Throughout World War I, Catholics in the French village of Ban-de-Laveline had no pastor, because their priest was taken hostage by the Germans. But in 1918, a U.S. Army chaplain from Brooklyn came to bury 18 of his men killed in action, and a special bond formed between the village and a new parish in Jackson Heights, Queens.
When he is ordained into the priesthood on June 1, Deacon Randy Nguyen will be a groundbreaker. He will be the first Vietnamese American priest serving the Diocese of Brooklyn, a place known as the Diocese of Immigrants.
One of the 1,891 recipients of academic degrees at St. John’s University’s Queens campus commencement on May 19 was an alumnus who got his first diploma there in 1984. The graduate then was Robert Brennan, who is now Bishop Robert Brennan upon whom the university conferred a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree these 40 years later.
Douglas Oldmixon, a retired member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and his wife Jo-Dee Benson consider themselves to be patriotic Americans who are devoted to supporting the nation’s military.
Bishop Robert Brennan will be on the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday, May 26, but he won’t be taking a casual stroll to see the skyline.
About seven years ago, high school students in a small city along Lake Ontario in upstate New York were assigned a project. Their teacher told them to pretend they were members of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party and argue for, or against, the Holocaust’s Final Solution.
Between piano, taekwondo, and academics, siblings Koey and Keo Ma have devoted themselves to their passions. Even though they are young, the St. Mel Catholic Academy students have spent hours at the ivories learning new songs or in the dojo becoming black belts.
Ever since he was very young, Noel Guzman has been determined to not stop until he gets his questions answered. He is a self-described discerner, who uses logic as his guide through the confusion of life.
Among the many sacred and solemn songs heard at the recent Diocesan Eucharistic Revival at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens were some more familiar and popular selections such as “This Little Light of Mine” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” performed by a choir under the direction of Joseph Murray, co-director of music ministry at St. Martin de Porres Parish in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Over half a century has passed since Lida Wickham became a parishioner at what is now the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. When she entered its doors for the first time, it was a parish church, the closest one to her and her husband’s new home in Prospect Heights.
