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Cardinal Dolan, serving as the principal celebrant of this year’s Investiture Mass for the American Association of the Order of Malta, told new members that they are warriors—spiritual warriors for Christ.
“You are veterans in your service to Jesus, to his Church, and to your parishes,” the cardinal said inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral during the Mass on Nov. 11, which was Veterans Day.
Simultaneously, the Veterans Day Parade was under way outside on Fifth Avenue. “You are veterans of the order,” the cardinal told the members, both old and new, in attendance.
“You knights and dames of Malta are nothing less than warriors in the army led by Jesus Christ.”
Cardinal Dolan, who is the association’s principal chaplain, said the virtues of a soldier are similar to those of the saints, virtues such as loyalty, integrity, obedience and defense of life.
The cardinal spoke somberly of having led the Funeral Mass the previous day at St. Rose of Lima Church in Massapequa Park, of NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, who was killed in the line of duty the week before.
Two bishops were invested as conventual chaplains ad honorem: Auxiliary Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, vicar for clergy in the archdiocese, and Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wis.
Father Brian McSweeney, the pastor of St. Augustine, Ossining, was invested as a deputy chaplain. Deacon John A. Barbera of St. Augustine’s, Ossining, and Deacon John L. Shea of SS. John and Paul, Larchmont, were invested as deacon deputy chaplains
Eighty-two men and women were invested as knights and dames of magistral grace. Each was presented with a cross of the Order of Malta—the knights’ crosses encased in black boxes, the dames’ crosses encased in dark red boxes.
The new knights and dames from the archdiocese are Alberto K. Alvarez, Holy Family parish, Manhattan; Dr. Joseph J. Carter, M.D., Our Saviour and St. Stephen/Our Lady of the Scapular, Manhattan; Guiseppe (Joe) Del Gaudio, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Manhattan; Walker R. Dornisch, St. Joseph, Greenwich Village; Jack Wayne Hawkins III, St. Francis Xavier, Manhattan; Jaime T. Infante, St. Joseph, Bronxville; Matthew W. Knotts, St. Michael, Manhattan; Valerie A. Lettan, St. Ignatius Loyola, Manhattan; Carlo Filippo Mirisola di Torresanto, Our Lady of Pompei, Manhattan; Dr. Steven E. Quatela, M.D., St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Catherine of Siena, Manhattan; Elizabeth M. Renyi and Thomas A. Renyi, St. Ignatius Loyola, Manhattan; James D. Sterling, PhD, Our Lady of Good Counsel and St. Thomas More, Manhattan; Michael J. Valentino and Susan Valentino, Resurrection, Rye; Ronald L. Windisch, St. John the Evangelist and Our Lady of Peace, Manhattan; Veronica D. Wong, Our Lady of Victory and St. Andrew, Manhattan; and Ryan P. Young, St. Martin de Porres, Poughkeepsie.
About 1,300 people attended the afternoon Mass.
“O God, look graciously down on these your servants who wish to follow our Lord Jesus Christ in our order,” Cardinal Dolan prayed.
Jack E. Pohrer, the president of the order’s American Association, asked the new members, “Are you ready to follow the banner of Christ, and of the order, to witness and defend the Catholic faith, and to do works of charity, as the order requires?”
The new members responded that they “promise, calling on the name of God, in chivalrous fidelity, always to bear witness to the Catholic faith, to defend the Church, and to lead my life in accordance with the teachings of Holy Mother Church. I declare myself ready as a member of the Order of Malta to care for our lords, the sick and the poor, with all my strength and ability.”
Joe Del Gaudio, a parishioner of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, was among the newly invested knights. “It means to take a stance, to protect the Church, even as politicians have a vested interest sometimes to go against the Church,” Del Gaudio told CNY after Mass.
Jeanne Costa was invested as a dame, and her husband, Jordan, as a knight. They are parishioners in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn. “This was very important for me—for my family, my children and my faith. It was a beautiful ceremony —and very special to be invested with my husband,” Mrs. Costa said.
