Category: Advisory board

Bishop Joseph L. Coffey, son of the late Dr. William F. X Coffey, M.D., and Roseanita Schubert Coffey, was
born in Rochester, MN, on May 31, 1960. He is the fifth of nine children and the proud uncle of 46 nieces
and nephews and 12 great nieces and nephews. He was raised in Philadelphia and is a life-long fan of all
the Philly sports teams.

Bishop Coffey graduated from La Salle University in 1982 with a double major in English/French which
included a year of study at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. After college, Bishop Coffey worked
as a grade school teacher, a ski instructor in Switzerland, and in the automobile industry in Germany and
Belgium for five years.

Heeding a call to the priesthood, he attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA, and
graduated with a Master of Divinity degree (MDiv) and was ordained in 1996 by Anthony Cardinal
Bevilacqua. He earned a Master of Arts (MA) in Moral Theology, also from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 2000.

While still in seminary, Father Coffey was given permission by Cardinal Bevilacqua to enter the U.S. Navy
Chaplain Candidate Program in May of 1992 with the rank of Ensign. He stayed in the Navy Reserve for
the next nine years.

Following ordination in 1996, Bishop Coffey was assigned as an Associate Pastor to St. Katherine of Siena parish in Philadelphia, PA. After five years in parish ministry, he was given permission by Cardinal
Bevilacqua for full-time active duty as a Navy Chaplain in September of 2001.

Bishop Coffey’s duty assignments have included: Combat Assault Battalion, Okinawa, Japan; Division
Officer and Command Chaplain on board USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73), homeported in Norfolk,
VA, with a 6 month deployment to the Arabian Gulf; Command Chaplain at the U.S. Coast Guard Training
Center, Cape May, NJ; Marine Air Group 39, Camp Pendleton, CA, an assignment that included a sevenmonth month deployment to Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Provence, Afghanistan; U.S. Navy Recruiting Command, St. Louis, MO; Command Chaplain on USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76), home ported in Yokosuka, Japan, with a six-month deployment to the South Pacific Ocean; and his final assignment as Assistant Chief of Staff for Religious Ministry, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA.

Bishop Coffey’s military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal
with 2 gold stars, the Navy Achievement Medal with 2 gold stars, the Navy Sea Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the NATO Service Medal, 3 Battle E Ribbons.

The Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano was installed as Fifth Bishop of Bridgeport on Thursday, September 19, 2013 at St. Theresa Church in Trumbull. In his installation homily, he spoke of the needs to build bridges to youth, to all those who are troubled, who are neglected and to Catholics who no longer participate in the life of the Church.

On February 22, 2014, he formally convoked the 4th Synod of the Diocese of Bridgeport, the first in 32 years, as an opportunity for renewal and pastoral planning for the future of the local Church. After a series of listening sessions with over 4,000 comments by laity, priests and religious across the diocese, the bishop announced the Synod 2014 themes of empowering youth, building up the community of faith, fostering evangelical outreach, and promoting works of charity and justice.

In an historic move of reconciliation, Bishop Caggiano met with the membership of Voice of the Faithful in March 2014 to discuss issues that have divided the local Church for decades. He also reconstituted the Review Board of the Diocese to oversee implementation of diocesan Safe Environments policy, and announced the formation of a new Ministerial Advisory Board to review cases in which the bishop must consider action regarding the assignment of a priest or deacon accused of adult misconduct. In the spring of 2014, the bishop initiated a major reorganization of diocesan offices to improve the level of service and communication with parishes.

Bishop Caggiano came to Bridgeport from the Diocese of Brooklyn, where on June 6, 2006, he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and Titular Bishop of Inis Cathaig by Pope Benedict XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 22, from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, with Bishops Thomas Daily and Ignatius Catanello serving as co-consecrators.

He was born in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn on Easter Sunday, March 29, 1959, the second of two children of Arnaldo and Gennarina Caggiano, both of whom came to this country in 1958 from the town of Caggiano in the province of Salerno, Italy. He grew up in Saints Simon and Jude Church and attended the parish’s grammar school. The bishop’s education continued at Regis High School in Manhattan, conducted by the Jesuits, where he was a member of the class of 1977.

Bishop Caggiano entered Yale University in September, 1977, as a political science major. After further discernment, he transferred into Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in January, 1978. He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in June, 1981.

After graduating from Cathedral College, the bishop worked for 18 months as the sales representative for the Gregg Division of McGraw Hill Publishing Company, serving the entire New York metropolitan area. At the end of this brief period of secular employment, the bishop began his major seminary studies at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, New York. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 16, 1987 in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, Queens.

A noted catechist, Bishop Caggiano was invited by Pope Benedict XVI to deliver World Youth Day talks in Sydney in 2008, Madrid in 2011, and by Pope Francis to serve as a catechist at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, 2013. He also preached at the Youth 2000 Summer Festival in Tipperary, Ireland. He is a member of the sub-committee on the catechism of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. In November, 2013, he was appointed to a three-year term as episcopal advisor of The National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry.

Very Reverend Thomas W. Kunz, JCD, STLFather Kunz is the Associate General Secretary and Episcopal Vicar for Canonical Services of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.  He was ordained a priest for the Pittsburgh Diocese in 2004 after his priestly formation at the Pontifical North American College, Rome, Italy and in 2005 received a Licentiate Degree in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.  After a time of parish work in Pittsburgh, in 2008 he returned to Rome to attain a doctoral degree in canon law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, known by many as the Angelicum University.  Before entering the seminary, Father Kunz graduated from Loyola University in Baltimore, MD in 1995 with a Bachelors in Business Administration and worked for several years in the financial services field.

Sister Mary Gabriel is a member of the Sisters of Life, a religious community dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of human life. The Sisters are based out of New York and have missions in Connecticut; Washington, DC; Philadelphia; Denver, CO; and Toronto, Canada. Originally from Long Island, NY, Sister Mary Gabriel has been a member of the Sisters of Life since 1999. She has a passion for mentoring young women into the freedom found in Jesus Christ and has served as Vocations Director and Novice Director for her community.

Sister Mary Gabriel was Co-Chair of the of the inaugural 2016 GIVEN Forum and, together with her community, conceived of the idea to host a leadership forum for young women throughout the United States with the aim of helping them to “receive the gift they are, realize the gifts they’ve been given, and respond with the gift that only they can give.”

Conrad York is the founder of Conrad York Consulting, a marketing and sales advisory practice focused on growth strategies and marketing programs for financial organizations looking to improve their marketing efforts and build out multi-platform distribution models. Prior to starting my consulting firm, Conrad spent 17 years at Northwestern as the leader of the Marketing function.  Earlier in his career, he held a variety of sales and marketing roles in manufacturing, technology and transportation sectors. He is currently involved with a variety of non-profits, including the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Christian Fellowship Community, Messmer Catholic Schools and Marquette University High School. Conrad received his B.S. in Finance and Management Information Systems and MBA from Marquette University.

Mr. John Knowles is an accomplished advancement executive specializing in membership associations and higher education institutions. He served as the chief development and external affairs officer for private colleges in Florida. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Western Michigan University, a Juris Doctorate of Law degree from Michigan State University, and a fellowship certificate in leadership from Michigan State University. He and his wife, Jennifer, live in eastern Pennsylvania and have two children.