St. Rafael
Thursday, June 19th 2014
In
Attendance:
QUEEN OF ANGELS
Very
Rev. Brian P. Dowd - Pastor
Juan Rodriguez – Pastoral Associate/DFF/YM
Carmen
Cruz – CFF
Conrado
Gomez – Parish Council Rep.
ST. RAPHAEL
Fr.
Jerome T. Jecewiz – Pastor
Sr.
Christine Scherer - DRE
Elizabeth
Ciro –
Richard
O’ Connor –
Joseph
Becker -
CORPUS CHRISTI
Fr.
Patrick West – Pastor
ST MARY - BLESSED VIRGIN MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS
Rev.
Noel Moynihan – Pastor
Patricia
Wise – Principal of Religious Ed
ST. TERESA
Rev.
Msgr. Steven A. Ferrari – Pastor
Rev.
Msgr. Perfecto Vazquez – In Residence (Retired)
Deacon
Roberto S. Abundo
Norberto
Saldana – Pastoral Associate/St Vincent de
Paul Food Pantry
Rev.
Kevin Abels – Pastor
Jo Ann Dolan – Principal
Ms. Sonia Casanova - DRE
ST. SEBASTIAN
Rev.
Kevin Abels – Pastor
Jo Ann Dolan – Principal
Ms. Sonia Casanova - DRE
1.
Opening
Prayer
2.
Approval of Minutes - Summary of Minutes were
approved
a.
Correction
on Name – Deacon Peter Stamm
3.
News from the Dean: Territorial Vicars &
Deans from Brooklyn & Queens met in late May to report on their first year.
The Bishop was present for the meeting and gave his final remarks.
a.
Pastoral
Planning Office has been reconfigured and has become the Territorial Vicars
Office. Robert Choiniere is still a consultant on many of the projects he’s
helped create in the past. Ellen Rhatigan will be a support specialist for
Queens Deanery – Resource for Parish Pastoral Council, data collection &
retrieval. Patrick Turner, second support specialist, took a position in the
Diocese of Bridgeport. No word on a support specialist for our diocese.
b.
Territorial
Vicars are Rev. Thomas Pettie for Queens, & Msgr. Joseph Grimaldi for
Brooklyn. Deans will inform and aid the
Territorial Vicars.
c.
Catholic
Academies: A contract / request of pastoral assistance will be given to parishes
aligned to a particular academy. Pastoral Assistance would include celebration
of the liturgy, classroom visits, confessions, and so much more. Majority of
parishes in Deanery Q2 are aligned with St. Sebastian’s Catholic School, except
Corpus Christi (Canonically Aligned with St Joseph’s Academy). St Sebastian’s
Catholic School is not an academy, but in the future all Catholic School’s will
become Academies in 2017. Our parishes in Deanery Q2 are aligned by association
with St. Sebastian’s Catholic School, but are not Canonically Aligned because
it is not an Academy. A Canonical
Alignment Feed Back form is available for Pastors who wish to express their
thoughts and concerns..
d.
Hospitals
& Chaplains: It is over seen by Dc. Thomas Paige, together with Dc. Julio
Barreneche, under Bishop Raymond Chappetto’s Office.
e.
Diocesan
Capitol Campaign: Bishop DiMarzio believes that it is necessary to have this
campaign. These funds are necessary for the care of senior clergy, parish building
concerns (handled by office of buildings), and more. The company aiding the
Diocese is Community Counseling Services. Twenty Four parishes were chosen
for the pilot phase: 12 Parishes in Queens; 12 Parishes in Brooklyn. These
parishes will be evaluated by the Buildings Office, than a sub-committee from the
Pastors Advisory Committee will choose the 24 parishes. There will be total of
4 stages; 1st stage begins in Jan 2015; 2nd stage in June
2015; 3rd stage in Jan 2016; 4th stage in June 2016.
Bishop DiMarzio will make the announcements soon. Goal is $80 Million for the
entire Diocese. Fr. Brian encouraged the pastors to begin developing a team,
and plan to prepare for the campaign.
f.
Sacred
Heart Institute – All priests & deacons should register. Each priest is
required to complete 30 credits within a 3 year period. The Diocese of Brooklyn
has the highest percentage registered with the Sacred Heart Institute. There
are many ways in getting credits; example - retreats count for 7 credits. Each
priest or deacon is responsible to inform the Sacred Heart Institute in order
to get credit for retreats, courses, online courses, etc. For details - http://www.cor-jesu.org/ 631-423-0483 ext 185 / info@cor-jesu.org
g.
Final
Remarks from Bishop DiMarzio – Spoke of his appreciation towards the Vicars and
Deans, and he encouraged them to continue being a pastoral presence in their
Deanery. A few items he wanted the Dean’s to address:
i.
According
to Census Information, there are 120,000 children in the Diocese of Brooklyn
who are baptized Catholics. We have only 40,000 children attending our Faith
Formation Program throughout the Diocese. How can we reach out to the 80,000
children missing and/or have not received their sacraments? He encouraged the
Dean’s towards evangelization. Fr. Brian encourages the Faith Formation
Directors and Coordinators to address the issue, and to come up with a plan.
ii.
The
need for Certified Catechists.
iii.
Deanery
Adoration Nights for Vocations.
iv.
Develop
a Vocation Committee for each parish.
4.
Washington DC Pilgrimage – Saturday, October 25th,
2014. Pastors received a packet at the Pastors Meeting. Our Deanery Q2 voted to
join another Deanery. Fr. Brian will speak with the Dean of Q1.
5.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter – Joe Becker: A ministry that
hosts weekend retreats to help strengthen Catholic Marriages. Joe Becker folder containing the details and
extra resources for Catholic couples in need. 1) Catholic Engaged Encounter - http://www.engagedencounter.org/ 2) Retrouvaille – For Troubled
Marriages - http://www.retrouvaille.org/ 3) Beginning Experience – For
individuals grieving the loss of a loved one through death, divorce, or
separation. It is also for individuals who ready to come to terms with possible
separation or divorce - http://www.beginningexperience.org/. WWME provides the retreats in
both English and Spanish. Those who are in a Civil Marriage or “Living
Together”, are welcome to participate, because it has brought couples to the
Sacrament of Marriage.
6.
Schedule for Sept 2014-June 2015
Oct 16th - 1PM -
Corpus Christi
March
19th - 1PM - St
Raphael
7. New Business
a.
Queen
of Angels Parish Picnic – Saturday, June 28th , 12PM to 5PM
b. St Sebastian’s – World Day of
Prayer for Priestly Holiness – Friday, June 27th 6PM – 10PM
c.
Renew
Your Vision – Formation for Youth Groups and Youth Ministry is being hosted at
Queen of Angels Church. It began on Thursday, June 5th. Three
parishes participated: 1 from Our Lady of Lourdes in Brooklyn, 3 from Blessed
Virgin Mary Help of Christians; 6 from Queen of Angels Church. The participants
would conclude the course with an exercise – creating a youth group from
scratch. RYV ends on June 27th.
d. St Sebastian’s – Beginning in
September of 2014, there will be a 7PM Weekday Masses (Mon-Fri). Thursday will
only be a Spanish Mass.
e. St Teresa – St Vincent de Paul
was awarded $2,500 grant money for their food pantry. St Sebastian’s was
awarded $2,000 as well for their food pantry.
