RAMPING UP RESPONSE

TO ANNUAL APPEAL

Thanks to the 2006 Annual Catholic Appeal, a veritable “stairway to heaven” is nearing completion that will ease entry into Regina Pacis Church for parishioners who have found the steep front steps increasingly difficult to mount.

A long ramp that increases gradually to eight feet above the sidewalk is in the last stages of construction and will be blessed and dedicated by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio on Sunday, Oct. 8, after he celebrates a Mass at which he will install Msgr. Ronald T. Marino as the pastor.

Credit for providing the funds to build the ramp goes to the unprecedented response of parishioners to the appeal, said Msgr. Marino. The goal assigned to St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis was $46,800, but through Sept. 12, $148,330 in pledges had poured in, the largest ever recorded by the Bensonhurst parish.

Since the appeal guidelines permit a parish to retain all funds raised above its goal, St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis will receive more than $101,000 if all pledges are redeemed---“and we’re at 72 percent,” Msgr. Marino said. The parish has already received a check for $46,800.

“Some of our older parishioners have been unable to attend Mass on a regular basis because of the number of steps that lead up to our beautiful church,” the pastor said, explaining the importance of installing the ramp. “One said, ‘I want to be back in my church,’ and now she will be,” he added.                        

The need to build a ramp was part of the message Msgr. Marino delivered to parishioners when he preached at the Masses on Appeal Sunday last spring. In listing reasons why he thought parishioners should support the diocesan appeal, he recalled that Bishop Thomas Daily, in a Jubilee Year initiative, forgave the parish more than $800,000 in obligations due the Diocese. He also noted that the location of the diocesan Catholic Migration Office on parish property has produced annual rental income for the parish.

Meanwhile, Bishop DiMarzio told more than 800 guests at a Court of Honor Mass and reception last Sunday at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston that the 2006 appeal has achieved a record $10.6 million in pledges, with $8.4 million redeemed to date. The goal was $7,005,100.

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