Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 2/27/26

Teachers in the Diocese of Brooklyn are taking part in active shooter response training, learning life-saving strategies to protect students during emergency situations.

Six months after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, families are urging lawmakers to pass new gun restrictions.

Catholic leaders are calling on New Yorkers to contact lawmakers and help secure more than $30 million in overdue state reimbursements owed to non-public schools.

Students at St. Athanasius Catholic Academy in Brooklyn are celebrating Black History Month with a Motown-themed performance.

Students Celebrate Black History Month with Motown Tribute

By Katie Vasquez

BENSONHURST — The sounds of Motown filled St. Athanasius Catholic Academy on Friday as students performed hits like “Build Me Up Buttercup” and “Proud Mary,” capping off Black History Month with a musical tribute to industry pioneers.

The Brooklyn Catholic academy marked the occasion by teaching students about influential Black artists through song and dance.

“We felt that it was good for them to learn about them through music,” said Principal Gina Auricchio. “So they figured that Motown would be really great and interesting and engaging for them.”

The lesson helped students gain a deeper appreciation for Black history and the impact of artists who broke barriers in the music industry.

“We learned about the Jackson Five when they were in a group, and then they started singing,” said sixth-grader Aiyme Torres.

Seventh-grader Christopher DeGeorge said he learned about singer Bill Withers and the challenges Black artists faced.

“Bill Withers was a Black artist who was signed to a mostly Black artist label because due to racism during that time, most Black artists couldn’t get signed to a label because most white artists were already in the labels,” Christopher said.

Throughout the program, students showed off their dance moves and practiced choreography they had learned in class.

“I like that we get to do those cool dance moves like this one. And this one. And this singer was pretty cool. And the dance teacher taught us a lot,” said third-grader Matteo Carrillo. “I learned that Motown was a lot of action and movements.”

First-grader Carter Thomas said he practiced every night for the performance.

When asked what he liked about the song, he replied, “Because it was made by Michael Jackson.”

School leaders said the lesson extended beyond music, encouraging students to embrace and respect different backgrounds.

“Having the children learn about each other, they realize that they have more in common than they have in differences,” Auricchio said. “So learning about each other builds a bond with them and they accept each other.”

Catholic School Educators Learn Potential Life‑Saving Tactics

By Katie Vasquez and Paula Katinas

CORONA — Alexandria Bay came to St. Leo Catholic Academy on Jan. 20 to learn a lesson she said she hopes will never get used in real life.

Bay, a fourth-grade teacher at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Academy in Jackson Heights, was one of nearly 100 teachers from five Catholic schools in Queens who spent the morning at St. Leo taking part in a training on how to protect themselves and their students in the event of a school shooting.

The training, conducted by Synergy 911, a Massachusetts-based risk assessment firm, offered teachers tips on staying safe if a shooter were on campus.

“It’s very important and something that is obviously in the news today,” Bay said, explaining her reason for wanting to be there. “I’m hoping to learn to keep my class safe if it ever were to happen, even though I hope that it doesn’t.”

Synergy 911 will conduct training for schools across the diocese.

The Jan. 20 session was for teachers from five Queens schools — St. Leo, Our Lady Fatima, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy in Corona, St. Bartholomew Catholic Academy in Elmhurst, and St. Joan of Arc Catholic School in Jackson Heights.

First, Brian Rojee, lead instructor for Synergy 911, detailed a list of actions the teachers should take in an active shooter situation. Then, trainer Matt Mello led small groups of teachers into a classroom and taught them how to properly barricade a door to prevent a shooter from barging in, which one teacher did in three minutes.

Rojee offered three main tips for the teachers to remember.

“First of all, access control is super important. Nobody should be roaming around your school who doesn’t belong there,” he told The Tablet after the session. “Second, when in doubt, leave. Get out of Dodge and get out of sight of the school. And third, redundancy is key. Get into your classroom or office, close and lock the door, and add layers of redundancy to that by throwing furniture in front of it.”

A teacher should always wait for law enforcement and never take matters into their own hands and confront the shooter unless it’s a last resort, he added.

The training took place at a time of heightened concern over mass shootings.

In 2025, there were 75 school and school-related shootings, including at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, where a gunman attacked during a Mass, killing two young children and injuring 30 other people. He later took his own life.

