Two years may seem a ways off, but the Diocese of Brooklyn is already planning for the intercontinental edition of World Youth Day (WYD), scheduled to be held in Lisbon, Portugal in 2023. Father Gerard J. Sauer, diocesan director of pilgrimages and pastor of St. Patrick’s in Bay Ridge, said the diocese is keeping health and safety measures in mind and remaining attentive to COVID-19-related news and updates.
People struggling to overcome substance abuse often find that having a deep faith is an important step on the road to recovery, according to experts.
The “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” are heeded by members of the Care for Creation Ministry of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Bay Ridge. It is one of 737 similar groups throughout the world responding to Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical letter on the environment, “Laudato Si’.”
In what has emerged as the second act of vandalism in three days in the Diocese of Brooklyn, church officials are calling on the NYPD to increase its patrols around churches in Brooklyn and Queens in response to what they’re calling “a pattern of hate crimes against Catholics.”
The City Council has voted unanimously to pass legislation to double the fines for vandalizing houses of worship, as the city continues to grapple with disturbing incidents at religious institutions.
Students from Catholic high schools throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn assembled on Sunday, May 16, to receive God’s greatest gift — the Holy Spirit — during the Annual High School Rite of Confirmation service held at American Martyrs Church in Bayside, Queens.
Determined to find a way to celebrate the jubilarians among the sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Brooklyn in the era of COVID-19, officials got creative and received a helping hand from technology to mark the milestone.
Following his family’s footsteps, seminarian Brendon John Harfmann was ordained a transitional deacon on May 15 and will continue his path to priesthood. Auxiliary Bishop Raymond F. Chappetto was the main celebrant of the Ordination to the Diaconate, held at Harfmann’s home parish, St. Matthias in Ridgewood, Queens.
Police are hunting for a vandal who scaled a fence outside St. Athanasius Church early Friday and knocked a crucifix to the ground, doing “serious damage” in what is being investigated as an anti-Catholic hate crime.
Not many people knew who Amanda Gorman was before this year. Today, the 23-year-old Catholic poet and activist is a household name around the world, including among children and teens from St. Therese of Lisieux Church in East Flatbush.
