DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Jim Connell is a parishioner of the Oratory Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brooklyn Heights, but every year on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, he makes a pilgrimage to the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn to attend Mass.
“The Sacred Heart is special to me,” he said, explaining that he worked years ago with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and appreciated the love of God they conveyed to everyone they encountered.
The solemnity brought Connell to the cathedral basilica again this year.
However, this time it was different. The Mass celebrating the solemnity on June 12 also marked the Diocese of Brooklyn’s participation in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Consecration of the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The consecration, which took place in anticipation of the nation’s 250th birthday, means that the people of the U.S. will be entrusted to the loving care of Jesus Christ.
Connell called the consecration “a perfect opportunity for us to give thanks for God’s love for us as a country.”
The U.S. has been given many gifts, but Americans should also “take the time to ask for forgiveness for those times in our country’s history where we haven’t lived up to what God’s love means to us,” he said.
The USCCB announced at its Fall Plenary Assembly in November of 2025 that it planned to consecrate the country to the sacred heart of Jesus on June 11.
The date was selected because the nation’s bishops would be gathered there for their spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Florida. The consecration service took place at the Basilica Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe.
The USCCB urged dioceses around the country to hold their own consecration Masses. Bishop Robert Brennan decided that the Diocese of Brooklyn’s service would take place on June 12 — the date of the solemnity.
In a letter to the diocese’s priests, Bishop Brennan urged them to “promote special devotional practices, particularly the Corporal Works of Mercy.”
Msgr. Joseph Grimaldi, vicar general for the diocese, celebrated the Mass of Consecration at the cathedral basilica and said that in setting the consecration, the nation’s bishops are hoping to bring the nation together during a time of great division.
“I think it’s the hope of the bishops that this division that we see can somehow be healed and that it can somehow find a new path, because war and violence, as we know, is never the answer,” he told The Tablet.
And that healing starts with treating all people with respect and dignity, Msgr. Grimaldi added. He referred to a message Leo XIV delivered during his apostolic trip to Spain. “We live in a world that is s torn apart by war, and violence, and dissension because, basically, we don’t fully appreciate the dignity of every human person and that peace is what we strive for,” he explained.
The cathedral basilica houses a striking image of the Sacred Heart. The historic cathedra that belonged to the first bishop of Brooklyn, Bishop John Loughlin (1817-1891) contains an image of the sacred heart embedded in a clock — a sign that the faithful should be devoted to Jesus at all hours of the day. The chair was built in 1853; the year Bishop Loughlin was appointed to head the diocese.
The consecration was deeply meaningful to Althea Forde-Jobe, who said she prays to the Sacred Heart of Jesus every morning. “We need God. We need God and his son to bring the country as it should be, because it’s not getting better every day,” she said.