As Veterans Day on Nov. 11 approaches, Aponte’s health struggles are reminders both of the sacrifice he and countless other veterans have made to keep the United States safe and free and of the sprawling V.A. medical system that treats them at home.
Catholic War Veterans
A Man of Sacrifice Earns Degree
Joseph Quinlivan, who grew up in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood before he moved to Brooklyn, received his diploma from Operation Recognition, a program that allows war veterans to earn New York state high school degrees, even if they were unable to finish.
Franciscan Priest From Brooklyn, a WWII Hero, Remembered 75 Years Later
A 75th memorial Mass for Father Dominic Ternan, O.F.M., was celebrated on June 19 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan, which is where he had his first pastoral assignment as a newly ordained priest in the late 1930s. St. Francis of Assisi was also the site of Father Ternan’s funeral Mass.
Soliders Find Faith, Build Peace on Lourdes Pilgrimage
While the Marian site of Lourdes has long been a popular pilgrimage destination for those seeking healing, as 15,000 soldiers gather there this week for the 60th anniversary International Military Pilgrimage, it will transform into “the world capital of prayer for peace.”
Immaculate Conception Church
An early 20th-century building boom in the northwestern corner of Queens led to an urgent need for a church and a school to serve a growing Catholic community of German, Irish and Italian immigrants. The parish of Immaculate Conception in the Ditmars section of Astoria was founded in January of 1924, and Bishop Thomas E. Molloy appointed Father Michael D. Lopez as the pastor.
