Editor's Report

A Promising Sign for Fall

Posted

As far as signs of progress go, the Out and About listings in this issue of Catholic New York might not be on many people’s Top Ten list, but they are on mine. There are about a dozen listings for anniversary and healing Masses, young adult outings and concerts. That may not sound like very many, but over the past year and a half the number has been more like half a dozen, and sometimes as few as three or four.

September is traditionally the time when parishes spring back to life after the summer, so it’s nice to see things starting to ramp up again. Of course, this year we’re also seeking to bounce back while Covid-19 figures have been on the incline in recent weeks.

With relatively low infection rates and relatively high vaccination rates in New York, Catholic parishes and organizations should be thinking about restarting activities, with proper safety guidelines in place. In some cases, these will naturally be offered online or in hybrid form, with others entirely in-person. Over the summer, we’ve shown many parishes taking advantage of good weather to hold outside festivals, processions and picnics.

Getting back to the Out and About listings, I wanted to be sure to stress we have room to accommodate more of them in each Catholic New York issue, and at cny.org. Frankly, giving short-form advance publicity to help parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations is a big part of our mission.

And if you need a longer message, we do have various paid advertising options, both in print and online.

It so happens that our next issue, dated Sept. 23, will mark Catholic New York’s 40th anniversary. In 1981, Cardinal Terence Cooke decided he wanted an official Catholic newspaper published by and for the Archdiocese of New York. Until that time, Catholic readers in the archdiocese had been served by a privately owned newspaper, The Catholic News, a name by which some longtime readers still refer to CNY.

In his remarks announcing Catholic New York, Cardinal Cooke spoke about the enthusiasm and generosity of spirit that would be evident in the collaboration essential to “this new venture of evangelization.”

For the past four decades, we’ve tried our best to live up to the initial call of Cardinal Cooke, and that of each of his successors. We’ve also tried to be a lens for our readers to keep up with Catholic stories and events in the Archdiocese of New York and across the world. As one of the very few instruments that reach all the way across this great archdiocese, we take seriously our charge as a voice of unity.

This fall promises to be a busy one, with the new school year opening this week and celebrations for the 125th anniversary of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie getting started this month.

In the spirit of evangelization, I also wanted to give another shoutout to next month’s ManUp New York conference taking place Saturday, Oct. 23, at St. Joseph’s Seminary.

We had a full story in the last issue, but in case you missed it, you should know that this particular men’s conference is being offered for the first time in the Archdiocese of New York. It features a talk by baseball Hall of Famer Mike Piazza about his Catholic faith. Cardinal Dolan will also give a reflection as will Father Donald Calloway, M.I.C., who will speak on Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, and Dr. Greg Bottaro, a clinical psychologist whose topic is Mental Health: The Epidemic of Addiction, Depression and Suicide Among Men in Today’s World.

The daylong event includes a Gospel reflection group talk for all men present and a 4 p.m. Mass. Information and registration: archny.org

Guys, please take this as a personal invitation. I hope to see you there.