In 2022, the nation’s attention was drawn to a tragedy in Texas when a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24 and killed 19 students and two teachers before being killed by border patrol agents.

“It’s better to be prepared and hopefully never, ever need it again,” said John Maldonado, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Bartholomew Catholic Academy. “That’s the world we live in.”

The goal of the training session, Rojee told the teachers, was “to empower you, rather than make you afraid” — a lesson the teachers seemed to take to heart.

At St. Leo’s, Rojee assured the teachers that school shootings are rare.

“You’re more likely to be struck by lightning,” he said. However, he quickly added, “It does not relieve us of our responsibility.”

Mass Shootings 1966-2025

** There were 510 mass shootings in the U.S. between 1966 and 2025 with a total of 1,728 fatalities.
** In 2025, there were 75 reported school shootings in the U.S., with 31 people killed and more than 100 injured.

** The most common places for mass shootings are workplaces and schools

** In 73% of the incidents, the shooter used a handgun.

— Rockefeller Institute of Government, Gun Violence Archive

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 2/26/26

The Merchant’s House Museum in Manhattan reveals a hidden passageway linked to the Underground Railroad.

A Notre Dame University professor has withdrawn from her leadership appointment following weeks of criticism from students, faculty and several Catholic bishops over her public support for abortion.

The Vatican announces Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming apostolic journeys to Monaco, several African nations, and Spain.

Catholics are gathering at St. Joan of Arc in Queens for Mass with Bishop Robert Brennan, continuing the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage.

Pope Leo XIV To Visit Spain in June of 2026, Vatican Announces

By Currents News, Junno Arocho Esteves, and Paulina Guzik

(OSV News) – With the Vatican confirming Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Spain in June, plans for the upcoming visit are full steam ahead, the organizer of the visit said.

Speaking to OSV News Feb. 25, Yago de La Cierva, who was appointed by the Spanish bishops’ conference as the general coordinator of the visit, said he is hopeful that, like past papal visits, Pope Leo will come with a powerful message that “will be a revival” for the people of Spain.

“I would say the real effects of any papal visit can be measured in a spiritual change, in a spiritual revival, in people, in individuals, in families, in communities, in cities,” he said. “This is our hope, and we are working hard so that this visit is not just superficial, but that it goes deep into the souls of many people.”

The pope’s visit, he added, would also serve as an “important push to recover our identity as a welcoming society that is (concerned) for the underprivileged and those who are vulnerable.”

Acknowledging that the country faces political, economic and social tensions, de La Cierva said many hope the pope will help heal divisions and encourage unity.

“We really, really hope that the pope can give us not only guidance and suggestions to improve the situation, but also to put like a balsamic oil on many wounds and will be able to tell all Spaniards, ‘Hey, you can do better. You can work together even if you don’t think in the same way.'”

In a statement published Feb. 25, the Vatican press office also confirmed several other papal visits, including Monaco, Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

Logistical Challenges

Although Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the program of the June 6-12 trip “will be announced in due course,” the destination cities – Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands – were first confirmed in January by Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid, who, along with a delegation of Spanish bishops, met with the Secretariat of State to discuss initial plans for the visit.

The last time a pope visited Spain was in 2011, when Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Madrid for World Youth Day, where he presided over the final Mass attended by over a million young people.

De La Cierva noted that the preparation period for Pope Leo’s visit is dramatically shorter, at just over three months.
“The main difficulty is that for World Youth Day, normally you have two years to prepare for the trip. And this time, we are 101 days ahead, which (means) that everything is much more complicated,” he said.

Despite the logistical hurdles, de La Cierva praised the cooperation from public officials.

“After contacting the local authorities, the mayor … of the Madrid community, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it has been a full collaboration,” he told OSV News, expressing hope that the visit “will also be a manifestation of teamwork.”

Madrid, he said, is expected to draw Catholics from across Spain because of its accessibility and central location.

“We told every diocese in the country that they are welcome to come,” de La Cierva said.

While travel to the Canary Islands or Barcelona may prove more difficult, “I think Madrid will be a place in which many people from around the country will come and will attend the events.”

“It would be a really, really joyful gathering,” he added.

