk to him in person?
Doesn’t Luke calling Jesus Mary’s “first born son” imply there were more children who followed?
Is being left-handed… sinister?
 
Plus… after a long pause, he shares a tip for evangelization. Enjoy!
 
LINKS
Email List: https://www.veritascatholic.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy9oYx0t7imNDH5nLwSiM8Q
Support Veritas: https://www.veritascatholic.com/donate
 

Defending the Catholic Faith with Chris Check - President of Catholic Answers

What is “apologetics”? Chris Check, president of Catholic Answers, joins Bishop Caggiano to answer this question. They also answer questions like: 
 
What do Joan of Arc, Catherine of Siena, and Chris Check have in common? 
Why should you fill your house with good books? 
Why should you, as Chesterton put it, “let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair”?
 
Along the way, Chris talk about his relationship with Fr Paul Check (beloved priest of our diocese), the history of Catholic Answers, and the role of the military in a young man’s formation.
 

A Deep Dive into the Church Fathers, w/ David Augustine from Word on Fire

"Maybe Christianity should become weird again."
Reading the works of the early Church fathers has brought countless non-Catholic Christians into the Church and has strengthened so many Catholics who are already in the heart of the Church.
 
David Augustine (who said the quote above on this week's Let Me Be Frank) has compiled and edited The Early Church Fathers Collection for Bishop Barron & Word on Fire. David & Bishop Frank tackle questions like: Who were the Church fathers? What can modern readers take away from each of the Church fathers? Why & how did Tertullian veer off track?
 
...and somewhere along the way, David suggested we should make Christianity weird again.

The Church Fathers, Immigration, & Lent (w/ Rod Bennett)

Let Me Be Frank is split into two discrete segments today…
 
First… Jesus Christ did not incarnate to write a book. Instead, the Apostles were the plan. Rod Bennett joins us to talk about the 12 Apostles and his book, These Twelve. Rod dispels myths about these men that still linger today, and Bishop Frank takes an important lesson from the conversation.
 
In the second segment, Bishop Frank talks about the health of Pope Francis and then about immigrants... before he gives some reflections and thoughts on Lent.
 
Today’s episode also sees the convergence of accents (Brooklyn vs Southern) and… revisiting online videos of Mongolian rural cooking...
 

George Cardinal Pell (w/ his personal friend Tess Livingstone)

George Cardinal Pell was a faithful, formidable, and fearless prince of the Church who lived a remarkable life… as a seminarian in Rome during Vatican II, as a reformer of Australia’s seminaries, in his years in China (in disguise!), at the Secretariat of the Economy (where he uncovered 1billion euros off the books), and the years spent wrongfully imprisoned before his acquittal and vindication…
Tess Livingstone has written a wonderful biography of the rugged and resilient Australian, and she joins Bishop Caggiano to talk about Cardinal Pell (who Bishop also knew!)…
I really enjoyed listening to this conversation and learning about His Eminence, who passed away just over two years ago.
Also, please allow us to highlight two important (and fun) events coming soon to our area: 1) Mark Schultz concert at Fairfield University on Fri, March 14th to benefit Malta House and 2) March for Life in Hartford on Wed, March 19th
LINKS Email List: https://www.veritascatholic.com/
Tess's Book: https://ignatius.com/george-cardinal-pell-gcpbh/
Malta House Event: https://www.maltahouse.org/event/2025-mark-schultz-concert-to-benefit-malta-house
CT March: https://marchforlife.org/connecticut/
 

What Happens at Mass, with Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, OSB

Sacrosanctum Concilium says "the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows"...
Abbott Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, literally wrote the book on what happens at Mass, and the more we can understand the Mass... the better and more actively we all can worship. Father Abbott also serves as a member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, having first been appointed by John Paul II, and then renewed by Benedict XVI and then Francis.
This is an excellent discussion which just scratches the surface, but Bishop Caggiano asks Father Abbott questions like: What is monastic life like? What is liturgy? What should the homily do? And how should music be during Mass?
I'm obviously neither a bishop nor a liturgical expert, but it seems like a few simple elements would really elevate our worship at Mass... distinct periods of silence, use of chant & polyphony, some prayers in Latin, lots of incense, communion at the altar rail, and the priest facing ad orientam...