Father Karl Bissinger

Father Bissinger, a native of Fall River, is the son of Andrew Bissinger, a native of New Rochelle, N.Y., and Therese (Clement) Bissinger, a native of Fall River. His father is a retired Fall River fire fighter, and his mother works as a secretary in the Fall River Public School Department. Educated in Fall River public schools, he graduated from B.M.C. Durfee High School in 1989, where he was a member of the concert, marching and stage bands. Upon graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After boot camp in San Diego, Calif., he studied Modern Hebrew at the Defensive Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., and was stationed for more than three years at Fort Meade, Md. He also served on the destroyers U.S.S. Hayler and U.S.S. John Hancock during a six-month deployment to the Red Sea.

Following completion of active duty in 1994, he attended UMass-Dartmouth, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 1998. During the summer of 1997, he studied French at the Language Schools at Middlebury College, Vt.

Father Bissinger became a seminarian for the Fall River diocese in 2000. He attended Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., for a year before being sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome in 2001. During the summer of 2002, he studied Ancient Greek at the University College of Cork, Ireland. He received a bachelor of sacred theology degree at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2004. He was ordained a priest by Bishop George W. Coleman at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River on July 10, 2005.

Father Bissinger spent the summers of 2005 and 2006 traveling throughout the diocese preaching in different parishes on vocations. He is currently the Parochial Vicar of Saint Julie Billiart Parish in North Dartmouth in addition to his duties as Vocation Director.