Initially the iconic Bernabeu soccer stadium was supposed to be a venue for youth vigil, but organizers say its 85,000 capacity is too small for the estimated 300,000 young people expected as they’re working with local authorities to find a bigger space. Bernabeu may be used for another papal event however, OSV News was told.

De La Cierva confirmed to OSV News that a Vatican delegation will arrive in Madrid March 2 and visit “places in which the local bishops have asked the pope to meet people.”

The delegation will then head to Las Palmas and Tenerife on the Canary Islands, before finally visiting Barcelona. The pope is expected to mark the June 10 centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí – the legendary architect of one of the world’s most iconic churches, the Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona, known in Spanish as Sagrada Familia.

A Historic Moment

The upper arm of the cross atop the tower of Jesus Christ was installed Feb. 20. At over 564 feet in height, the tower makes the basilica the tallest Catholic church in the world, surpassing the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, which stands at 518 feet.

It also surpasses the Ulmer Münster Lutheran Church in Germany, which stands at 530 feet, making it the tallest church of any denomination in the world.

Construction of the basilica began in 1882, and it is considered a masterpiece of Gaudí, a Catholic whose cause for sainthood is underway.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the basilica faced numerous delays and challenges in its over 140-year construction, including the Spanish Civil War and the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the main building is expected to be completed in 2026, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death, work on statues and other areas of the basilica is expected to continue until 2034.

De La Cierva told OSV News Pope Leo’s presence would be a key event that represents a full-circle moment.

“I think that would be one of the main events of the trip to Spain because the altar was blessed by Pope Benedict XIV in 2010. And this is like the close of the circle with this magnificent basilica,” he said.

In Pope Francis’ Footsteps

Another full-circle moment, according to de La Cierva, would be Pope Leo’s visit to the Canary Islands, a trip his predecessor, Pope Francis, had wanted to make.

The archipelago, which is geographically in Africa, is the destination each year for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking a better future. They arrive in poor and fragile boats called “callucos,” and many die in transit.

Pope Leo, he said, is continuing “the legacy of Pope Francis,” who he said had “expressed his wish to go there because it has been the center of an important element in immigration.”

“I think Pope Leo is trying to continue the path of Pope Francis when he made his historical trip to Lampedusa,” de La Cierva said.

“And this is probably his intention of putting in front of Europe the need to be a welcoming society and accepting people as human beings and not as a threat. That we have to deal with each one of them as a person, not as a menace,” he said.

“I think this is why the pope is visiting the Canary Islands for the first time in history,” he said, adding “everybody” in Spain is “so happy” with the trip.

“We were hoping for a papal visit for 15 years. And for a Catholic country it is a lot,” he said, emphasizing that many generous donors are willing to support the trip, fully financed by “the Church, faithful and people of goodwill.”

St. John Paul II visited Spain five times, including the iconic 1989 Santiago de Compostela World Youth Day, with Pope Benedict returning twice – in 2010, and 2011 – for World Youth Day in Madrid.

TONIGHT AT 7: NYC’s Merchant’s House Museum Holds Abolitionist History

By Katie Vasquez

For nearly 100 years, two generations of the wealthy Tredwell family were oblivious to a secret inside their fashionable Manhattan row home that, during the 1800s, could have put them under suspicion of hiding fugitive slaves.

Underground Railroad Passageway Discovered at New York City Museum

By Katie Vasquez and Bill Miller

NOHO — For nearly 100 years, two generations of the wealthy Tredwell family were oblivious to a secret inside their fashionable row home that, during the 1800s, could have put them under suspicion of hiding fugitive slaves.

The house, built in 1832, includes an upper-level bedroom that has drawers built into the walls of a walk-in closet. Beneath the drawers is a trapdoor leading to a cramped, vertical shaft that ends in the ceiling of a pantry next to the ground-floor kitchen.

House painters in the early 1930s stumbled upon this covert space while preparing the home at 29 E. Fourth St. for its conversion from domicile into what is now called the Merchant’s House Museum.

Since 1936, the museum has become “the only family home in New York City to survive intact from the 19th century with original furniture, decorative arts, and personal possessions,” according to its website.

Still, the secret shaft had no obvious purpose, said Emily Hill-Wright, the museum’s director of operations. She said it suggests the Tredwell home was a waystation on the “Underground Railroad — a network of secret routes and safehouses run by abolitionists to help enslaved people escape to northern free states or Canada.

