From HLI.

“With a deep sense of gratitude to Almighty God and to Monsignor Barreiro, I wanted to let HLI’s supporters know that, after years of discernment, Monsignor has accepted an invitation to serve as parochial vicar of St. Mary Church in Norwalk in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Though Monsignor is stepping down from full time service with Human Life International, his commitment to the defense of faith, life, and family is not diminished. He will continue to preach the Gospel of Life and integrate Church teaching on life and family into his new pastoral duties, and he will continue to publish articles with HLI when his duties allow.”

(From the statement of Father Shenan J. Boquet, president of Human Life International)

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory has planned a pilgrimage to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark on the morning of Saturday, April 23. The pilgrimage will begin with a 2.5 mile walk through Branch Brook Park in Newark. The famous Japanese cherry trees—there are some 2,700 of them–will be in full bloom. The procession will cross the holy doors of the Cathedral Basilica in order to gain the plenary indulgence of the Year of Mercy, as decreed by Pope Francis. There will be a solemn mass in the extraordinary form at the high altar.

Schedule: Meet at 8:00 am at Barringer High School parking lot just west of the cathedral across Ridge St (please note: this meeting location has been changed)

Crossing of the Holy Doors of Mercy at 9:30 am (possibility for Confession)

Solemn High Mass at 10:00 am

For information call:

Institute of Christ the King/St. Anthony of Padua Oratory

Canon Jean Marie Moreau

1360 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052

973-325-2233

saint.anthonys@institute-christ-king.org

www.institute-christ-king.org/westorange

Here are some facts about the Cherry Blossom Festival in Branch Brook Park from the website www.visitnj.org:

New Jersey has more cherry trees than Washington D.C. And every spring residents and visitors alike can see the largest cherry blossom collection in the United States.   Branch Brook Park, that runs through Belleville and Newark, has more than 2,700 Japanese cherry blossom trees that burst into full bloom during the annual Cherry Blossom.

Each year thousands of visitors are awed by the beautiful colors of pink and white. The park first adopted a pink and white hue in 1927, when Caroline Bamburger Fuld donated 2,000 cherry blossom trees to the Essex County Parks system in memory of her late husband.

Branch Brook Park also holds the distinction of being the first county park in the United States opened to the public, it was designed by the famed landscape architectural firm of Olmsted Brothers, a successor to Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park in New York City.

At Holy Innocents parish, New York (Canon Jean -Marie Moreau, ICRSS, celebrant)

Photos from a reception for Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony following his lecture “Faith in Music” at the Catholic Center at NYU. This event was sponsored by the Thomistic Institute and the Catholic Artists Society.

“The Upper Room: Monday, April 25th at 7:30 pm: in the Upper Room at Columbus Park Trattoria on Broad Street in downtown Stamford. This is for Catholics aged 30 and up. Join us for a glass of wine and a lively discussion. This month’s topic: Dr. Joe McAleer will speak on “The Wisdom of Cardinal Egan,” previewing a new book of the Cardinal’s writings.”

SOURCE

(Above) Candlelight vigil in front of the closed church of Our Lady of Peace. (Photo from http://olpchurchnyc.typepad.com)

Some interesting articles have appeared recently on this and allied issues.

First, Melanie Grace West in an article in the Wall Street Journal documents important procedural wins for a number of parishes appealing the Archdiocese’s decision to close them. In the case of at least two parishes, the Vatican specified that divine services were to continue in the building of the closed parish and that members of the parish had rights to worship there. In regard to a Polish ethnic parish in Poughkeepsie:

“In the case of St. Joseph, the amendment says, the building may be used for public and private worship. In addition, it is to be open for the feast celebration of the parish’s patron saint and its anniversary.

Finally, an amendment allows for all St. Joseph parishioners to formally become members of the newly merged entity.”

In regard to St. Andrew’s in Lower Manhattan, which was merged but not (yet) closed:

Joseph Canepa has led the appeals process for St. Andrew’s, a lower-Manhattan parish that was formally merged with Our Lady of Victory. St. Andrew’s serves primarily court officers and law enforcement, and while the merger didn’t completely close the parish, it did affect the frequency of Masses, he said.

It too benefited from a decision by the Congregation for the Clergy, which it received this month. The revised decree says that “the church of St. Andrew will continue to remain open to the daily access of the faithful and for the daily and Sunday celebration of Holy Mass with a regular schedule.”

The Congregation for the Clergy’s amendments to St. Andrew’s honor the unique membership of the parish, a decision Mr. Canepa called “a gift.”

Additional information has been requested by the Vatican in the case of five other parishes – including St Elizabeth of Hungary and Our Lady of Peace (both on the Upper East Side).

The blog of Our Lady of Peace has published the letter from the Vatican extending (once again) the time limit for reviewing the case until April 30, 2016. After receipt of the letter, the Our Lady of Peace community is “cautiously optimistic.”

The New York  City Landmarks Preservation Commission has just taken action on a number of properties – including important Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan.

Prioritized for Designation:

St. Joseph’s Church at 401-403 West 125th Street

(One of the oldest churches in the North of Manhattan)

St. Paul’s Church and School at 121 East 117th Street

(Presumably this is St. Paul’s, the first Catholic parish in Harlem.)

Now David Gonzalez in the New York Times has written an article about another Roman Catholic church  (Immaculate Conception in the Bronx) which been prioritized for landmark designation at this same meeting. The article summarizes the arguments the Archdiocese and religious orders always raise everywhere against Landmark designation. Allegedly this status adds to the cost of renovations and may prevent access ramps. It seems odd for an institution which spent $20 million on the restoration of St Bridget’s church and $171 million on St Patrick’s cathedral to complain about such costs. And landmark status is precisely designed to prevent owners from doing whatever they want with a given property – which is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church desires. Nowhere in this one-sided article is the most obvious issue mentioned: landmark status constitutes a barrier (even if surmountable under circumstances) to razing churches and selling the land. My conclusion is that landmark status is more important than ever, for as this article makes clear, the Roman Catholic Church itself sees artistic, historical and cultural merit as likely being in conflict with “a Church of the people.”

..in a Solemn High Nuptial Mass. With music by Mozart.  At St. Mary’s, Norwalk, today.

The Art of the Beautiful series concludes Tuesday, April 5th, at 7 PM, with conductor Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Born in Austria, Honeck has worked to great acclaim with the world’s leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome. In the United States, Honeck has conducted the New York Philharmonic (with whom he is appearing next week), The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.

His talk is entitled “Faith in Music.” A reception and sung Compline will follow.