Our Former Pastors
There have been a number of pastors in the more-than-100-year history of St. Joseph’s of Stratford but three stand out for the important roles they played:
Right Rev. Anthony D. Kopka
Bishop Kopka
Bishop Kopka served St. Joseph’s from 1982 until his assignment in July 2009 as the Bishop of the Western Diocese. Upon graduation from the Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton, Pa., he was ordained to the priesthood on May 13, 1981 at St. Stanislaus Cathedral in Scranton.
After serving for a year as an assistant priest at Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral in Buffalo, N.Y., then-Father Kopka was assigned to St. Joseph’s parish in Bridgeport, Conn. He arrived in the late spring of 1982 and offered his first Mass as pastor on Father’s Day.
Under his leadership, the parish reached a key moment in its long history: the move from Bridgeport to the present location in Stratford. In a process that began in 1987, he guided the parish through a relocation that concluded with the inaugural Mass in the present church on Jan. 1, 1989.
He was elected to the office of diocesan bishop at the P.N.C.C. General Synod on Oct. 10, 2006 in Manchester, N.H. He was consecrated on Nov. 30, 2006 at St. Stanislaus Cathedral in Scranton and after spending more than two years as Auxiliary Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, he was appointed Bishop of the Western Diocese and departed for Chicago in July. Bishop Kopka’s family includes his wife, Darlene, and daughters Kristen and Lauren.
Rev. Casimir Wilczek
Rev. Casimir Wilczek
Father Casimir Wilczek had long served the PNCC by the time he arrived at St. Joseph’s in the late 1970s following the retirement of Very Rev. Leopold Dabrowski. A native of the Midwest, Rev. Wilczek was summoned from semi-retirement to fill a need in Bridgeport. Without a resident pastor for the first time in 35 years, there was an uneasiness at St. Joseph’s prior to his arrival. Father Wilczek and his wife, Genny, helped ease that. A soft-spoken, gentle man, Rev. Wilczek quickly returned stability and also made his mark in other ways. He introduced the English High Mass and Mass facing the people. He also re-established the parish men’s society and re-focused much of the attention on the parish youth before re-retiring and heading to his native Ohio in the early 1980s.
Very Rev. Leopold Dabrowski
Very Rev. Leopold Dabrowski
By the time Very Rev. Leopold Dabrowski arrived at St. Joseph’s in 1940, the parish had been around for more than 30 years. Under his leadership, St. Joseph’s survived some challenging times and emerged stronger than ever. Father Senior had served the PNCC well by the time he settled in Bridgeport. He had already played a major role in helping to organize several parishes in New England and served as pastor at a number of others. He remained at St. Joseph’s until his retirement in 1975, guiding us through some trying financial times and overseeing a vibrant flock as the parish continued to be a vital part of the Bridgeport community. Very Rev. Dabrowski remains the longest-serving pastor in parish history.