Brooklyn is one of the few dioceses in the United States that is made up of 100% urban territory.[1]
The bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, presides from both the Cathedral Basilica of St. James and the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. This atypical arrangement was required due to the small size of the Cathedral Basilica of St. James. St. Joseph's Church was designated as a co-cathedral for the Diocese of Brooklyn on February 14, 2013, by Pope Benedict XVI after Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio petitioned the Vatican.
The opening of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1801 drew a number of immigrants, largely Catholics from Northern Ireland, especially from Derry and Donegal. They would cross the East River to attend services at St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street. Periodically, John Power or others would come to celebrate Mass at the home of William Purcell or at Dempsey's Blooming Grove Garden on Fulton St. The Church of St. James was erected in 1822. In July, 1841, Johann Stephen Raffeiner, from the Tyrol, began the German parish of the Most Holy Trinity on a part of the farm of the old Dutch Meserole family in the Bushwick section. Holy Cross Cemetery was opened in 1849. In 1853, Archbishop John Hughes appointed his vicar-general, Irish-born John Loughlin, former pastor of St. Patrick's on Mulberry St. as bishop of the new diocese. Loughlin chose St. James as his cathedral.[3]
During his episcopate, Loughlin founded 120 parishes. Plans to build the larger Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception were deferred in favor of orphanages, schools, and hospitals. He was succeeded in 1892, by Bishop Charles Edward McDonnell, former chancellor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn served at that time 250,000 Catholics. With the increase in the number of immigrants of various nationalities, McDonnell founded a number of national churches which ministered to parishioners in their own language. To this end, he invited several religious institutes into the diocese, including the Redemptorists, Benedictines, Franciscans (including the Minor Conventuals and Capuchins), Jesuits, Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Daughters of Wisdom, and Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus.[4] He also built three hospitals. Camp Wycoff and Camp Black, set up during the Spanish–American War were attended by local clergy.
Thomas Edmund Molloy was named the third Bishop of Brooklyn on November 21, 1921. In 1930 Bishop Molloy established the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre was split off from Brooklyn April 6, 1957. Ten days later, Bryan Joseph McEntegart became the next Bishop of Brooklyn. He built six high schools, Cathedral Preparatory Seminary, and a hospital. He improved outreach to the growing Hispanic population, he sent priests and religious to study Spanish language and culture. Bishop Francis Mugavero experience as former head Brooklyn's Catholic Charities was reflected in his episcopate. In 1971, Mugavero established the Catholic Migration Office to serve the needs of immigrants and refugees living in Brooklyn and Queens. The Nehemiah project produced affordable housing in Brownsville.
In September 2018, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn agreed to a record $27.5 million settlement for sex abuse allegations.[5] On February 15, 2019, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens made public a list of 108 clergy who were "credibly accused" of committing sexual abuse,[6][7][8] some of whom have also been convicted for their crimes.[9][8] Along with the list, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio also issued a letter of apology, asking for forgiveness.[10] In June 2020, the FBI arrested Francis Hughes, a priest serving in Queens, on child pornography charges and sex-related charges involving underage minors.[11] In a separate case, the Vatican exonerated Bishop DiMarzio of allegations of sexual abuse dating back a half century. After an inquiry led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that the accusations were groundless.[12]
The sitting bishop is also the true principal of the diocese's pre-seminary high school, Cathedral Preparatory Seminary. As of March 2009, Cathedral Preparatory Seminary is the only full-time high school seminary in the nation[citation needed]. Three diocesan and/or parish high schools are under the auspices of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens[citation needed]. As of 2019, only 36 Diocese of Brooklyn schools were still not scheduled to close, compared to the 102 which were operational in the 1980s.[13] Between the mid-2000s and 2019, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn permanently closed 45 of its schools.[13]
St. Edmund Preparatory High School – Oratory of St. Philip of Neri, formerly staffed by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, and the Sisters of St. Joseph
There were 116 diocesan and parish elementary schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. In March 2009. In 2009, Pope John Paul II Family Academy opened at St. Barbara's School in Bushwick, [18][19] In 2019, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Academy in Bensonhurst and Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Academy in Mill Basin closed, and two Bushwick schools, St Brigid and St. Frances Cabrini, merged.[13]
Seminary of the Immaculate Conception – Former major seminary in Huntington for the Diocese of Brooklyn, established in 1926, closed in 2012. Seminarians from the diocese now fulfill their major seminary programs at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.
Cathedral Seminary House of Formation – established in Douglaston in 1967. Currently serves as the college/minor seminary for the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Also serves as the minor seminary for students from other dioceses.
Seminarians enrolled at the Cathedral Seminary study for their undergraduate philosophy degrees at either St. John's University in Queens or Fordham University in Bronx.
^Coen, Joseph W.; McNamara, Patrick, J.; Vaccari, Peter I. Diocese of Immigrants: The Brooklyn Catholic Experience 1853-2003, Éditions du Signe, 2004. ISBN2-7468-0912-5. p. 120
United States
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