“Part of our research,” Hill-Wright explained, “has been looking at other 19th-century homes to find out: Is there another possible use for a space like this?

“It’s not an air shaft; it’s not a laundry chute. It’s not a dumb waiter. Is there a practical thing that we’re missing? And the answer is ‘no.’ ”

The museum archives have early staff notes speculating that the passageway was intended to help “fugitive” slaves, just like other New York City buildings with confirmed connections to the Underground Railroad.

Camille Czerkowicz, curator and collections manager, said there are no records of the Tredwell family being involved with the abolitionist movement. She noted that the Tredwells might have known nothing about the passageway.

But why? Probably because they didn’t build the house. That distinction goes to Joseph Brewster (1787-1854), a hatmaker from Connecticut who also dabbled in real estate and construction. He designed and built the home and several others in the NOHO neighborhood wedged between New York University and the East Village.

Brewster completed the home in 1832 and lived there until he sold it three years later to the hardware merchant, Seabury Tredwell (1780-1865), who moved there with his wife, Eliza, their eight children, and four Irish servants. Two generations of Tredwells lived in the house continuously for 98 years, Czerkowicz said.

Hill-Wright explained that both Brewster and Tredwell were prominent among the businessmen who prospered with the development of the Erie Canal.

Starting in 1825, the canal, spanning more than 300 miles, opened commerce by linking communities along the shores of the Great Lakes with New York City and its harbor.

While there is no known tie between Tredwell and abolitionism, the museum historian learned two years ago that Brewster detested slavery, Czerkowicz said.

“That’s what made us re-evaluate our history,” she said.

Brewster, she explained, was part of the Presbyterian Church in New York City. His

faith deepened during an evangelical movement of the early 1800s, which was part of the “Second Great Awakening” in the U.S. from the 1790s through the 1830s. It was a time of fervent revivalism that moved Protestantism toward a more emotional, individualistic, and reform-oriented faith.

Presbyterianism during this time opposed slavery, but it also looked to end it gradually. Meanwhile, Brewster and like-minded progressive Protestants wanted it abolished outright — hence the term, “abolitionism.”

Czerkowicz said his attitude aligns with Catholic Church teachings on social justice, human dignity, and God’s love and mercy for all people.

“Brewster was part of an active group of people that really wanted to do good in the world,” said Czerkowicz, who is Catholic. “They worked together to help people wherever they could.

“I think that resonates with all religious communities.”

Still, such opinions and actions could risk one’s livelihood and freedom because of the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Consequently, it is hard to find written accounts of people moving through a waystation, Hill-Wright said. She noted the museum has not found any examples of people using the secret passageway to escape slavery.

“Underground Railroad work was extremely secretive and extremely dangerous, so most people did not keep records,” Hill-Wright said. “Of course, we would absolutely love to find a diary with lots of information about people in this house.

“We’re always looking.”

Hill-Wright and Czerkowicz said the passageway is gaining wider attention among New Yorkers and tourists, which bolsters wider interest in the museum itself.

That’s critical, they said, because new neighborhood construction plans threaten the structural integrity of the museum’s foundation and walls. They urge people to visit the museum or merchantshouse.org to learn more.

“We’re excited to have all these new angles and different parts of history to talk about,” Czerkowicz said. “We’ve been overwhelmed with media attention, and we feel grateful and honored to be telling these new stories.”

Pulse of the Parish: St. Athanasius

By Christine Persichette

Every Wednesday evening, Milissa Harmon stands at the door of St. Athanasius Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, greeting each boy arriving for Boy Scout Troop 99 meetings with a warm hello and a quick check-in.

As her husband, Eddie, serves as scoutmaster, Milissa Harmon is the behind-the-scenes force keeping the troop running smoothly: she tracks every detail—from contact lists to uniform sizes—and ensures nothing falls through the cracks.

Father Michael Lynch, pastor of St. Athanasius Church, calls her “one of the pillars of everything that happens in there.”

“It’s her computer that has all the connected contacts on it,” he told Currents News. “It’s she who knows the sizes of everybody who needs to have what they need to have. Like she’s supermom — but she’s super Scout mom!”

Milissa Harmon sees the troop as family. “The boys come from all walks of life, all backgrounds,” she said, “but when we come here, we come here as one and we’re a family. These are my boys.”

