Bishop
The Most Reverend Christie Macaluso, D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General
Moderator of the Curia

• Born June 12, 1945 in Hartford
• Baccalaureate degree in philosophy, St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland
• Master of Sacred Theology degree, St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland
• Master of Arts degree in philosophy, Trinity College, Hartford
• Master of Arts degree in psychology, New York University
• Languages studies: Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German and Dutch
• Music studies: violin, piano, organ, theory, composition and conducting
• Ordained a Priest by Archbishop Whealon, May 22, 1971
• Served as assistant pastor, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, West Hartford and St. Joseph Parish, New Britain
• Faculty member of St. Thomas Seminary College as an instructor in philosophy
• Appointed academic dean of St. Thomas Seminary in 1980 and rector and president in 1985. While on the seminary staff, he served as a weekend assistant at St. Francis Parish in Torrington and Sacred Heart Parish in Bloomfield
• Served as Pastor of Cathedral of St. Joseph from June 1991 through June 1997
• Named by the pope as a prelate of honor with the title of monsignor and named Episcopal Vicar for Hartford, 1995
• Has worked with the Greater Hartford Consortium on Higher Education, the Asylum Hill Organizing Project and the Christian Conference of Connecticut
• Episcopal Ordination as Titular Bishop of Grass Valley and the eighth Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, June 10, 1997
• Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia

Coat of Arms of Bishop Macaluso

For his personal arms Bishop Macaluso has selected a design that reflects his life as a priest and as a Bishop. The entire design is placed on a blue shield, reflecting his devotion to the Blessed Mother.

In the main portion of the design there are three symbols that are of particular importance to the Bishop. The most central is the cross of our faith, represented in what is called "a cross formy." This format of the cross is the type that was used on the invitation and prayer cards that were used for the priestly ordination of Bishop Macaluso, and so it is particularly appropriate as he receives the fullness of Christ's priesthood as a bishop.

This cross is placed below two other charges that have come to make Bishop Macaluso the person that he is. These are the gold lion of Saint Thomas Seminary, where the Bishop served as Rector, and the gold "hart," holding the silver banner of Christ, for which the city and the See of Hartford are named and which Bishop Macaluso has served for all of his priestly ministry.

The silver wavy barlets, that signify the water at the "ford" of Hartford, recognize the impact that water has had on the Bishop's life and on his heritage. By means of water we enter the Body of Christ in Baptism. Water is also very much a part of the lives of those who live, work and recreate in the Archdiocese of Hartford, located on the Connecticut River and abutting Long Island Sound.

In the base of the shield are crossed a silver shamrock and a golden pine cone. These honor the Irish heritage that His Excellency has received from his mother, Helen Meaney Macaluso, and the Italian heritage that he has received from his father, Albert Carl Macaluso. While the use of the shamrock is rather straightforward, it must be understood that on the Palermo side of Sicily, especially in the mountain regions, the pine cone, because it is so rare, is a prize. Used in special cooking the pine cone has become a symbol of special honor for the people of this region to which Bishop Macaluso traces his heritage.

For his motto, Bishop Macaluso has selected the Latin phrase, "VERITAS LIBERABIT VOS." This phrase, taken from the Gospel of St. John (John 8:32), is translated to express the deepest of Christian beliefs that "the truth will set you free." For it is in believing, and in making those beliefs part of our lives, that we become free from the evils that surround us and try to ensnare us each day, as we move to the blessed eternity that Christ won for us by his death on the cross.

Completing the external ornaments are a gold processional cross in back of the shield which extends above and below the shield, with the pontifical hat, called a "gallero," with its six tassels in three rows on either side of the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop by instruction of the Holy See of March 31, 1969.

By: Paul J. Sullivan, Narragansett, Rhode Island

Bishop Macaluso's Office:
134 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT 06105-3784
Phone: 860-541-649