News this week that the three metropolitan area dioceses will unite their priestly formation programs highlights yet another transformation for the diocesan center in Douglaston. Immaculate Conception Pastoral Center will be the site for the Cathedral Seminary House of Formation. This residential program for college men considering vocations to the priesthood is really a step […]
Author: Ed Wilkinson
A Sign of Hope in a Changing Neighborhood
At the end of the Migration Day Mass last Sunday at St. Joseph’s Church on Pacific St. in Prospect Heights, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio announced that he has petitioned the Vatican to name the church as a Co-Cathedral for the Diocese of Brooklyn. In addition, he also challenged the various ethnic apostolates of Brooklyn and Queens […]
Home of the Free Isn’t So Free These Days
I drove to Philadelphia last week just to take a break for a few days. Tolls on the way down came to $24.50. Coming back, they amounted to $16. That’s $40 for the right to travel from one city to another. While in the City of Brotherly Love, we stayed at a nice hotel with […]
Many Find the Church Through the RCIA
Each year, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrates the Easter Vigil in the parish where there are the most baptisms produced by the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program. This year, St. John Vianney in Flushing was the big winner with 60 new Catholics entering the Church. An additional 14 will be baptized on Pentecost […]
Working Overtime For Papal Coverage
What a week it has been! Pope Benedict’s historic journey to Mexico and Cuba this past week was a huge undertaking. Not just for the 84-year-old pontiff, but also for our local media here in the diocese. The DeSales Media Group, which produces both The Tablet and NET television, made a strong commitment to covering […]
Benedictine Abbey Offers Hospitality
What a pleasure it was to once again sit down and chat with Mother Dolores Hart! The occasion was her visit to Woodside where she was a guest speaker at the Communion-breakfast hosted by Corpus Christi parish. Several years ago, Father Frank Mann, my wife Sheila and I drove up to Bethlehem, Conn., where Mother […]
Policing ‘Separation’ Of Church and State
The separation of church and state is the most misunderstood issue in the country. The founders of the nation wrote in the “separation” in order to protect religion. But today, the concept is being misinterpreted to disconnect the church from the public arena. That’s impossible to do, as Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio pointed out in his […]
Help Pols Stop Wasting Time
You wonder why so many people have given up on politicians? The waste of time known as the Reproductive Health Act, which the state legislators are currently spending much too much time on, is a case in point. Instead of trying to figure how to cut spending, lower our taxes, and balance the debt in […]
There’s a New Cardinal in Town
For newly elevated Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the weekend was all about his new red birettum. This was a weekend to celebrate the cardinal’s new status in the Church. On Saturday, Feb. 25, he presided over a double header at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In the morning, there was an ecumenical prayer service that was attended by […]
Greeting the New Prince of the City
His Eminence Timothy Dolan, who is a longtime Cardinals fan, is now a member of the team. And it’s only natural that we shared in the joy of the archdiocese as Archbishop Timothy Dolan became a cardinal last weekend. The Diocese of Brooklyn is unique in that it shares the city with the Archdiocese of […]