By Katie Vasquez
On March 15 Father James Rodriguez, the pastor of St. Camillus in Far Rockaway, informed parishioners at Mass of Bishop Robert Brennan’s decision to preserve the church, which has served the community for more than 115 years.
Last June, parishioners were told that St. Camillus would be closing due to declining attendance and debt.
By Katie Vasquez and Wandy Ortiz
MIDTOWN — As the Big East takes over New York City from March 11-14, locals and visitors alike can find banners for each institution hung at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, located just a block away from Madison Square Garden.
Father Brian Jordan, the church’s pastor, had the banners hung to welcome anyone in town for the tournament to come in and pray. After all, St. Francis of Assisi was named “the official Big East Conference Church” by the conference, he said.
“We should be the sign of Franciscan hospitality and open the doors of the church to anyone involved in the Big East looking for a place to pray,” Father Jordan said. “And this being the Franciscan Jubilee Year, it should be more so that we show Franciscan hospitality to all the schools, especially the Catholic schools.”
Of the conference’s 11 men’s basketball schools, nine are Catholic. St. John’s University, which sits atop the conference after winning its second consecutive Big East regular-season title, is joined by Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, Villanova University, Seton Hall University, and Xavier University.
The University of Connecticut and Butler University are secular schools.
Father Jordan said pews have been filled with college basketball fans.
“Last year, there were a lot of people from all of the schools coming here, even UConn, and everyone was talking about it,” he said, noting that’s when he approached the Big East Conference with his request to become its official church, which they granted.
The Tablet attended the March 12 noon Mass as St. John’s eliminated Providence from the conference tournament 85-72 across the street at The Garden.
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When asked what team he’s rooting for, Father Jordan said, “They’re all the favorites. We’re all showing Franciscan hospitality to everyone.”
The same can’t be said about the fans, however.
Kathryn Shaughnessy, a professor and librarian at St. John’s University, traveled to Manhattan to pray for St. John’s success.
“Every bit of support for the basketball team helps,” Shaughnessy said. “Earthly support and heavenly support is always in order.”
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Tom Nolan, St. John’s University Class of 1992, was at Stout NYC, the official restaurant and sports bar of the St. John’s University men’s basketball team, on March 12, watching the game on his lunch break.
However, he told The Tablet that he wished he had been at Mass at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, which he said is part of his faith life.
“I went there for ashes a couple weeks ago,” he said.
As a St. John’s graduate and a Catholic, he said that having a local church where hoops fans can find a moment of prayer is something incredible.
“It was kind of crazy when the Big East sort of split into this whole all-Catholic university conference,” he said. “But I think it’s amazing that all these schools are playing each other and they’re all Catholic colleges.”
More than 1,000 high school seniors from across the Diocese of Brooklyn gathered at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph for a graduation Mass with Bishop Robert Brennan.
A senior at St. Francis Prep is turning her experience with sleep paralysis into award-winning scientific research.
A New Jersey man pleaded guilty after threatening to bomb the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C.
The Church of St. Francis of Assisi is welcoming Big East men’s basketball teams and fans looking for prayer and spiritual support near Madison Square Garden.
By Jessica Easthope
More than 1,000 high school seniors from the Diocese of Brooklyn, all on the brink of the next chapter, gathered March 13 for a graduation Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights. Many believe they know what lies ahead.
“I want to be a physician assistant when I get older,” one senior said.
“That’s what I’m thinking, engineering, yeah,” another said.
“I want to be a nurse practitioner or a CRNA,” a student said.
“A speech pathologist,” another said.
“I want to be a doctor,” a senior said.
“A neurosurgeon,” another said.
“Professional soccer player,” a student said.
“I want to be a nurse,” another said.
“I want to be a general practitioner doctor or a pediatrician,” a senior said.
Violet Dutton’s future isn’t as clear.
“When I get older? I have no idea, I’m hoping I’ll figure that out,” Dutton said.
Dutton is headed to Princeton University in the fall — a big jump from the Mary Louis Academy — but one thing is certain: she’s taking her faith with her.
“There’s a lovely chapel on campus, and I also want to get involved in campus ministry and, obviously, meet other people who are also Catholic and obviously learn about new people,” Dutton said.
Not losing ties with your faith was the message Bishop Robert Brennan gave the crowd of teens. In a world that will pull you in different directions, let your Catholic identity be your guide.
“Stay connected,” Bishop Brennan said. “So that the relationship with Christ continues to be nourished and to grow. We need to be able to stick together to encourage each other and also to be a light to the world.”
Some seniors said even if they haven’t yet declared a major, they’re choosing this moment to make a declaration of faith.
