Pews, chairs, and a church bell, all formerly used in Diocese of Brooklyn churches, have a new home at the Cathedral of St. Anne in Anse-à-Veau, Haiti. The diocese donated these historical pieces to help the cathedral get ready for Anse-à-Veau’s upcoming tricentennial celebration in July.
This Ash Wednesday, priests and bishops across the Diocese of Brooklyn imposed ashes in a new way due to the ongoing pandemic. Under Pope Francis’ recommendation, ashes were sprinkled on worshippers’ heads instead of drawing the sign of the cross on the forehead.
Catholic Relief Services’ annual Lenten Rice Bowl program helps fund efforts to teach “best practices” for growing abundant, nutritious food for 159 million people in more than 100 countries. Last year’s donations were about 47 percent below normal because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but CRS leaders hope this year will be much better.
In the early 1900s, entrepreneurs created a unique housing development in the St. Albans neighborhood of Queens.
A new movie about a Black Panther leader’s relationship with an FBI informant in the turbulent 1960s could be the vehicle that helps make one Queens-born actor a star.
When Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish’s 1932 Kilgen pipe organ began echoing and sounding out of tune more than a year ago, Father Ilyas Gill wanted to breathe new life into the majestic instrument. The organ’s 25 ranks of pipes, three bellows, valves, and chassis — which had been last repaired in 1968 — were worn out and even completely sealed in some spots.
The work of grassroots groups who pushed for landmark status for a historic building tied to the Underground Railroad finally paid off when the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission issued the long-awaited designation.
Churches are eligible to receive U.S. government funds to beef up security measures under an anti-terror grant program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Congresswoman Grace Meng encouraged religious institutions to apply.
City Councilman Robert Holden offered a glimmer of hope that a popular universal pre-K program at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Glendale that was targeted for closure might not have to shut its doors after all.
Though American Catholics are used to receiving their ashes from thumb to forehead on Ash Wednesday, this year, ashes will be sprinkled on their heads. The gesture and practice of sprinkling ashes, however, has a longstanding history within Jewish and Catholic traditions.
