FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 29, 2021
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BISHOP DIMARZIO DEDICATES A NEW CHURCH AND ARTS CENTER FOR THE DIOCESE OF THE BROOKLYN IN WILLIAMSBURG
The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, officially dedicated the new Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, and consecrated the altar, at a Mass earlier this evening. The new church, with a 550-seat capacity, is located at the corner of S. 3rd Street and Berry Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
Bishop DiMarzio chose to dedicate this new church on the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul, celebrated annually on June 29, throughout the Catholic Church. Immediately following the Mass, Bishop DiMarzio blessed the new parish center building, which includes The Emmaus Center, the new arts center of the Diocese of Brooklyn. The newly renovated 600-seat theater is housed in the Historic Williamsburg Opera house which was built in 1897.
“We have witnessed a ceremony that few get to see in a lifetime because there are not that many new churches, certainly not here in Brooklyn and Queens, but this completely new renovation making a new church here on the ground level, giving us so many classrooms and a public center is truly unique,” said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio in his homily.
“This new church, this new center, this new beginning, this new evangelization is something that gives us inspiration. I am happy that I have been here as Bishop now to see this day. It is a long time in coming but I pray that together today we take heart. We become new disciples of the new evangelization effort. We reach out to others who need us. Those who are already Catholics; those other Christians; those who know not the faith and need to encounter Jesus Christ,” continued Bishop DiMarzio.
“Today is a very important day for Ss. Peter and Paul Epiphany Parish and the Diocese of Brooklyn. With the inauguration of this new church and center, this parish, which has existed since before the Civil War, will begin a new chapter of outreach and evangelization to the people of Williamsburg, as well as to the people of Brooklyn and Queens,” said Monsignor Anthony Hernandez, the former administrator of the parish who initiated the project.
The last time a new church was opened in the Diocese of Brooklyn was in 2008 at Our Lady of Snows in the Floral Park section of Queens. The last church renovated and re-dedicated was the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph located in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn in 2014.
Video can be found at: vimeo.com/569190843.
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