“Building a stronger relationship with God, attending church, and trying to build a community around myself with people who influence me to strengthen my faith, because at the end of the day, my goal is to be so filled with the love that God provides for me, that it pours onto others,” senior at Christ the King High School Ashlyn Hernandez said.
With plans or without — these seniors will leave with more than a diploma. They leave with faith, community, and a call to live it out loud.
By Currents News
Bishop Robert Brennan joined Lenten pilgrims March 13 at St. Margaret Church in Middle Village, Queens for Day 21 of the diocese’s daily pilgrimage.
The bishop greeted students and faithful arriving for the stop, calling it “good” and “nice to see you after a busy day.”
In his reflection, Bishop Brennan focused on Jesus’ teaching that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all one’s heart, soul and mind.
He said the Lord provides strength on such days and that spending time with Him helps people begin to think and act more like Him.
Two days earlier, on March 11, the pilgrimage included a special visit to St. Peter Claver Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant — the first African American Catholic church in Brooklyn.
Bishop Brennan led vespers and Benediction at the historic parish.
He thanked the community for opening its doors to pilgrims and highlighted the significance of the stop during Lent.
St. Peter Claver was founded in the early 1920s by Monsignor Bernard Quinn, a trailblazer for social justice who confronted racism and the Ku Klux Klan. Monsignor Quinn is currently being considered for sainthood.
The Lenten pilgrimage invites faithful to visit a different church each day leading up to Easter.
It is not too late to join: download the Lenten Pilgrimage app from the App Store or Google Play, or visit lent.dioeceseofbrooklyn.org for more information.
By Jessica Easthope and Bill Miller
Since she was 12, Yanchen (Angela) Wang, now 17, has stressed about falling asleep.
Whether waking up or dozing, Angela, a senior at St. Francis Preparatory School, has heard odd noises, like feet stomping and people yammering in an unidentifiable language. She called these frightening episodes “auditory hallucinations.”
“I’m not hearing proper English or any other language,” she said. “It’s just some murmurs and weird sounds, like the footsteps.”
In China, where Angela was born, this condition is called the “Ghost Oppression.” Also, Italian folklore asserts that these are the misdeeds of the Pandafeche — a witch-like creature who climbs atop sleeping people’s chests to steal their breath. Her victims are unable to speak or move until they’re fully awake.
Medical researchers, meanwhile, say these are classic symptoms of the mysterious disorder “sleep paralysis.” The malady is physically harmless, Angela said, but psychologically disturbing and can continue throughout life.
Her knowledge of sleep paralysis extends beyond personal experience to actual scientific research, which the Society for Science Regeneron Science Talent Search competition recently recognized. The society announced Jan. 7 that she was one of 300 honorees in what they describe as the “nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.”
This year marks the 85th competition and the 10th time it has been held in partnership with the biotechnology firm, Regeneron, according to the Society for Science. The honorees received $2,000 prizes, and their schools received $2,000 to spend on teaching aids such as computer software.
Angela’s ongoing work is conducted through her school’s Science Research Program. Now in its 27th year, it is guided by teachers James LaRocca and Fran Jimmenez.
The program currently has about 90 students in grades 10-12 who qualified through excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
LaRocca said the program adheres to Principal Patrick McLaughlin’s commitment to find “ways of Franciscanism” for educating “the whole student.”
“Consistent with that is the caring for creation,” he said. “I see our students living that out. Angela and her peers are also students of good character. But this is also about helping others, like those suffering from something like sleep paralysis.”
LaRocca said the Regeneron competition is a good fit for the school’s research students because it challenges them to demonstrate the ability to work independently.
“There has to be novelty to their findings,” he said of the projects. “They cannot merely review others’ work like some sort of cog in a lab. They want them to have the ability to shine and demonstrate that they did this themselves.”
Angela said her current research results from surveys completed by 400 St. Francis Prep student volunteers indicate that just over 25% of them reported having symptoms of sleep paralysis. She compared that to other studies that show 28% of college students report similar symptoms.
“A possible explanation is the high stress students are experiencing,” she said. “In the general population, it’s around 7.6%.”
Angela said she plans to one day become a dentist and have her own practice, so she also wants to study business administration in college. Meanwhile, she is an accomplished saxophonist in the school’s jazz band and enjoys being part of the Korean and Filipino clubs.
Angela also hopes to continue sleep paralysis research, even while she’s in college and in her professional life, because suitable treatments and management techniques are yet to be developed.
She agreed that her Catholic education would help her get there because it encourages students to develop “academically, socially, and morally.”
“I carry this mindset into the research,” she added. “I want to know what I’m experiencing and why. The second reason is several of my friends also experienced this paralysis.”
Angela said one girl described seeing a dark figure with shining red eyes slowly approaching her.