Her own sons grew up in the troop and both earned the rank of Eagle Scout. She credits scouting with teaching them discipline, care for others and—most importantly—a deeper connection to the Catholic faith.

Though Harmon is a cradle Catholic and her husband is Jewish, the couple chose to let their three children decide their religious path.

Scouting kept God and reverence central without pushing any specific denomination.

The turning point came when her children attended a retreat to earn the Ad Altare Dei Catholic emblem. They chose to be baptized.
“I was very happy,” Harmon recalled. “It was something that was very moving to me… Watching them make that decision on their own just brought pure joy and happiness to me.”

Now the entire Harmon family attends Mass together, including Eddie.

“When I come to church, I am a better person,” Milissa Harmon said. “I’m better at work, at home, here at the scouts —just a better person in general.”

Beyond meetings, she spends countless hours planning events and supporting the boys.

“People think scouting is a once-a-week thing,” she explained. “It’s more like an every-day thing, sometimes 40 hours a week thing!”

She has no plans to step away. “Because my boys, my boys that I didn’t give birth to are still here,” she explained.

“These children are my children, and until the last one makes Eagle, I’ll probably still be here.”

Milissa Harmon is the pulse of St. Athanasius parish, leading with love, organization and unwavering commitment to the next generation.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday 2/25/26

Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez is ordained and installed as the sixth bishop of Palm Beach during a historic Mass.

The Palm Beach community gathered for evening vespers to pray for Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez on the eve of his episcopal ordination and installation.

Pilgrims are continuing the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten pilgrimage with Mass, prayer, and Eucharistic adoration.

In this installment of Pulse of the Parish, a Brooklyn mother shares how her faith and leadership with Troop 99 at her Brooklyn church have helped guide young scouts — and her own children — closer to God.

New Catholic Bishop Installed in Palm Beach, Florida

By Katie Vasquez and John Lavenburg

When Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez first introduced himself to the faithful of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida, he told them, “I do not bring much with me — only myself, and my faith in Christ Jesus.”

“For this reason, I make my own, the words of St. Peter: ‘I have neither silver nor gold. But what I have, I give you,’ ” Bishop Rodríguez said during an introductory press conference, following the Dec. 19 announcement of his appointment by Pope Leo XIV.

Now, two months later, Bishop Rodríguez officially arrived as the sixth bishop of Palm Beach. And in remarks at his ordination and installation Mass — celebrated on Feb. 24 at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola in Palm Beach — he again emphasized to the faithful of his new home that he is there to serve them.

“It is now my vocation and solemn responsibility to be, for you in this Diocese of Palm Beach, a shepherd and guardian of the faith we hold in common,” Bishop Rodríguez said. “Thus, I am a bishop for you — meaning that tonight a new relationship has been born.”

“We are in this together,” he continued. “From this day forward, until the Lord wills otherwise, I am your bishop, and you are my people, united for the sake of the one faith we profess as members of the family of Jesus Christ.”

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, the metropolitan archbishop of the region, was the ordaining bishop. Other ordaining bishops were Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barbarito of Palm Beach; Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn; and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros of Brooklyn; Archbishop Héctor Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic; other bishops; and priests from the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Palm Beach were concelebrants.

More than 1,000 attendees filled the cathedral for the Mass, including Bishop Rodríguez’s mother, the mayor of his hometown of Moca in the Dominican Republic, and parishioners from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

The night before, Bishop Barbarito presided over vespers (evening prayer) at the cathedral, for which Bishop Brennan was the homilist. With Bishop Rodríguez also in attendance, Bishop Brennan advised him on how to serve faithfully in his new mission.

“The Church seeks for you to be configured to Christ even more deeply in humble, loving service in the ministry of teaching, sanctifying, and governing,” Bishop Brennan said. “You will take up this mission, not conform to the world, not as the world sees leadership, but rather serving as a shepherd to this local Church here in Palm Beach.”

“How?” he asked. “Deeply rooted in prayer in a loving union with Jesus Christ, while an imitation of him walking courageously before the flock to lead and to guide, walking in the middle of the flock, gently listening, encouraging, learning the needs of your people, and shouldering their burdens, and walking patiently behind to seek out the lost and to assist those who find the journey difficult.”

