The church of Saints Simon and Jude celebrated 125 years over the weekend with Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan and former parishioner, Bishop Frank Caggiano. The now bishop of Bridgeport grew up in Gravesend right near the parish.
Bishop Caggiano even mentioned during his homily that he remembers seeing the current church being built while in class.
The original church was built at the turn of the 20th century to minister to the predominately Irish immigrant population.
As the diocese of immigrants grew more diverse and more parishioners began to pack the pews, the parish decided to build a bigger church and that’s the one that stands there today.