The Tablet Staff

PARK SLOPE — Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Italian Apostolate will hold a procession and Mass on Oct. 6 in support of a public statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

The procession will start at 3 p.m. in Mother Cabrini Park in Carroll Gardens, the site of the church where Mother Cabrini first ministered to poor Italian immigrants when she arrived in New York in 1889. The procession will end at Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Church, Carroll Gardens, with a Mass at 4 p.m..

Last year, New York City first lady Chirlane McCray asked New Yorkers to submit the names of influential women they would like to see honored, and even though Mother Cabrini received the most votes, McCray didn’t choose the saint among the seven women to be honored with a statue in the first phase of a program called “She Built NYC.” 

“Mother Frances Cabrini was certainly one of the women who built New York City. Her work to establish orphanages, schools and a hospital, along with her commitment to immigrants, absolutely should be recognized,” Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement.

“The failure to honor Mother Cabrini with a public statue would be an affront to many New Yorkers, especially Italian-Americans who see her as most deserving,” he said. 

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The procession will begin at 3 PM in Mother Cabrini Park, located at 41 President Street in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. The procession will continue to Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Church located at 125 Summit Street, where Mass will begin at 4 PM.