Following the Gospel at the ordination and installation Mass, Archbishop Wenski asked aloud whether Cardinal Pierre had the papal mandate naming Bishop Rodríguez as the sixth bishop of Palm Beach and authorizing his ordination to the Office of Bishop, which Cardinal Pierre read. Showered with cheers and applause, Bishop Rodríguez then walked through the cathedral, presenting the papal mandate to the people of God.

Archbishop Wenski then gave his homily. He noted how the Gold Coast of Florida has been described as the sixth borough of New York City, and therefore “Bishop Rodríguez will quickly come to feel at home here among the palm trees and warm breezes that will also remind him of the Dominican Republic, the land of his birth.”

Like Bishop Brennan, Archbishop Wenski noted the calling of a bishop.

“You are asked to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ — to go ahead of and lead God’s people,” he said. “You are asked to teach the sacred heritage of our past, to defend and promote the doctrinal unity of the faithful, to show mercy and charity to the needy and the poor, and you are asked to pray without ceasing.”

Concluding his homily, Archbishop Wenski encouraged the faithful of Palm Beach to embrace their new shepherd, advising them to “respect him, love him, obey him, and pray for him that his ministry as bishop among you will be fruitful.”

Then came the promises of the elect, in which Bishop Rodríguez made eight promises regarding his future life as a bishop and his willingness to live his episcopacy in imitation of Christ. In his homily, Archbishop Wenski said the question preceding the promises “points out a path for you to follow in the exercise of your episcopal ministry.”

After the promises were made, following tradition, Bishop Rodríguez prostrated (lay face-down) “in humble submission as the Church calls upon all the Angels and Saints to watch over him,” as explained by the ordination program.

Archbishop Wenski, as the ordaining bishop, as well as Bishop Emeritus Barbarito, Bishop Brennan, and all other concelebrating bishops, then individually laid their hands on Bishop Rodríguez’s head ahead of the Prayer of Ordination.

Following the prayer, in a series of rituals, Archbishop Wenski anointed Bishop Rodríguez’s head, placed the episcopal ring on the ring finger of his right hand, and invested him with the miter and crosier.

The ordination concluded with the traditional kiss of peace, during which Archbishop Wenski, Bishop Barbarito, Bishop Brennan, and the other prelates in attendance approached Bishop Rodríguez to welcome him into the episcopacy.

The College of Consultors, the body the local bishop consults on governance matters, then approached Bishop Rodríguez and signed the mandate acknowledging that he has taken canonical possession of the Diocese of Palm Beach. Bishop Rodríguez then blessed many faithful from the diocese who approached him.

Mass then continued as normal, including with a hymn, titled “Corazón de Pastor (A Pastor’s Heart),” composed by Emmanuel Roque, a parishioner of the Diocese of Brooklyn who attended school with Bishop Rodríguez in the Dominican Republic.

“May Mary watch over your steps, may the saints intercede today, and at the end of your journey, may you say, ‘It was all for love,’ ” one verse of the song declared.

Following Communion, Bishop Rodríguez was guided through the cathedral, vested in the miter and crosier, and blessed the people of God who were present.

He then addressed the congregation before imparting the final blessing. In his remarks, Bishop Rodríguez encouraged the faithful of the Diocese of Palm Beach to continue to proclaim the Gospel, but even more fervently.

“This diocese must continue to adore and reverence the Lord with ever-greater devotion and zeal,” he said. “Through our apostolic boldness, the Word of God must be proclaimed more widely, the sacraments must be celebrated abundantly, charity must be lived intensely.

“Ours is the vocation and the mission to make present in Palm Beach the Kingdom of God — beautiful, flourishing, expansive, united and radiant.”

Bishop Rodríguez gave individualized messages of support, gratitude, and eagerness for their upcoming journey together to the diocese’s deacons, parents, grandparents and elderly, schools, youth, children, staff, and Catholic Charities.

To the priests of the Diocese of Palm Beach, he said, “Guys, here I am. … Use me and count always on my full support.”

In closing, Bishop Rodríguez acknowledged the uncertainty of the outcome of his journey in the Diocese of Palm Beach, or “how the Lord will choose to unfold its course.”

“Yet,” he said, “in his holy name, let us begin.”