Father Stephen Sledesky                      Email Fr. Stephen Here

I am Fr. Stephen Sledesky, the pastor of the Catholic Community of St. Bridget. Upon arriving at St. Bridget in August of 2003, heard all about this great bicycling trip with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in which some of our parishioners had participated. This led to the formation of a vision to continue the mission of raising awareness about the extent of poverty in Connecticut – the wealthiest state in the wealthiest country of the world – by doing a week-long ride around the state.

Why is Fr. Stephen Participating?

As I learned more about their plans leading up to that ride in August of 2004, and being a bit of a cycling enthusiast myself, I figured that the best way to learn about the mission of this dynamic group of people was to join them, at least for part of the trip. Little did I know the extent of involvement that would require in terms of training beforehand! As my legs began to cramp up around mile 15 of my first training ride, I thought…what am I doing this for? But the inspiration of the team members was just incredible, and I was hooked! After spending 2 days and 75 miles with the team on their summer trek, on radio talk shows, visiting legislators’ offices, meeting with parishes and helping with presentations, I resolved to try to join the team on other parish visits and the upcoming summer’s week-long excursion as my time allows. I am truly grateful for each member’s inspiration, commitment to raising awareness about the issues of poverty, dedication to living and spreading the Gospel message of justice, and patience with their pastor riding along!