Brooklyn and Queens pilgrims stand before the Shrine of Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, southern Italy – part of a 10-day Italian pilgrimage last fall. Father Anthony Chanan from St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights, and Father John Francis, pastor of St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Jamaica, served as chaplains, while Maria Gochuico was the group leader.
Gochuico wants Tablet TALK readers to know that registration is underway for her next pilgrimage to Poland, Prague, Budapest and Vienna, Oct. 6-16. Father Gregory McIlhenney, parochial vicar at St. Patrick Church, Bay Ridge, will be the chaplain. For reservations, call 718-445-9377.
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NET-TV correspondent Katie Breidenbach was the subject of her own breaking news last weekend. After a few weeks full of red herrings, boyfriend Brian Rutter surprised Breidenbach the day before her birthday with a ring and a request to be his bride. Congratulations to the happy couple!
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Here’s a way to have a voice in your community: Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams is calling on civic-minded Brooklynites to apply for positions on the borough’s 18 local community boards.
The unsalaried positions are open to active, involved people of every community, including teenagers and college students.
Applications are available at www.brooklyn-usa.org and the deadline is Feb. 15.
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The Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Parade Installation Dance is set for Feb. 7, 8 p.m. in the auditorium of St. Patrick parish, Bay Ridge. Enjoy Irish fare, festivities and music by Frank Keegan’s Band and Mary G. Meet and greet this year’s parade honorees, including John Dunleavy, grand marshal, and his aides. Tickets are $40 per person. For tickets and details, call 718-499-9482 or email BrooklynStPatricksParade@gmail.com.
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This Sunday, Feb. 1, the Baron DeKalb Knights of Columbus Council No. 1073 is hosting a Free Throw Championship for boys and girls at St. Mark parish, Sheepshead Bay.
Event begins at noon and runs through 3 p.m.
The competition is open to boys and girls, ages nine-14. Parental accompaniment and proof of age required.
Winners may advance to district-level championships.
For full details, contact Philip Fave, 917-538-6379.
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Know a young man who would make a great priest?
Let him know that registration is underway for Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio’s annual Vocation Retreat, March 6-8.
Open to young men, ages 17-35, the weekend retreat includes Mass, communal and private prayer, eucharistic adoration, an opportunity to meet seminarians and presentations designed to help participants discern whether God may be calling them to the priesthood.
Retreatants will also have an opportunity to meet personally with Bishop DiMarzio.
For more information, contact the diocesan Vocation Office at 718-827-2454 or vocations@diobrook.org.
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Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Queens Village, is grateful to its generous Filipino community which donated $2,648 to the parish after its Simbang Gabi devotion and celebration leading up to Christmas. Way to go!
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In honor of Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 25-31, this week’s Tip of the Tablet TALK Top Hat goes to our Catholic academies and schools which educate over 45,000 students from early childhood through high school. With 105 school sites, they carry on a tradition of academic excellence rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church.
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While many people will be digging into snacks during the Super Bowl this Sunday, children from St. Fidelis Church in College Point, will be asking parishioners to dig into their wallets and purses to support the Souper Bowl of Caring, a nationwide fundraiser conducted annually on Super Bowl Sunday. All monies collected at St. Fidelis will be used to buy food for the parish food pantry.