Charities and Migration Team Up in Far Rockaway

by Kimberley Kearn Approximately 200 members of St. Mary Star of the Sea and St. Gertrude parish, Far Rockaway, benefitted from a new collaboration, the first of many, between Catholic Migration Services and Catholic Charities.   At a public forum in Far Rockaway, Catholic Migration Services (CMS) was on hand to provide legal information and […]

St. John's Athletic Director Chris Monasch, second from left, with the first responders (Photo courtesy St. John's Athletic Communications)

St. John’s Honors Sandy First Responders at Basketball Game

The St. John’s University, Jamaica, Red Storm men’s basketball fell to Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., 69-67 in overtime Saturday at Madison Square Garden. But the story of the day was that the Red Storm welcomed members of the N.Y.C. Police, Fire and Sanitation Departments, as well as the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) who were […]

Sandy Aid from Upstate NY

Robert Siebel, CEO, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, is flanked by Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, CEO, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, and Laura Cassell, CEO, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Rockville Centre, at a meeting in Albany at which they accepted Hurricane Sandy relief funds from the New York State Catholic Conference. Upstate Catholics […]

Sister Patricia Chelius, C.S.J., principal of St. Francis de Sales School, Belle Harbor, greets first-grade students, from left, Tara Rios, Timothy Hayes, Claire Mehta, Jonathan Lazo and Shannon McCabe, on Jan. 22, the day the school reopened after three months of renovations following damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Rockaway Parish School Building Reopens (with slideshow)

On Oct. 29, 2012, a deluge of water surged through the halls of St. Francis de Sales School, Belle Harbor. Hurricane Sandy had left a devastating imprint on the school community and forced the building to close temporarily. But on Jan. 22, there was a different kind of deluge roaming through St. Francis – a […]

Christmas Concert – More Than $1 Million Raised for Students Affected by Sandy

The Futures in Education of the Diocese of Brooklyn conducted a sold-out concert Dec. 19 with the New York Tenors — Michael Amante, Andy Cooney and Daniel Rodriguez — to benefit the children affected by Superstorm Sandy and the Superstorm Sandy Educational Relief Fund. Proceeds from the “The Spirit of Christmas” concert will go to […]

2012 Was a Year Filled With Highs and Lows

It was a year of contrasts. You might say there was the good, the bad and the ugly. Locally, we rejoiced in May when we learned that Pope Benedict XVI had named two priests of our diocese as auxiliary bishops. The ordinations of Bishops Raymond Chappetto and Paul Sanchez took place on July 11 at […]

Catholic Charities’ Response to Sandy

On the weekend before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens staff worked long hours to prepare facilities and clients for the storm ahead. In advance of the storm, staff members provided meals for nearly 2,000 homebound elderly neighbors through the meals-on-wheels program, delivering food for a two-day period. Workers at the […]

Sister Parish in Va. Aids Breezy Point

by Marie Elena Giossi Nearly 250 miles separate St. Thomas More Cathedral in Arlington, Va., and St. Thomas More Church in Breezy Point, but they’re united by faith. Parish school children from Virginia personally delivered their prayers, wishes for recovery and a donation to help with that recovery to the children of Breezy Point on […]

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio

Charity Is Needed Right Here at Home

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, This past week, the pastors of the parishes most affected by Hurricane Sandy came together. FEMA and other government agencies, as well as diocesan offices, devoted much of the afternoon to a detailed briefing. Yet, it seemed to me that the most important aspect of coming together […]

Canarsie Parish Sets Its Sights on Bright Future

by Marie Elena Giossi Floodwaters have receded and electricity has been restored, but the post-Sandy rebuilding efforts have just begun for residents in Canarsie. Having been designated as a Zone B evacuation area with only a moderate flood risk, Canarsie residents weren’t expecting the seven- and eight-foot high floodwaters that Sandy brought ashore late last […]