A new survey from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Georgetown University shows that the number of permanent deacons in active ministry in the U.S. last year is the lowest since 2011, which “is [a trend] in keeping with the slow decline of the diaconate over the past several years.”
For the consecrated men and women who minister in the schools, hospitals and parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn, celebrating the World Day for Consecrated Life meant setting aside a few hours during a weekend diocesan retreat on Feb.1 to reflect, pray, enjoy fellowship and renew their vows.
The apostolic oblates and Pro-Sanctity Movement came to the Diocese of Brooklyn in the 1960s, when they established roots serving in different parishes.
Deborah Sucich works as a campus minister at St. Saviour H.S., Park Slope, just over a mile away from the diocesan chapel where her special occasion took place. She was dressed in a long, simple, white dress. Friends, clergy and family filled the Park Slope chapel aisles for the joyous moment.
In order to not get lost, one must look at the work of the Church as a multi-millennial venture where each generation plays its own role in salvation history said the bishop to the consecrated congregation.
In honor of World Day for Consecrated Life, diocesan women and men in consecrated life gathered for an afternoon retreat at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn.
Visitation is the nerve center for the Sisters of Life’s material, emotional and spiritual outreach to pregnant women in crisis. The sisters help more than 900 women at the former convent each year, said Sister Magdalene, the congregation’s local superior.
In what was perhaps his strongest words yet on vocations, Pope Francis, at an audience with religious sisters and brothers at the conclusion of the Year for Consecrated Life, said, “Why is the womb of consecrated life becoming so sterile?… Some congregations experiment with ‘artificial insemination’… What do they do?… They welcome … ‘Yes come, […]
Hundreds of religious sisters, brothers and consecrated laity gathered Feb. 6 at the mother parish of Long Island to celebrate the closing of the Year of Consecrated Life together in community. “Religious life is in a time of profound transformation,” said Sister Mary Hughes, O.P., the guest speaker at the closing celebration at St. James Cathedral, Downtown Brooklyn. “We have to walk into this transformation with faith.”
Sister Consuelo Morales, a member of the Congregation of Our Lady: Canonesses of St. Augustine, has advocated for and accompanied families whose loved ones disappeared in violence or problematic security crackdowns.
