The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, will celebrate the 12 p.m. Mass on Wednesday, March 5th, at St. James Cathedral Basilica, 250 Cathedral Place, Brooklyn, to mark Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season.

Bishop DiMarzio will distribute the ashes on the foreheads of congregants during the Mass. As is customary, the ashes used on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the blessed palms from Palm Sunday the previous year. Palm Sunday, the final Sunday before Easter, commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It also marks the beginning of Holy Week.

In a special way, the Bishop will remember the people of Syria, Ukraine, and Venezuela, as they struggle with political instability, violence and conflict.
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The diocesan Office of Government Affairs is sponsoring free roundtrip bus transportation to the NYS Catholic Conference’s 2014 Public Policy Day on Wednesday, March 19.

At this “Catholics at the Capitol” event, attendees will attend Mass with the state’s Catholic Bishops, meet their elected officials, and join the Knights of Columbus for a Rosary Rally and Procession.

Register at www.nyscatholic.org or call 518-434-6195 to participate in this event, and demonstrate the strength and unity of the Catholic voice to state lawmakers.

 

Feb. 28, 2014 – The second Annual Bilingual Women’s Conference, “Mary, A Role Model for Women,” will take place on Saturday, March 22 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The conference will be held at Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, NY.

The early registration deadline has been extended to March 8 at the rate of $25. After March 8, the price increases to $30.

Please click here to print the registration forms, or to view registration information in Spanish, click here. For more information, contact Annmarie McLaughlin at 347-408-4265.

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Feb. 27, 2014 – On Sunday, March 2nd at 9:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 35-34 105th Street, in Corona, Queens, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Senator Charles Schumer and Catholic Migration Services of the Diocese of Brooklyn will announce the launch of a major media and outreach campaign entitled Cambia Tu Vida to promote naturalization of legal permanent residents in the New York City area. They will be joined by Congresswoman Grace Meng, Kelly Marie Fay Rodriguez of AFL-CIO’s Immigration and Community Action, Assemblyman Francisco Moya, and Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, against the backdrop of hundreds of immigrant parishioners attending Mass.

The announcement is part of the New Americans Campaign (NAC), an unprecedented nonpartisan national network of more than 80 organizations who have come together to encourage and assist eligible legal permanent residents (LPRs) in becoming U.S. citizens. Beginning this month, Catholic Migration Services will bring the NAC’s message to New York City through a series of English and Spanish language public service announcements to air on local television stations, print and social media and grassroots publicity efforts. The campaign will encourage legal permanent residents to call the Cambia Tu Vida hotline at 855-622-6242 to be screened and, if eligible, registered for one of several “mega workshops” to be conducted by Catholic Migration Services in April.
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Feb. 27, 2014 – I am happy to join my Evangelical brethren today to call upon the House of Representatives to act this year on immigration reform.

It is a moral imperative that Congress act this year. Each day, families are being divided by deportations, with as many as 100,000 U.S.-citizen children being separated from their parents each year. Is this how we invest in these young citizens – the future leaders of our nation? No doubt we are undermining their trust in America when their own government – whose purpose is to protect these children – takes their father or mother away. There is a large social cost to inaction, a price we pay in this country every day.

In this debate, often the humanitarian consequences of our broken system are ignored. Families are divided, migrant workers are exploited, and human beings continue to die in the desert. This suffering must end.

The U.S. Catholic bishops and the Catholic community will continue to work toward a just and humane immigration system. We do not see the current impasse as a setback, but as an opportunity to re-engage with our lawmakers.

Immigration reform will happen – it is a matter of when and what. Support for immigration reform – already at record highs among the American public – will only grow. We stand ready to work with members on both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives to find a solution to our broken system this year. Thank you.

Feb. 17, 2014 – The first Theology on Tap of 2014 will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7PM at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria. Young Adults (ages 21-39) from the Diocese are encouraged to attend.

The session is entitled “I’m Giving up Joel Osteen for Lent: A Look at the Cross in Christianity,” and will feature Dr. Phillip A. Franco, the principal of St. Margaret School in Middle Village.

For more information, contact Paul A. Morisi at 718-965-7300 x5556 or pmorisi@diobrook.org. Check out the event on Facebook to learn more and let us know you’ll be there.

Feb. 17, 2014 – Edward B. Scharfenberger, episcopal vicar for Queens, was appointed last week by Pope Francis to head the Diocese of Albany. Bishop-designate Scharfenberger was effusive in his remarks at his introductory press conference.

“How grateful I am to His Holiness Pope Francis for the awesome privilege to serve as pastor of all the wonderful people in the Diocese of Albany,” he said. “I am touched by the warm welcome of Bishop Hubbard, who has served the Church in Albany with love and dedication for 37 years.

“My heart is full of gratitude to God for my loving family, especially my 93-year-old parents who were generous enough to welcome me, my two brothers and two sisters into the world. They taught us how to pray, to trust God and to know Jesus as our friend. Their continuous example shows us that the essence of love is sacrifice.”

For more on this new appointment, see the complete story in The Tablet.

Feb. 11, 2014 – Reverend Monsignor Edward Scharfenberger was announced as the tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Albany on Tuesday morning. Below are images from the press conference, which was live-streamed on dioceseofbrooklyn.org.