Diocesan News

2015 Diocesan Woman’s Conference

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Registration is now open for the 2015 Diocesan Bilingual Woman’s Conference! On Saturday, March 7, 2015, the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, Queens will host the conference which includes Mass celebrated by Rev. Octavio Cisneros, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and a Holy Hour with Rev. Msgr. Joseph Malagreca.

You can also check out the conference’s speakers in English or in Spanish.

For individual registration, go to bqonlineformation.org or contact Christine Georgi at (718) 695-7300. For group registration, you must contact Christine Georgi (718) 695-7300 to reserve your group’s place. Tickets are $25.00 per person in advance or $30.00 at the door. Please register by March 1, 2015.

Click here to view all registration info.

 

 

March For Life 2015

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The 42nd Annual March For Life campaign, the largest Pro-Life event in the world, will take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, January 22 at 1 PM. The DeSales Media Group is sponsoring buses for anybody who is interested in attending the event. There were two buses originally planned, but that number has grown to ten.

Below is a full list of locations sending people to this year’s march:

  1. Diocese of Brooklyn-Brooklyn, Ss. Peter & Paul, Williamsburg & St. Anselm, Bay Ridge
  2. Diocese of Brooklyn-Queens, ICC, Douglaston & Resurrection Ascension, Rego Park
  3. Archbishop Molloy High School, Briarwood
  4. The Mary Louis Academy Campus, Jamaica and St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights
  5. St. Michael-St. Malachy, Brooklyn and St. Gabriel, Brooklyn (Sr. Madre de las Americas Flores)
  6. St. Martin of Tours, Bushwick and Fontbonne Hall Academy, Bay Ridge
  7. Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, Clinton Hill
  8. Shrine Church of St. Gerald Majella, Hollis
  9. Holy Family (Bridge to Life), Flushing
  10. We are also sponsoring a separate bus for Sister Peace, who is based out of Ss. Peter and Paul Church in Williamsburg

NOTE: To reserve a spot on either Bus 1 or Bus 2, call 718.499.9705 by January 20, 2015 and ask for Ivana. You must reserve your seat and confirm your attendance to participate.

You can also click here to view the flyer for the event.

The Joy of Encountering Christ – The Family’s Hope Springboard Plan 2015-2018

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To All Pastors, Administrators, Pastoral Associates, Catechetical Leaders, and Catechists:

Last week I sent Bishop DiMarzio’s letter announcing the Evangelization and Renewal Springboard 2015-2018 entitled The Joy of Encountering Christ–The Family’s Hope.

I hope that you will use this information to assist your planning efforts for 2015-2018 and share this information with those that might find it helpful.  Please join us in making every attempt to increase evangelization and renewal efforts.  While you are not expected to complete everything discussed in this plan, please attempt to either use what we suggest or find something helpful to the evangelization and renewal efforts in your parish, family, or individual situation.  I am certain that you are already accomplishing much of what is being suggested.

I also attached a copy of Bishop DiMarzio’s announcement letter that was previously posted. More information will continue to be sent to you in the new year.

If I or any member of the staff can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to call or email us.

May the Christ Child lead us in this important work.

Merry Christmas and a blessed and healthy new year!

Theodore J. Musco
Executive Director, School of Evangelization
Director, Office of Faith Formation
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn
310 Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, New York 11215
718.965.7300, Ext. 5417
tmusco@diobrook.org
www.bqfaithformation.org

Statement on Fire At Our Lady Of Sorrows

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Tragedy struck the heart of the Diocese of Brooklyn this past weekend as Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona suffered a devastating fire. The Diocese of Brooklyn is fully committed to helping this church rebuild so that it may continue serving its faithful community as it has been doing since 1872. All of our shrines, churches, and cathedrals are sacred and special in their own individual ways. What makes Our Lady of Sorrows stand out is that it is a parish of immigrants in the Diocese of Immigrants, with 12,000-13,000 overall parishioners in attendance each weekend.

