MILL BASIN — Catholic schools can change the world because they are the best way to develop the next generation of Catholics, said Deacon Kevin McCormack, the diocesan superintendent of schools.

Deacon McCormack was the main speaker at the 124th annual anniversary dinner of The Cathedral Club of Brooklyn at El Caribe Country Club in Mill Basin on Feb. 8.

“The world is a mess because we have allowed extremes on both sides to determine the agendas,” said Deacon McCormack. “We have allowed extremes to determine what can be spoken, how it’s going to be spoken about, and when anyone disagrees, they cannot be heard.

“There’s no one in the forum right now that is offering a third way or a better way or an old way.”

The Church, he said, can offer a new way because Catholics see the world differently than everyone else.

Catholic schools teach respect for the individual person, from the womb to the tomb, he explained, and they believe that God’s grace abounds in everything they do.

“In this room, we are bound together not only as Christians but as people of faith,” he said.

“The dignity of the individual cannot be compromised,” he said, “because we know that God is in our midst.

“We have a responsibility to have an intense relationship with our God and if we do it right, we can change the world,” he said.

“The Catholic faith is central to everything we need. The schools of our country will prepare the next generation of Catholics.

“We know that Christ is real, that faith is real, and that the dignity of the human being cannot be compromised. We need to develop a new generation with a Catholic imagination and that is best done in our Catholic schools.”

The deacon praised the work of The Cathedral Club, particularly its support for Catholic schools through its scholarship program. While he realized that he was “preaching to the choir,” he asked members of the club to go out and recruit others to the mission of Catholic education.

Bishop Robert Brennan told the 365 attendees that he spent Catholic Schools Week visiting academies in Brooklyn and Queens. He said that he quoted a second-century bishop, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, as he addressed the students.

“St. Irenaeus said, ‘The human person fully alive is the glory of God,’” said Bishop Brennan. “I told the students they are the glory of God.

“I look out at the room here and I see the glory of God in all your faces.”

He thanked the club for its support of Catholic schools and he urged them to surround themselves with other people of goodwill to assist their efforts.

“We as professional people need the support of one another. That’s what we’re all about at The Cathedral Club — good people of faith who make a valuable contribution to society. We need one another,” he said.

Honorees at the dinner were two men who attended local Catholic schools and contributed to the welfare of young people in their professional careers — Antonio Tutino and John Esslinger.

Tutino, CEO and managing member of O+D Builders, is a graduate of St. Athanasius School, Bensonhurst. An apprentice carpenter who worked his way up to labor supervisor, he has worked on projects such as the Museum of Modern Art, the AOL Building, and the Genesis program expansion at Xaverian H.S.

He also has aided the causes of Kids for Kids Foundation and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Esslinger, senior property manager at Boston Properties, attended St. Stanislaus Kostka School, Maspeth, and Resurrection-Ascension, Rego Park. He is a volunteer with PAL basketball, and is an active member of Kids for Kids Foundation. He also has helped raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

He also is active with Signal 30 Organization that assists families of New York State police in extraordinary circumstances with scholarship programs.

Brian Baslin, president of The Cathedral Club, said that the honorees were chosen because of their extraordinary generosity in helping young people.

He emphasized that The Cathedral Club is all about “paying it forward.”  

“I don’t want to see any child go without,” he said.

Emcee for the event was radio personality Jim Kerr, who was presented a pair of cufflinks with the diocesan insignia by Bishop Brennan, for his more than 20 years of dedication to the club.