Salus Infirmorum Father Brian Brennan, Monsignor John Brinn, Father Edmund Burke, Father Patrick Curley, Monsignor Hugh Curran, Father John Fanning, Monsignor John Farley, Monsignor William Foley, Father Hugh Grace, Father Jack Hunter, Father John Kostek, Monsignor Edward McCorry, Monsignor John Meehan, Father Angelo J. (“AJ”) Micciulla, Father Joachim Olendzki, Father James O’Shaughnessy, Father Philip Quealy, Monsignor Edward Weber.
Requiescat in Pace Father Thomas Lynch, Father Joseph McAndrew.
Cathedraticum True Up The automated cathedraticum true-up process occurs around this time each year. In it, all parish income is used and reflected in the May consolidated invoices. In accounting terms, true-up means reconciling or matching two or more account balances by making adjustments in financial statements. Your FY2022 cathedraticum true-up might be adjusted and reflected in the June consolidated invoice. We are often unfamiliar with these accounting terms. If you have questions, Marcus Ryan will be happy to answer them. He may be reached at 646-357-0164 or marcus.ryan@archny.org.
xxxvii Annual Convention of Pastors 2022 Reserve four days during the week of October 3 for this popular gathering of priests who are serving as pastors of parishes. Last held in 2019, it will be conducted at the Breakers Hotel in Spring Lake, New Jersey. The essentials of the program are still being prepared and will be sent in early September, but will likely include cycle A of the lectionary, contemporary moral issues and the Eucharistic Revival.
Corpus Christi Processions This Corpus Christi Sunday kicks off our three-year Eucharistic Revival. In conjunction with that, there will be annual processions at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and in many of our parishes. Share your schedule by writing to officeofthecardinal-events@archny.org. Eucharistic Procession booklets from the Knights of Columbus are included in this month’s mailing. Since Corpus Christi falls on Father’s Day this year, a good resource at www.catholicfathersday.com will help to strengthens Catholic fatherhood.
Memorial Day Masses at Allied Cemeteries The traditional Memorial Day Masses normally held at Ascension, Calvary, Gate of Heaven, Resurrection and St. Mary cemeteries will not be celebrated this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 compliance measures. However, these cemeteries will be open and visitation is encouraged. Check with the local parish cemeteries for this year’s policies regarding Memorial Day Mass.
World Youth Day 2023 ~~ Sunday, July 30 thru Monday, August 7, 2023 Registration is due by Monday, August 15, 2022. Join the archdiocese for this nine-day pilgrimage to Fatima and Lisbon, Portugal. Meet Catholic young adults from around the world to pray together, learn together, and celebrate together. Must be 18+ to attend. For more information and to register, click here. The tour brochure is also available for download at the same link. For questions, email kaitlyn.colgan@archny.org.
Office Holidays On May 26 (Ascension Thursday) and Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day), the Catholic Center will be closed. You may always leave your message in the department’s voice mailbox and it will be returned on the next business day. To reach the chancery after hours and on weekends, call Community Answering Service at 877-582-2996. Add this number as “Chancery Emergency” to the list of contacts in your mobile telephone.
Cathedral College/Cathedral Prep Annual Alumni Association Mass and Dinner will be held at the John Cardinal O’Connor Pavilion, 5655 Arlington Avenue, Riverdale on Thursday, June 2 at 6:00. The class of 1972 will be observing its 50th anniversary. Dinner is $50 per person (plus $20 annual dues). Visit the Internet resources at http://stlukes-parish.org/cathedral; https://www.facebook.com/groups/1031291000372044/; and http://www.cpcc555.org. For more information, contact Father Brian McWeeney at fr.brian.mcweeney@archny.org.
Religious Freedom Week 2022: Life and Dignity for All The days from June 22 (the feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More) to June 29 (the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul), Catholic people across America are asked to participate in this great hymn of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power: St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, Ss. Peter and Paul. This special period of prayer and public action would emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. People of faith are committed to serving others in God’s love in healthcare, child welfare, migration and refugee resettlement, education and more. To all our fellow Catholics, we urge an intensification of your prayers and fasting for a new birth of freedom in our beloved country. Learn more at https://www.usccb.org/committees/religious-liberty/religious-freedom-week.
What’s in Your Closet? Every now and again, questions are raised regarding the wearing of appropriate religious clothing for priests, permanent deacons and major seminarians within the archdiocese of New York. Here is a clarification which may be of some help.
