Content about News

Albertson — Obama administration regulations requiring religious institutions to pay for contraception in employee health care plans constitute a grave threat to religious freedom for everyone, a rabbi and a Catholic League official warned here May 2.

Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip offers a number of programs to provide health information and screenings for the community.

Next Monday, May 14 they will hold a free glaucoma screening from 3 to 4 p.m. in the hospital’s main lobby. No appointment is necessary.

ROCKVILLE CENTRE — Catholic Health Services of Long Island (CHS) has been awarded a grant from the New York State Health Foundation to expand diabetes education services in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The $153,743 award will help reach people across Long Island, where more than 16% of hospitalizations are attributed to diabetes. An exemplary outpatient program at  St. Joseph Hospital, Bethpage, will be replicated at several locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties, offering residents more immediate access to lifesaving self-care knowledge.

Even as the number of abortions has decreased statewide, they are increasing on Long Island, to the dismay of local Catholic and right-to-life activists.

“We’re going in the wrong direction,” said Allison O’Brien, director of the diocesan Respect Life Office, in reacting to the release of statistics which show that in 2010 there were 7,393 abortions in Nassau and Suffolk Counties combined, compared with 7,279 in 2009. The 2010 statistics are the most recent ones available.

The Speech-Language Pathology Department of Molloy College will offer complimentary speech-language and hearing screenings for adults and children in May in honor of Better Hearing and Speech Month.

Screenings will take place on May 29 between 2-4:30 p.m. and again on May 30 from 4-6 p.m.  Adults and children can take part in the free screenings at Molloy’s newly-renovated off-campus facility at 30 Hempstead Ave, Suite 243 in Rockville Center.

For more information or to make an appointment call 516-442-1211 or e-mail slhc@molloy.edu.

ROCKVILLE CENTRE — Bishop William Murphy will ordain six men to the permanent diaconate for the Diocese of Rockville Centre on May 12 at St. Agnes Cathedral here.

By Dr. Patrick J. McNamara

In the summer of 1896, some 60,000 people gathered in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers to witness the dedication of St. Joseph’s Seminary, which one visiting bishop described as “the grandest seminary building in Christendom.” To date St. Joseph’s has educated over 2,500 priests, both for the Archdiocese of New York and other dioceses.  Dunwoodie (as it is popularly known) was the fifth (and most successful) attempt by New York bishops to establish a stable program for priestly formation.

CENTERREACH — From his 15 years in prison ministry, Deacon Chris Vigliotta has learned that there is something more harrowing than going to jail.

“Coming out of jail,” said Deacon Vigliotta, who ministers in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead, and is president of the board of Beginning a New Life, a ministry for former inmates making the transition from incarceration to life on the outside.

Last November the bishops of New York, Brooklyn and Rockville Centre agreed to cooperate in the education and formation of Catholic leadership, particularly those preparing for the priesthood. This is a series of 5 articles, starting with this one, that present a glimpse of the future and a brief history of seminary education in New York.

As part of its year-long 50th anniversary celebration, Our Lady of Grace Parish, West Babylon, hosted a parade and tulip festival  on April 28, reminiscent of the ones held in the mid-20th
century when the Town of Babylon was one of the top tulip-producing areas in the country.
 

WOODBURY — The restored diaconate is a great gift to the modern Church, Bishop William Murphy told deacons and their wives from dioceses around the country gathered at the Inn at Fox Hollow here last week.