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150th Anniversary of the Diocese of
Brooklyn
Concelebrated Mass at
Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help
Bay Ridge
Sunday, Nov. 16,
2003
Homily
by
Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
Retired Archbishop of
Philadelphia
It
is with immense, personal joy that I join with Bishop DiMarzio, Bishop
Daily, Bishop Sullivan, Bishop Valero and Bishop Catanello, with all the
priests, deacons, consecrated Religious and lay faithful of the Church in
Brooklyn and Queens in giving gratitude to Almighty God on this 150th
Anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of
Brooklyn.
The Diocese of Brooklyn can proudly celebrate its 150-year anniversary
because it has a continuity with its rich and glorious past, because it is
alive and vibrant today, and because it has a bright and hopeful future.
Yes, the Church in Brooklyn and Queens is vibrant and alive today, alive
in Christ Jesus and ready to walk with Him without fear into the unknown
future.
For all of this we rejoice and are grateful to God today. For all of this,
we celebrate today.
Rightfully can the diocese boast of its rich and glorious past. It cannot
be denied that in these 150 years there were mistakes, hesitations,
difficulties, divisions and doubts. As in every human history, there were
in the history of the diocese times of darkness, but the times of light
were far more. And the diocese kept flourishing.
On this occasion, it is fruitful to pause and ask ourselves what is at the
heart of this whole Jubilee celebration? To answer this question, allow me
in broad strokes to touch briefly on four of the many notable
characteristics of the history of the diocese.
The first is the outstanding pastoral leadership of its Bishops and their
priests. Bishop John Loughlin, known for his indefatigable zeal, planted
the seed of the new diocese. Those who followed watered. And God gave the
growth.
Until July of this year marking the actual end of the 150-year history of
the diocese, Bishop Loughlin was succeeded by six Bishops. The pious
Bishop McDonnell witnessed the blossoming of many institutions and
apostolates. The eloquent Archbishop Molloy was noted for his promotion of
Catholic education on all levels. Archbishop McEntegart implemented the
documents of Vatican Council II as the Church in Brooklyn and Queens
continued to grow in numbers. Bishop Mugavero will always be remembered as
the Bishop of charity, living in word and deed his episcopal motto: “Love
One Another.” Bishop Daily was the “good shepherd” of what became the most
ethnically diverse diocese in the Universal Church, fulfilling his
repeated refrain: “The whole world is in Brooklyn.”
To the present Ordinary, Bishop DiMarzio, has been given this legacy of
outstanding episcopal leadership. Each day he contributes to the next
chapter in the history of this diocese entrusted to his care.
This outstanding pastoral leadership of the Diocesan Bishops bore much
fruit because of the collaboration and zeal of all the components of the
diocese. In a special way, we must recognize the valuable assistance that
the Auxiliary Bishops rendered to the pastoral leadership of the shepherd
of the diocese. Words will always fail to pay the tribute and gratitude
owed to the pastoral leadership of the priests, both diocesan and
religious. In various apostolates, most particularly in parishes, they
were the primary providers of the pastoral care of the lay faithful and
implemented diocesan programs approved by the Bishop.
A second prominent characteristic of the story of the diocese is the
incalculable contribution made by the consecrated men and women Religious.
From the first days of the diocese under Bishop Loughlin and with every
successor, new religious congregations were welcomed. Over this century
and a half, countless thousands of religious carried out the mission of
the Church in Catholic education, in care for needy children, for the
elderly, the poor, the sick, the mentally and physically disabled, the
immigrants, in hospitals, in family services, in social services and many
other apostolates.
A third characteristic that must be noted is the special generosity,
through service and materially, of the lay faithful of the diocese
throughout its 150 years. The written history will properly cite some of
the laymen and laywomen who were particularly notable in their
contribution to the growth of the diocese. But outstanding have been the
generally unknown faithful parishioners who provided their
self-sacrificing support to Catholic Charities, the Propagation of the
Faith, and other charitable causes. It was the laity who also gave of
their time and energy in volunteer services in parishes, hospitals,
nursing homes and in other caring services. For the contributions of the
laity of all ages from children to senior citizens to the life of the
Diocese of Brooklyn, no thanks could be sufficient, no history would be
adequate.