“So, she’s basically suffering from it because she feels like she is being attacked by a demon,” she explained. “I’m pretty sure I experienced visual hallucination, too, but I was so scared that I didn’t dare to open my eyes.”
Angela said she’s concerned that sleep paralysis could lead to instances of other mental health problems, like post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It’s just going to keep happening and happening,” she said, “if we don’t find a way to manage or to treat this phenomenon, [it’s] creating a vicious cycle.”
By Jessica Easthope
Before heading off to colleges and universities across the country, graduating seniors from Catholic high schools in Brooklyn and Queens are coming together for Mass, prayer, and encouragement from Bishop Robert Brennan at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.
By Katie Vasquez
Around the block from the world’s most famous arena you’ll find The church of St. Francis of Assisi. The Midtown Manhattan church is opening up its doors to officially host basketball fans, families, players, and coaches from every team competing in the Big East Conference.
By Katie Vasquez and Paula Katinas
ASTORIA — Helen McCann was left with three small children to raise on her own after her husband Edward died in 1941. The future seemed uncertain for the young widow, but there was one thing she was sure of — that her kids would get a Catholic education.
And so, she enrolled her daughter, Patricia, and her sons, Edward and Joseph, in Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Astoria, where Patricia graduated in 1947, followed by Edward in 1951 and Joseph in 1955. To pay for their tuition, Helen took any job she could get — working as a file clerk and wrapping presents in a department store.
While the family did not have much money, Helen instilled in her children a love of reading and made sure there were always newspapers and other reading materials around their house in Astoria, her son Joseph recalled.
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Helen’s dedication to Catholic education and her love of the written word, which she instilled in her children, led Immaculate Conception to dedicate its school library in her memory in 2021. The McCann family donated money to the school for the McCann Library, and a plaque dedicating the room to her was placed outside the entrance.
Joseph, 85, returned to Immaculate Conception on March 11 to help re-dedicate the McCann Library following an eight-month renovation and redecorating project.
Eager to make the library top-notch, Principal Keri-Ann Wade-Donohue enlisted parents and students to reorganize the library — throwing out old, outdated books, organizing the remaining books for display, rebuilding the shelves, installing new carpets, and giving the walls a fresh coat of paint.
For McCann, a retired senior vice president of public affairs for PepsiCo, his return took him down memory lane and gave him a chance to speak to the children.
Immaculate Conception had about 800 students when he went there, he told the students. He explained that at the time, there were 40 children in each class, and the school year was split in half, with some students starting in September and others in January, and nearly all the teachers were nuns, he recalled.
The school’s current students enjoyed hearing about the McCann family’s legacy.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” fourth grader Joseph Rodriguez said.
The kids also felt proud of their contributions to the library’s reorganizing project.
“The library looks pretty organized,” said eighth grader Evan Galang, who helped sort the books.
Looking back, McCann said his mother never wavered when it came to their schooling.
“She really believed in Catholic school for us,” he recalled, adding that she had two main reasons. “It was really a mix of religion on one side and discipline on the other.”
By Jessica Easthope
In a few days Joyce Peters Natter is going to be 83 — but that’s no excuse, she still kneels before the Stations of the Cross.
“We all have to do this journey,” Peters Natter said. “It’s nothing like Christ who carried the cross for us.”
Joyce and others on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten pilgrimage made sacrifices to get to the halfway point at St. John Vianney Church in Flushing.
“Acess-A-Ride an hour and a half,” she pilgrim said.
“The B20, the Q24. You have to take the another bus and then, take the train to Archer Avenue and Sutphin and take the bus to get here,” another said.”
“It’s the number seven, but unfortunately it had some issues, so it was a little delayed,” said Lorraine Collazo.”But I made it here, and then I walked from Main Street here.”
But nothing could keep them away. Collazo says traveling is part of the commitment.
“I like figuring out how to get from place-to-place,” she said. “Should I walk?”
And these pilgrims say at a time when they’re supposed to be making sacrifices, the places they’ve seen have been a gift.
“I find the parishes are so diverse. They’re so interesting,” said Rebecca Armstrong. “Some of the music at the parishes is unbelievable. The customs and the cultures.”
“The architecture of the churches and the spiritual feeling. Once you are inside is is different,” said Aldemar Cagua.
“Experiencing the different communities, how they worship,” Collazo said. “The beauty of the churches, of course. They’re all so different.”
The Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten pilgrimage will eventually end — but the spiritual journey they’re on never really does.
“That understanding of that reminder of pilgrimage that we are people in pilgrimage is very important to me,” said Lorraine.
“Through meditation or just the readings, it’s just a deeper connection with your faith,” Armstrong said.
“It’s the medicine that we Christians we need to have every day,” said Cagua. “To follow Jesus.”