Election coverage should be done in a fair, accurate, and impartial manner. Media outlets that are often agenda-driven and hungry for ratings must resist the urge to be first to call an election—no matter how consequential the political office—and not until all votes are appropriately accounted for and accurately interpreted. Our enduring democracy and the rights of all voters—in-person or absentee—deserve nothing less.
On the evening of June 5, 2006, Msgr. Octavio Cisneros, my college seminary rector, asked if I would be available to drive him somewhere the next day. He said that he would have too much on his mind to drive himself and didn’t want to get in an accident. Little did I know then that I would be driving him to the announcement of his nomination as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, along with Msgr. Sansaricq and Msgr. Caggiano.
Almost overnight, there was a universal new normal, although there was nothing normal about this newness. For principals working under these demanding and chaotic circumstances and still continuing to do so, the pressure is incalculable, the options are limited, and the sleepless nights have become the norm.
That kitchen table and those pictures encapsulate the shaping of my early political ideology. Faith, family, the Irish immigrant experience, and the importance of American citizenship were tenets emphasized by the words and example of my late parents.
The Department of Education was having difficulty getting a plan together for the new school year. The mayor and chancellor chose to politicize our children instead of creating viable options for education and learning.
Yesterday, abruptly and without consultation, we received some troubling news from the Governor’s Office; an Executive Order would close our schools immediately.
Every four years, not coincidentally, is election time, and it tends, unfortunately, to be an occasion for startlingly rude and histrionic behavior among some of our fellow pew sitters.
Has it really been 50 years since I first walked into The Tablet offices at One Hanson Pl. in Downtown Brooklyn? The numbers don’t lie. On Sept. 21, 1970, I reported to work for The Tablet. That is why I chose Sept. 21, 2020, to be my date of retirement.
Sometimes, you never know where or when your life can change for the better. When it does, you will know it. I should know. It happened to me 48 years ago. They say that if you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans. I am sure that He laughed at my plans, but He made me smile when He planned for me to meet my friend again.
This question can be challenging for a trivia quiz. I suppose it would make people think, especially those who are interested in the Catholic doctrine on the sacrament of marriage. I want to see smart guys raise their hands to answer the question.
