Dec. 31, 2024 By Lauren Rapp The Diocese of Brooklyn marked the start of a year of celebration last weekend with two special masses and a procession through the streets of Brooklyn. Bishop Robert Brennan kicked off the Year of Jubilee 2025 on Dec. 29 with a morning mass at the Cathedral Basilica of…
Dec. 27, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen The first night of Hanukkah was a joyous one in Brooklyn, as hundreds of people from all over the country gathered to light the borough’s largest menorah in Grand Army Plaza. It was a cold night, said Rabbi Shimon Hecht of Congregation B’Nai Jacob in Park Slope, but…
Dec. 26, 2024 By Lauren Rapp St. Francis College commemorated the life and legacy of Brooklyn native Frank Macchiarola, former chancellor of the college, on Dec. 18. On the 12th anniversary of Macchiarola’s passing, the Downtown Brooklyn college dedicated its chapel to Macchiarola and his wife, Mary Macchiarola. Father Brian Jordan led the plaque unveiling…
Dec. 23, 2024 By Lauren Rapp Just in time for Christmas, St. Catherine of Genoa church in East Flatbush is open again following a fire in August. Bishop Robert Brennan blessed the church’s renovation at the morning Mass of Thanksgiving on Dec. 15. “This is a strong and resilient parish that is stronger and…
Sep. 9, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen & Arthur de Gaeta On Sept. 4, for the first time in 169 years, Visitation Academy in Bay Ridge was quiet on the first day of classes. The school permanently closed its doors last summer, with the monastery soon to follow. Generations of alumni attended a Thanksgiving service…
Sep. 4, 2024 By Gabriele Holtermann Middle school students from the now-closed Visitation Academy were welcomed to their new academic home on Sept. 3, as Fontbonne Hall Academy cut the ribbon on its new middle school, The Visitation Program. The all-girls Catholic high school, a ministry of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, adopted The…
Jun. 19, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen
Assembly Member Emily Gallagher has introduced a new bill that would tighten the rules around the sale of religious properties in New York State after Greenpointers said goodbye to both a church and the community programs it hosted.
May. 2, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen
Facing low enrollment and a dire financial situation, two Catholic elementary schools in Brooklyn will close permanently at the end of the current school year, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced on Thursday.
Apr. 16, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen
A secular monitor will oversee the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn’s compliance with new and stronger sexual abuse policies as part of a settlement agreement with Attorney General Letitia James.
Mar. 22, 2024 By Adam Daly
Borough Park’s Jewish community is mourning the loss of the neighborhood’s first and oldest surviving synagogue after developers tore down the historic building on Sunday.