This vibrant parish has played host to several immigration-related events these past two years, including: a September 2013 Mass with Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn; a March 2014 press conference for Catholic Migration Services with U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Assemblyman Francisco P. Moya, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, and Councilman Carlos Menchaca; and a November 2014 bills signing with Mayor Bill de Blasio of Intro. 486-A and Intro. 487-A, to protect undocumented immigrants.

As we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, let us pray for our fellow parishioners in Corona during this time of rebuilding.

Statement of Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio On the Murder of Two NYPD Officers

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The Catholic Community in Brooklyn and Queens joins me in praying for the repose of souls of Police Officer Wenjian Liu and Police Officer Rafael Ramos. We offer our sincere condolences to the families of our fallen Police Officers and pray earnestly for their consolation. Each day, 35,000 of our fellow citizens put on blue uniforms and patrol the streets of our city to keep us safe. Each deserves our prayers and gratitude. These finest of men and women will undoubtedly continue to patrol and keep us safe by the strength of their service.

As we face monstrous evil, it sometimes seems as though the light has been extinguished for our world. As people of faith, we believe that it is precisely into this unexplainable situation that God comes to make His home. Emmanuel, “God is with us,” and so we are convinced that a “light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it.” Saint Michael the Archangel, patron of our Police Officers, pray for us.

“God Enters Into Creation” by Bishop DiMarzio

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December 17, 2014 – Excerpted from “Put Out Into the Deep,” Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet:

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Christmas in many ways is one of the most nostalgic periods of time. We have many treasured memories, especially surrounding the celebration of Christmas. Perhaps as we come closer to this Christmas, we can recall these memories.

For me, it was the annual ritual of buying the Christmas tree and decorating it, but most importantly placing the Christmas crèche, or presepio, beneath the tree. I learned from my grandmother that the presepio truly is, in the Italian tradition, a manifestation of Christ to the world. And so the images that were placed in the crèche would represent every possible human and animal form.

And so whatever figurines were in the house … animals, snowmen, Santa Claus, etc., they were all placed in the crèche because it was the point when Christ, the newborn, God-Man, manifested Himself to all of creation. This memory has remained with me all my life. In fact, in the vestibule of our Chancery building, there is a very large Neapolitan presepio that was presented to me by the Italian Trade Commission several years ago. It represents the same type of universal manifestation of Christ in a setting in an Italian village where everyone is going about their normal life … fishing, farming, blacksmithing, cooking … whatever their daily activity is. In the center is Christ, Who enters human history, not completely changing it, but becoming part of it.

Read the full text of the Bishop’s column on The Tablet website.

ENDOW Facilitator Training

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To All Pastors, Administrators, and Catechetical Leaders:

We are blessed to begin ENDOW Study Groups for Women in the Diocese of Brooklyn. ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) is an international Catholic study group that engages the intellect and hearts of women and girls to help them understand their God-given dignity and respond to our culture’s desperate need for an authentic feminine presence in every aspect of life and society. These groups will serve as excellent opportunities for evangelization and renewal and will be highlighted in our upcoming Diocesan Springboard Plan 2015-2018 for Evangelization and Renewal entitled The Joy of Encountering Christ–The Family’s Hope.

Please send at least one person from your parish who will lead your parish/deanery group to the facilitator training session that will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2015 from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston.

Please see the attached flyer for important registration information. Space is limited, so please register early. The registration fee is $25.00 per person attending the training and includes all training materials.

For more information, contact Ted Musco at (718) 965-7300 ext. 2417

 

“Building a More Just City” by Bishop DiMarzio

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December 10, 2014 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet.

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Democracies offer citizens the right of assembly, regress, and the ability to protest issues that are not favorable to its citizens. Recently, we have seen examples of both peaceful and not so peaceful protests. In Hong Kong, far from us, we have seen in the last month, protests, especially among students, trying to get the attention of the communist leaders in Beijing to allow open and democratic elections in Hong Kong. Even the retired Cardinal in Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, is involved in these peaceful demonstrations. Recently, he and other adult leaders of this protest movement have turned themselves into the government in order to avoid any repression or bloodshed, mindful of the terrible memory of Tiananmen Square when the communist forces killed many demonstrators over two decades ago.

Read the full text of the Bishop’s article on The Tablet website.