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.

Father John Halborg died on Monday, March 28.*

Many of us met Father Halborg for the first time during his years of service at St. Thomas More parish. In the 1980’s St. Thomas More was one of the few parishes in New York to engage in any kind of evangelization. The parish welcomed social and religious events organized by young(er) Catholics and hosted the Narnia catechetical program. Thus St Thomas More became a centre both of orthodoxy and the involvement of the laity. Fr. Halborg, who was a convert from the Lutheran church, also was for many years editor of the St Ansgar Bulletin on the Catholic church in Scandinavia (regrettably now defunct).

Father Halborg regularly celebrated the Traditional mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Harlem and after 2009 at Holy Innocents parish, New York. He attended some of the liturgies and events organized by our Society in New York. The St Ansgar League and bulletin ceased operations in 2010 and St Thomas More parish itself narrowly escaped closure last year by merging with Our Lady of Good Counsel. Yet the celebration of the Traditional mass in New York continues – thanks in no small part to the years of devoted service by Father Halborg. May his soul rest in peace!

The viewing of the body will take place at the Church of St. Margaret of Cortona on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 9:15AM, and the (English) Mass service will be at 10AM.

The address of St. Margaret of Cortona is:
St. Margaret of Cortona Church
6000 Riverdale Ave
Bronx, NY 10471
Phone: 718-549-8053

After the Mass, proceed to the grave site:

St. Raymond Cemetery
2600 Lafayette Avenue
Bronx, New York 10465
Tel: 718-792-1133
St. Peters Section (Clergy Section)
Range 16 Grave #42

(Thanks to Eddy Toribio for this information)

* At least that date is what is reported in his published obituaries. We have also been told he died on Easter Sunday, March 27. Moreover, his full name is, I believe, John E. Halborg – in his obituaries it is reported as John T. Halborg and in another source as John F. Halborg. I am sure Father is mildly amused at this…..

On Monday, April 4 at 7:30 in the evening there will be a Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation at:

Saint Mary Church
178 Greenwich Avenue
Greenwich, Connecticut
06830

Traditional Mass on Easter Sunday at Regina Pacis Chapel, Maywood, NJ, Fr. Charez Gringco celebrant. Photos courtesy of the Bergen Latin Mass Group.