by Michael Rizzo
QUEENS VILLAGE — The NYPD Brooklyn and Queens Holy Name Society’s 104th Communion Breakfast took on an ecumenical air as the society honored Rabbi Alvin Kass, the late chief chaplain of the NYPD.
Rabbi Kass, who died last October, was posthumously honored at the March 8 breakfast with the society’s Paul Hargrove Award for “cop of the year.” Rabbi Kass was appointed to the NYPD in 1966 and held the post until his death, making him the most tenured chaplain in the department’s history.
In presenting the award, the society’s president, Officer Thomas Dugan, said Rabbi Kass was a “spiritual leader, counselor, and steadfast source of strength” to the NYPD.
Accepting the award were the rabbi’s three children, Sarah, Daniel, and Lewis.
“Dad used to say that he held the record for the most Masses that a rabbi has ever attended,” Lewis said. “So, this is just in keeping with what he always believed in.
“He never saw differences in human beings.”
“I think he considered his job ecumenical,” added Daniel, recounting the story of his father attending the wake of a police officer’s mother and praying the Jewish prayer for the dead even though the officer’s family was not Jewish.
“I think that symbolized everything that he believed this job could be, which was a job where everyone stood by each other with a common mission to care for the people of the city of New York,” he said.
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Msgr. Robert Romano, spiritual director of the Brooklyn and Queens Holy Name Society and an NYPD assistant chief chaplain, said Rabbi Kass’ attendance at so many of the annual breakfasts reflected his thinking of every NYPD member as family.
“We’re different religions, we’re different nationalities, different colors. But when it comes to something important, we’re all one family,” said Msgr. Romano, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Bensonhurst. “When we get a signal 10-13, which means a police officer needs help, they don’t stop to ask, ‘who is it,’ and ‘what nationality’ … they go. And that’s what it is, family.”
Frank Seddio, who sponsors one of the society’s $1,000 scholarship awards, said Rabbi Kass was “totally dedicated to his job.”
“All of us gained from him being with us,” he said.
Police Officer Michael Sloan and Lieutenant David Cuce, both NYPD, received posthumous awards at the breakfast, as well. New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry, who grew up in the Parish of Incarnation-St. Gerard Majella in Queens Village, as Person of the Year.
Hendry said it was an honor to be recognized alongside Rabbi Kass at the same event.
“When I became the president of the PBA, he always was saying that I’m here for you. I’m here for the organization,” Hendry told The Tablet. “He was there for all police officers.”
In his remarks to attendees, Hendry emphasized how his upbringing in an Irish-Catholic family affected his life and his work as a police officer.
“Hard work, faith, and being a good person were the values instilled in me by my parents, and I live by those same values every day,” he said. “The values we share as police officers are the same as those shared by the society, and they are stronger than those trying to tear us down.”
Before the breakfast, Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, which nearly 400 people attended. Officers wore their uniforms to Mass and then marched to nearby Antun’s banquet hall, led by the NYPD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums.
Dugan, who was baptized in Our Lady Help of Christians in Midwood, became the society’s current president in January after agreeing to put off retirement from the NYPD. He got emotional before the event when he spoke about accepting the role because of his love for the society and what it stands for.
“We’ve all come together because we’re Catholic, and being Catholic is important to all of us,” he said. “It’s important to celebrate the Catholic faith.”