I feel it urgent that, among the laity, recognition be given to the men
and women in married life, especially those with families, who, throughout
the 150 years of the history of the diocese, played such an important role
in its growth. By their faithfulness, they advanced the societal virtues
and culture of the past and continue to have an impact today. It was in
the Catholic families that children received the faith and were taught
moral values. It was in the Catholic families that vocations to the
priesthood and religious life were nurtured. It was and is in Catholic
families that we find the most active defenders of human life from
conception to natural death. How true in the past and still true today is
Pope John Paul II’s refrain: “As the family goes, so goes the world.” and
one might add: “so goes the Church.”
The fourth and almost signature characteristic of the history of the
Diocese is its welcome of immigrants. Throughout its entire history, the
Diocese of Brooklyn has been home to millions of newcomers from other
nations. The flood of immigrants over the years has been one of the great
challenges of the diocese and also one of its richest gifts. Beginning in
the 1850's with the Irish and German immigrants and continuing today with
newcomers from the Caribbean, Latin and Central America, Asia, Africa and
Eastern Europe, the Diocese of Brooklyn has always been a Church of
immigrants. The diversity of races and peoples from other lands within the
geographic confines of the Diocese of Brooklyn is undoubtedly the largest
in the world. Living in the diocese are people from 175 countries of
origin, representing about 90 percent of the world’s nations. The pastoral
and social outreach of the Church in Brooklyn and Queens to immigrants has
progressed over the long history of the diocese. Particularly since the
pastoral initiatives of Bishop Mugavero, the programs of the diocese to
assist all newcomers have been creative and fruitful.
In singling out a few dominant characteristics of the Diocese of Brooklyn
during its 150 year history, I am aware that I have not specifically
included numerous other highlights of this period, such as: the ever
expanding community-based social services provided by Catholic Charities,
the many resources of the Diocesan Migration Office, Catholic education,
Catholic devotional life, Catholic impact on society and culture. And the
list could go on.
What I have given are a few salient features of the history of this
diocese in order to demonstrate that what is at the heart of this Jubilee
is the historical truth that throughout its 150 years, this portion of the
Universal Church, known as the Diocese of Brooklyn, fulfilled eminently
its responsibility of preaching the gospel in word and deed. To state this
in another way, from the history of the diocese, one must conclude that
the net result from the beginning has been the existence of a dynamic and
viable community of Christians professing and living the Catholic
faith.
Let it be our prayer this afternoon that every living member of this
diocese will have the wisdom, strength and courage to imitate their
predecessors by walking in their spiritual footsteps which really are the
footsteps of Jesus Christ.
When we examine the past, we must realize that the history of the Diocese
of Brooklyn is not solely an account of human persons and of what they did
and built these past 150 years. It is this and much more. It is the story
of divine grace which inspired and fortified those who in any way played a
part in this Church’s glorious history. The necessary interaction of
divine grace and human activities can be imaged in another way. The
history of the Diocese of Brooklyn is, in truth, the 150 year story of
Christ’s presence in this particular Church. It is the story of Jesus
walking in this portion of His Universal Church, walking on a journey of
loving and serving others.
This Jubilee of the Diocese of Brooklyn marks the end of a grace-filled
period in its history and is rightfully a time of gratitude to all who
served in the mission of the diocese and to Jesus Christ for His abiding
presence during these past 150 years. At the same time, the Jubilee
celebration signals the beginning of a new era in the life of the Church
in Brooklyn and Queens and rightfully is the Jubilee also a time of
challenge for the future. The future may be largely uncertain and unknown.
But one thing is certain and known – Christ will always be presents.
What challenges face the Diocese of Brooklyn at this juncture of its past
and future? In recent years, our Holy Father has repeatedly enunciated two
general challenges to the whole Church: the call to everyone in the Church
to be apostles of Christ in the world, that is, to evangelize; and
secondly, the call to everyone to grow in holiness. These two calls, the
Holy Father explains, are to be carried out in accord with each person’s
proper role in the Church.
