As the church bells rang at Holy Name, Windsor Terrace, and a light cool breeze blew, parishioners stood outside the church with lighted candles and remembered. This was last Monday evening, one week after the bombings at the Boston Marathon. Father Jim Cunningham, pastor, organized an interfaith prayer service for all the people who were […]
Author: Ed Wilkinson
Hope Amid Questions About Terror in Boston
There are more questions than answers about the terror attack on the Boston Marathon this week. No one knows that better than people who were on the scene, like Father Brian Jordan, O.F.M., a chaplain at St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, and Bridget Cunningham, the niece of Father Jim Cunningham, pastor of Holy Name, Windsor […]
A Novel Approach to Terrorism and Religion
Take twin brothers from Boston. Make one a politician and the other a priest. Throw in an assassination and a terrorist attack, an interfaith marriage, the horror of radical Islam, and you have the makings of “A Prayer for the Devil.” It’s the first published novel written by Dale Allan, a member of St. Kilian’s […]
Easter Vigil Is a Sign of New Life in the Church (with slideshow)
The Easter Vigil is the most dramatic event in the Church’s liturgical calendar. It uses sights, sounds and smells to announce the Good News that Jesus rose from the dead. Candles are lit. Incense rises from the thurible. Bells are rung. The cantor sings out, “Let us rejoice!” In recent years, the Vigil has taken […]
Seeing Green: 20th St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Bay Ridge
Sister Virginia Lake, C.S.J., of Bishop Kearney H.S., Bensonhurst, served as Grand Marshal of the 20th annual Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Other contingents included Xaverian H.S. Pipes and Drums, Bishop Kearney’s Marching Band, St. Ephrem’s Cheerleaders, St. Patrick’s School, Holy Angels Academy and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. Middle, Congressman Michael […]
Easter Is Perfect Time For Changes in Church
What is happening in Rome amounts to nothing more than a seismic shift in how we view the papacy. Pope Francis wades into the crowds to shake hands with people. Pope Francis calls his dentist and his newspaper stand in Argentina to tell them that he will not be keeping appointments. Pope Francis phones the […]
New Pope Has Caught Public’s Imagination
The diocesan Mass of thanksgiving for the election of Pope Francis had a decidedly Hispanic tone. Celebrated at St. James Cathedral-Basilica in Downtown Brooklyn, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was joined by Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros and about 25 concelebrants. Not only did Bishop DiMarzio preach the first part of his homily in Spanish in honor of […]
The Bishop Was First of All a Human Being
This column was supposed to be about the qualities we are looking for in the new pope. And then we received the news that Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius A. Catanello had died. When the news came, it was not unexpected. Bishop Catanello had retired early in 2010 because he was stricken with a brain tumor. […]
Great Getting to Know Pope Benedict XVI
I was in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI three times, twice while he was pope and once before he was chosen to lead the Catholic Church. In 1986, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger came to Manhattan to make a philosophical presentation at a Lutheran church. He was considered a controversial figure because he was the head […]
The Life of the Church Will Move On
You can call him Pope Emeritus or Pontiff Emeritus. He’ll wear the white cassock but not the red shoes. He’ll live out of view of the public in what used to be a cloistered convent. These are some of the things that we know about Benedict XVI’s future as he “retires” from the papacy. There […]