Donna Incorvaia grew up in a Catholic home where religion was part of her everyday life. She is now doing her best to pass her faith down to her three sons. But people like Incorvaia are becoming rare if the findings of a Pew Research Center survey are to be believed.
Hundreds of people took a big step in her journey to becoming Catholics by taking part in the Rite of Election on Sunday, Feb. 26 — a time-honored tradition that takes place annually on the first Sunday of Lent and signifies the fact that those who are to be baptized — called catechumens — have been chosen, or elected, by the Church.
In response to a desire from the Brooklyn and Queens faithful for more collaboration between diocesan deaneries and parishes, the diocese will launch a 40-day Lenten-season pilgrimage “where people can visit different parishes, experience the beauty of the church, the beauty of the community that’s there.”
As a last-ditch effort to save the marriage, Angela Pipitone Coen and John Coen went on a retreat hosted by Retrouvaille International, a non-profit organization endorsed by the Catholic Church that helps couples in crisis. The Coens repaired theirrelationship and are still married today.
Teaching the Catholic faith isn’t just the responsibility of priests. Lay persons play an important role, too. It was in that spirit that the Diocese of Brooklyn marked Catechetical Sunday on Sept. 18 with priests blessing their catechists at Mass to start off a new year of religious education programs.
Hundreds of people came to St. Patrick’s Church, Bay Ridge on Sunday, March 6, to take part in the Rite of Election — a prayer service in which those who are enrolled in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in the Diocese of Brooklyn took an important step toward becoming full members of the Catholic Church.
For the next three years, if Catholic families in the Archdiocese of Catania in Italy want to baptize their babies, they’ll have to do so without godparents.
Parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn are resuming their Masses for people with special needs after an 18-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Included are St. Gregory the Great, Holy Trinity, and St. Bernard.
In September Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio announced the introduction of a new Catholic social justice curriculum that will be incorporated into religion classes in all schools, Catholic academies, and religious education programs in the diocese.
Pope Francis has called on the world’s bishops to gather in Rome for a synod, but long before the clergymen board their flights to the Eternal City, a great deal of preparation will take place — right down to the diocesan level.
