At two recent full-day orientation sessions, the diocesan Pastoral Institute welcomed 80 new participants for the Lay Ministry Program. Coming from parishes across the diocese, lay leaders embark on a three-year course of intellectual, spiritual, human and pastoral formation that will prepare them for service in their parishes. Thirty-nine will follow the Spanish-language track, while […]
Month: September 2015
Judy Agard, Business Administrator at Our Lady of Refuge
A Mass of Christian Burial for Judy Agard, business administrator and stewardship director at Our Lady of Refuge parish, Flatbush, for 20 years, was celebrated Sept. 24. She died Sept. 17 after a long battle with cancer. Father Michael Perry, pastor, was the main celebrant of the funeral Mass. The homilist was Father Hilaire Belizaire. […]
Father W. Alan Briceland, S.J.
Father W. Alan Briceland, S.J., a member of the Society of Jesus for 64 years, died on Sept. 14 at Murray-Weigel Hall, Bronx, after a brief illness. Born in Syracuse, he was ordained a priest on June 10, 1965 at Canisius College, Buffalo. He taught theology at Xavier H.S., Manhattan, from 1971-92. In 1996, he […]
Deacon Vincent Francis DeBiase
Deacon Vincent Francis DeBiase, 86, a retired deacon of St. Margaret Church, Middle Village, died Sept. 20. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Margaret Church, Sept. 24. He was 86. A veteran of the U.S. Army, who served in the First Infantry Division, 1946-49, he was ordained to the permanent diaconate 1985 […]
Church Respects Women
Dear Editor: The comments of Ernie Terga (Readers’ Forum, “Pay Attention to Women,”June 20) are disrespectful to women and the Church. He is wrong to insist that the Church has ever said, in any capacity, that “men have a monopoly on piety.” Does the Church say that the women she canonizes or elevates to Doctors […]
Response to Homelessness
Dear Editor: To Frederick R. Bedell Jr. (Readers’ Forum, “Homelessness,” Sept. 9), I want to offer my apologies to you for your experience as a veteran being homeless after being released from the U.S. Navy and having served during the Vietnam era. There is something seriously wrong with us as a country when men come […]
Defunding PP
Dear Editor: We know that there are Catholics who support abortion. However, no one can support the harvesting of baby parts for sale on the open market. Where is the Catholic voice to defund Planned Parenthood? There are four ways to defund Planned Parenthood (PP). Three will not work because Obama can veto the bill. […]
Countering the Absence of Self
Second in a series, Just before I sat down to write this column, I re-read some of the pages toward the beginning of Jesuit Father John Kavanaugh’s terrific book, “Following Christ in a Consumer Society: The Spirituality of Cultural Resistance” (New York, Maryknoll: Orbis, 1991, pp. 194).
Send Message on Abortion
Dear Editor: I agree with your guest columnist, John Garvey (“Using Technology to Humanize Unborn Life,” Aug. 27), about using technology to humanize the unborn child as a deterrent to abortions. This should be done via PSAs as the ones done on smoking have effectively stopped people from using cigarettes. Send a message to the […]
A Pope Who Understands
Dear Editor: Pope Francis is truly a loving and understanding man of faith and of the people. Thank you for simplifying the annulment process. I applied over 20 years ago, but found the paperwork and criteria daunting. Having to relive the events leading up to my marriage, my marriage and the demise of my marriage […]