All priests (full-time and part-time adjuncts, and religious) serving in the archdiocese are expected to wear clerical attire or religious habit at all times when engaged in ministry. It is clerical attire (black suit and Roman collar) that most identifies a priest, reminding everyone that priests are “taken from among men for things that pertain to God.”
In 1981, in a public letter, the Holy Father reaffirmed the use of ecclesiastical or religious dress in the period of formation for seminarians who have been admitted as candidates for the priesthood and in religious communities from first religious profession.
Although the practice varies from one diocese to another, here in the archdiocese, for the past 50 years, permanent deacons, members of the clerical state by virtue of their reception of Holy Orders, do not typically wear the Roman collar, but rather their own distinctive insignia, often the cross lapel pin. Because they are prominent and active in secular professions and society, the USCCB has specified from the very first guidelines in 1971 that “permanent deacons should resemble the lay faithful in dress and matters of lifestyle.” This is our longstanding custom in New York. However, at times, to facilitate the diaconal ministry and after consultation with the pastor, they may seek to use religious garb to gain access to certain places, but it is not to be worn outside of these settings.
As a final point, in our archdiocese, when listing the clergy on bulletins and in other places, the proper manner of address is to preface the name with a title. For the priest, it is Reverend or Father. For the transitional deacon preparing for priesthood, it is Reverend Mr. For the permanent deacon, it is the designation Deacon. Seminarians working in parishes during their pastoral year would be listed as Mr. or Seminarian.
Priest Retreat/Pilgrimage to the Holy Land Archdiocesan, religious and international priests (who can travel) are all welcome to participate. February 2-11, 2023. See the promotional flier in this mailing. With questions, call Father Anthony Sorgie at 914-961-3643 or email Fr.Sorgie@icaParish.org or contact angela@petersway.com who will be our travel agent at Peter’s Way International. Enrollment deadline is July 1.
Trinity Automotive Services Many may be unaware of this service which is offered through Institutional Commodity Services (ICS). Sal Ervolino (516-658-6009) and Michael Chapman (917-748-4902) are available to the priests of the archdiocese who may need service or repair of their vehicles. Trinity provides a hassle-free experience when acquiring both new and pre-owned cars. For purchase, lease, service, trade-in, sale, vehicles for fund raising and fleet purchases, call 516-759-7043 or email info@trinityautomotive.com. For more information, you may also visit their comprehensive web site at https://www.trinityautomotive.com/
The Importance of a Will All archdiocesan priests are asked to complete a funeral arrangements form. This information is used for planning purposes. On this form, a priest can indicate who should be contacted at the time of death and who should be the liaison for his funeral arrangements, if other than the former. Copies of this form are to be kept among the priest’s private papers and with the person indicated on the funeral arrangement form. To update a funeral form with more current information, contact the office of priest personnel. All pastors must submit a copy of their last will and testament, which will be kept on file in the office of priest personnel. All priests are encouraged to do the same.
June Solemnities in 2022 On Friday, June 24, the solemnities of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Friday after Corpus Christi Sunday) and the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (June 24) fall on the same date. It has been determined that Sacred Heart will be observed on Friday, June 24, and the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist will be transferred to the preceding Thursday, June 23. However, in places where Saint John the Baptist is the patron saint of a nation, diocese, city, or religious community, the order of the two celebrations is to be reversed, keeping the Nativity on June 24 and transferring Sacred Heart to June 23 instead. Since this exception does not apply to parish churches, those communities in the archdiocese whose church’s titular saint is John the Baptist (in Manhattan, Rockland and Yonkers) will celebrate their patronal solemnity on Thursday, June 23 for this year only.
National Collection Calendar for 2023 was published on Friday and sent to each pastor and parish secretary. Both We Share and envelope companies have already been notified. You may wish to give your parishioners another reminder of the importance of online donations to maintain their offertory and provide assistance to them on how to register for WeShare. The Missionary Cooperative Appeal, at the direction of Cardinal Dolan, is obligatory and is to be arranged on a date selected by the parish. Pastors will be notified directly by the office for the propagation of the faith in the new year.
Just One More Thing A man with two broken arms walked into a church and asked the priest if he could be the new bell ringer. The priest said he was unsure if he could hire him, but would give him a chance. The man went to the bell tower and started running into the bells head first to make the most beautiful sounds the priest had ever heard. Unfortunately, on his second attempt, the man missed the bell and fell out of the tower to the ground below and died. The priest ran outside to the body and asked the gathering crowd if anyone knew who the man was. Someone said, “No, but his face did ring a bell.”