The Church is basically made up of lay persons and the clergy.
The primary role of the clergy – Pope, Bishops, Priests and Deacons – is
threefold: to teach the laity and form them into true disciples of Jesus,
to provide leadership to the laity, to help them grow in holiness,
especially through the sacraments, in order that they – the laymen and
laywomen of all ages – may fulfill their responsibility to spread the
gospel message throughout all strata of society.
The primary role of the laity is to bring Christ and His gospel into the
world, which means into their family, their community, their work and in
every other sphere of society in which they may be participants.
When one analyzes the primary role of the clergy which is to teach the
laity, sanctify them and lead them, and when one examines the primary role
of the laity which is to permeate all of society with the presence and the
gospel message of Christ, one conclusion seems obvious – that the laity,
at least numerically, have the major responsibility of evangelizing the
whole world. This fact is made more evident when you realize that the
laity constitute 99.992 percent of the more than one billion Catholics in
the world. It has often been said that the laity are a sleeping giant
which needs to be awakened.
At the dawn of a new era in the history of the Diocese of Brooklyn, the
challenge of the Church to the priests of the diocese is to ask you to
fulfill with ever increasing zeal your essential role to be, in unity with
the Bishop, the visible presence of Christ as Head of the Church and to
teach, sanctify and shepherd the laity entrusted to your care.
The challenge of the Church to all the laity – from children to people of
all ages – is to ask you to collaborate with the Bishop and priests so
that you may fulfill your essential vocation of spreading the gospel
message of Christ throughout the secular society in which you live.
In addition to the two general challenges of evangelization and holiness
given by our Holy Father to the whole Church, there are specific
challenges facing the Diocese of Brooklyn and, probably, every diocese in
the United States. These specific challenges are many and they are
daunting. With the grace of the Holy Spirit, the laity and the clergy, all
fulfilling their proper role, can take up these challenges and gradually
achieve positive results. Perseverance in addressing these challenges will
require in both the laity and the clergy a commitment to prayer and growth
in holiness.
Time permits a listing of only some of the more critical of the specific
challenges that face the Diocese of Brooklyn today and in years to
come:
The safeguarding of all human life from conception to natural death
Vocations
to the priesthood and religious
life
Threats
to the definition of traditional
marriage and the family
Catholic
schools and Catholic formation of
youth and young adults
Racism
and all forms of unjust
discrimination
Care
for the poor, the elderly, the
mentally and physically disabled, the sick, the lonely, the forgotten and
those in prison.
The legal rights and pastoral care of newcomers from other lands
The large
number of non-practicing
Catholics
Renewed faith
in the authentic teaching on
the Eucharist
Renewal
of the practice of the Sacrament of
Confession
Continued priority
of ecumenical and
inter-religious relations and dialogue
The growing evil of moral relativism which holds that there is no absolute
moral truth, but rather each person decides what is morally right or
wrong.
These are a few of the many specific challenges facing the diocese in our
age. The number and complexity of these issues should not frighten or
paralyze you. Keep ever in your consciousness two truths: First, the
Church possesses the fullness of the truth of Christ. Nothing can give you
greater courage than the certitude of being right, the certitude of having
the truth. Did not Jesus tell us: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
Secondly, Christ promised: “I will be with you always.” In meeting the
challenges of tomorrow, these two assurances should fill everyone with
unwavering fortitude and hope.
“I will be with you always,” said the Lord Jesus. That, more than anything
else is what we celebrate today – the assured presence of God. What
wonders God has done in your midst over the past 150 years! How powerfully
has the Holy Spirit fortified you while you carried out the mission of
Jesus Christ on earth each day. How hopefully you look to the future, not
knowing what it holds, not knowing what the Lord Jesus will do but knowing
that he will continue to be present in every action of the Church. And in
its every word and deed, the Church in Brooklyn and Queens will continue
to venerate Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception and will
continue to proclaim what it has always proclaimed – Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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