BOYNTON BEACH, FLA – Today, the Most Reverend Gregg M. Caggianelli was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, making him the first U.S. bishop ordained after the election of Pope Leo XIV. The ordination took place in Boynton Beach, FL, at Saint Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary, where the new bishop—an active reservist and colonel in the United States Air Force—has served for years as a priest, professor, and administrator.
His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, celebrated the ordination through the laying of hands and the invocation of the Holy Spirit. His Excellency anointed the new bishop’s head with oil, placed the bishop’s ring on his right ring finger, and presented him with the miter and crosier under the prayerful gaze of a packed congregation in Saint Vincent’s Chapel. The seminary lived-streamed the celebration on social media where it can be viewed at https://www.svdp.edu/live or https://www.facebook.com/
In his homily, noting that “the secular age has blinded many to the idea of truth, life after death, and judgment,” Archbishop Broglio implored Bishop Caggianelli to spread the truth of the Gospel: “Pope Leo has called us to unity and mission. As the first U.S. bishop ordained after his election, those must remain special watchwords for you. To borrow from Saint John Neumann, if we have accepted the truth of Christ and committed our lives to him, there can be no separation between what we believe and the way we live our lives. Our every thought, word, and action must be directed to the glory of God and the spread of his kingdom…. With miter, staff, and ring, embrace this people and lead them to that kingdom that does not pass away. Consecrate them in the truth, for His grace is sufficient for you.”
Prior to the ordination, Bishop Caggianelli, 57, made a public profession of Catholic faith, and he took the oath of fidelity. His ordination brings to five the number of auxiliary bishops now serving with Archbishop Broglio in his ministry to 1.8-million Catholics worldwide in all branches of the U.S. Military and those hospitalized in the nation’s VA medical centers or working for the government as civilians beyond U.S. borders.
Archbishop Broglio celebrated the 2:00 p.m. ordination Mass with dozens of other priests and bishops including the co-consecrators Bishops Frank J. Dewane of Venice, FL, and David L. Toups of Beaumont, TX, and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito of Palm Beach, FL, and AMS Auxiliary Bishops F. Richard Spencer and Joseph L. Coffey, retired AMS Auxiliary Bishop Richard B. Higgins, and Father Alfredo I. Hernández, Rector and President of Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary. Also concelebrating were the Rev. Monsignor Anthony R. Frontiero, AMS Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia; Father Mark Rutherford, AMS Judicial Vicar; Father Paul-Anthony Halladay, AMS Vocations Director; and Msgr. Robert R. Cannon, Ch, Col, USAF (Ret.), former AMS Chancellor and priest of the Diocese of Venice. FL, whom Bishop Caggianelli credits for encouraging his discernment of priestly vocation.
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