The Gospel choir-like singing strikes people as out of place in a Catholic church, and liturgical dance is unfamiliar to many. But Wilson said the groups that led the faithful in worship at the Diocese of Brooklyn’s National Black Catholic History Month Mass at St. Therese of Lisieux, Flatbush, on Nov. 17 are indeed Catholic.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis in mid-November, and at that time, the bishop will present the diocesan investigation into Msgr. Quinn’s cause to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints at the Vatican. Next, the congregation will open its own investigation to consider Msgr. Quinn for the title of venerable, the second of four steps on the road to sainthood.
A group of young Catholic leaders from Brooklyn and Queens celebrated the Fourth of July in Puerto Rico while helping with the reconstruction of the island still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
Patriarch of Jerusalem Receives Locals; old Pascal candles; The Good Shepherd’s Young Servants
We attended the annual Stay-Awake-Athon overnight retreat held at St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands. The retreat was led by Father Dwayne Davis, pastor, and hosted by the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns (VBCC).
At the annual Black History Month Mass held at Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston Feb. 17, nearly 40 minutes of poignant preaching set the tone for a liturgy that offered words of healing for the suffering caused by the sins of racism and words of hope as the plight toward racial equality in America continues.
“It is all rooted in Jesus – Dr. King was a Christian and he preached all the qualities that Christ the Lord preached in his time,” said Father Alonzo Cox, diocesan coordinator of the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns.
The diocesan Vicariate for Black Catholic Concerns will host the “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village. Born a slave in Missouri in 1854, Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton became the first African-American Catholic priest ordained in the United States.
After a two-year absence, the Kujenga Youth Retreat returned this year with many firsts and a focus on Jesus’ words from Luke 9:20: “Who do you say I am?” A total of 80 young people attended this year’s retreat, hosted by the diocesan Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns, July 27-29, at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, L.I.
“So often I forget how blessed and fortunate I am to live in America,” says Nia Mendonca. “It seems easy to complain about little things when I forget all that God has given me. Coming to Africa has changed my perspective on life.”
