The time we spend stuck in traffic in Brooklyn should be discounted from our time in purgatory, a friend of mine used to say. People visiting from other parts of the country have a hard time believing that a 15-mile commute usually takes an hour and 15 minutes or more. Now school is out and children are on vacation. You feel the change — but it is still a good hour ride.
Editor’s Space
Jorge I. Domínguez-López is the editor-in-chief of The Tablet and Nuestra Voz, the two-award winning newspapers of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Born in Havana, Cuba, Domínguez-López regularly appears on NET-TV’s Currents News and is the co-host of “Al Pan, Pan,” a talk show with Father Tomás del Valle on NET-TV.
Kudos to Our Religious Sisters and Brothers
While preparing this edition of The Tablet, I received a letter from Brother Ed Kent, one of the jubilarians we honor in the paper this week. He has been a Franciscan brother for 60 years – a lifetime of service to the Gospel and to the people of God in Brooklyn and Queens.
The Courage of the Newly Ordained
Last Saturday, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio ordained four young men to the priesthood: Father Pedro Francisco Angucho López, 31; Father Michael Francis Falce, 26; Father JohnPaul Kodiri Columbus Obiaeri, 34; and Father Edwin Alexander Ortiz, 35. The ordination of new priests is always joyous news for the Church in general, and for the diocese where they are destined to serve in particular.
Religious Repression Unabated in China
In a recent article, a columnist from The New York Times wrote: “China is engaging in internment, monitoring or persecution of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists on a scale almost unparalleled by a major nation in three-quarters of a century.”
Yogi Berra’s Accidental Wisdom
Since his playing days, legendary Yankee catcher Yogi Berra has been famous for his curiously worded statements. My favorite Yogism is probably an apocryphal one about a popular restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore – it’s too crowded.” It is unintentionally wise and revealing. I imagine he meant to say that he and his friends used to go to that place – wherever it was – but at a certain point, it became so popular and crowded that they stopped visiting it.
The Pope Takes a Swing Against Sex Abuse
My friend and I were at Citi Field on a cool Friday evening. He is not religious, but the Mets were ahead 8-0 in the first inning, and he was ready to believe in miracles. He was in a good mood. Then, out of the blue, he asked me, “What about the Vatican’s new guidelines against sexual abuse? Shouldn’t they have just one simple rule, namely, ‘call 911’?”
Venezuela Is Falling Apart
While growing up in Cuba, I had a friend who used to say, “My dream is to live in a boring country.” I was thinking about his wish while reading the news coming from Venezuela during the last weeks.
Do We Have the Resources to Rebuild Our Christian Faith?
Michel Houellebecq, France’s best-known contemporary novelist, published his novel “Submission” in 2015. The novel takes place in 2022, when the candidate of an Islamist party wins the presidential election and starts dismantling the democratic order in France.
Our Multi-Ethnic Diocese Is Touched by World News
One of the perks of working for The Tablet is that you really get to know the diocese in Brooklyn and Queens. Holy Week celebrations offer a wide palette of cultures, traditions and devotions that few dioceses in the world can match. This is a really Catholic – in the original sense of the word, “universal” – diocese.
Rachel’s Helpers and the Mystery of Easter Sunday
For several years, my office was just two blocks away from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). I used to go there during the lunch break and spend half an hour looking at one or two works of art. Can we digest more than a couple of masterpieces a day? I wanted to look at one or two great paintings without the tourist rush that turns museum halls into racetracks.
