St. Athanasius, Bensonhurst

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.  Above is the Mass schedule as of August, 2011.  St. Athanasius church is located on the southeast corner of Bay Parkway and 61st Street. The mailing address is 2154 61st Street, Brooklyn NY 11204, telephone 718-236-0124.  The parish website is linked here.
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The parish was established in 1913.  Shortly after Bishop Kearney High School was built across the street in 1961, the congregation built the beautiful new church you see in the photos below.  The older church was located on the north side of 61st Street in what is now a parking lot between the high school and its convent.

This view looks east across Bay Parkway.

St. Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, in the fourth century.  His writings and teachings have designated him as a Greek Father of the Church.  I presume the mosaic shows the harbor of Alexandria.

La quinceñera in her blue gown is seated facing the altar, while a lector reads Scripture.  It is a Friday afternoon.

The upper windows show prophets and teachers of the Old Testament.  The lower windows depict apostles and other teachers.

Across the street is St. Athanasius School at 6120 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn NY 11204, telephone as on the banner above.  The school website is linked here.
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Please note that the rectory is not adjacent to the church.  Rather, it is across Bay Parkway at 2164 61st Street.

Bishop Kearney HS, Bensonhurst

Bishop Kearney High School is located on the southeast corner of 60th Street and Bay Parkway, on the borders of Bensonhurst and Parkville, Brooklyn.  The mailing address is 2201 60th Street, Brooklyn NY 11204, telephone 718-236-6363.  The school's website, linked here, is extensive and informative.  There are many photos, including this slideshow of the graduation in 2011.

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Two important bus routes cross at this location.  In the photo is a B6 bus connecting Bath Beach to East New York.  On 60th Street runs the B9, connecting Bay Ridge to Kings Plaza.

Above is the view at 61st Street.  St. Athanasius church is off the right side of the photo.  Josephite Sisters and lay teachers staff both the private high school and the parish elementary school.

  

Our Lady of Grace, Ave. W, Gravesend

The parish of Our Lady of Grace is located at 430 Avenue W., Brooklyn NY 11223, telephone 718-627-2020.  The parish website is linked here.  For Mass schedules, please see the website.  In the above photo, the church faces Avenue W, and East 4th Street is to the right.  Ocean Parkway is two short blocks further to the right (east).

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy is also on Avenue W, immediately west of the church.  The school address is 385 Avenue W, Brooklyn NY 11223, telephone 718-375-2081.  

Ed Wilkinson on numbers in OCD 2011

Ed Wilkinson, editor of the Brooklyn Tablet, has written about statistics reported in the 2011 edition of the (P. J. Kennedy) Official Catholic Directory. You may read his remarks at this link.
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I point out:
1) Because of the time required to edit the book, the numbers are about a year out of date.  A possible clue to the date of reporting is whether the replacement of a pastor has been entered.  Some parishes report the same number of religious ed students as the previous year.
2) Regarding school enrollments, it is sometimes unclear whether pre-school is included in the count. It would be helpful if an October issue of The Tablet included a chart of grade-by-grade enrollments in each academy.

St. John the Evangelist, Park Slope, & St. Rocco

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio issued a decree 5.20.2011 suppressing the parishes of St. Rocco and St. John the Evangelist and creating a new parish, named St. John the Evangelist - St. Rocco. Both churches, about a half-mile apart, will remain open as worship sites. The rectory for the combined parish will be at St. John the Evangelist, 250 21st Street, Brooklyn NY 11215, shown in the above photograph. In 2016,the new website of the parish is linked HERE.  There are three weekend Masses at St. John the Evangelist, and one at St. Rocco.
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The church of St. John the Evangelist is on the south side of 21st Street as the street ascends from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue, Park Slope. As you can see in the above photo looking east, the nave is parallel to 21st Street. As the parish was established in 1849, maybe the parish grounds were purchased before the surrounding plots were modified. I don't know how many successive church buildings the parish had.

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A 1944 view of the church, together with a current satellite view, is linked here.
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The diocesan television office produced an excellent video of the interior of the church of St. John the Evangelist.  In the video, host Anthony Mangano, who grew up in this parish, interviews the pastor in 2013, Rev. Kenneth Grande, who explains the history and artwork of the church.  Mangano adds many interesting descriptions of the neighborhood.  Please note that the presentation is divided into segments, so the pieces would fit shorter television slots.

Opposite the church is the former parish school, with a cornerstone dated 1904, which closed in 1989. It appears to be in excellent condition as an apartment house.

Above are the church and rectory of St. Rocco on 27th Street. between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. The banner over the door celebrates the centennial of St. Rocco's parish, established in 1902.  The 478 acres of Green-Wood Cemetery begin at Fifth Avenue.

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This youth center at the corner of Fourth Avenue and 27th Street was dedicated in 1956. By clicking on the photo you may notice that 27th Street also commemorates Sister Mary Franciscus. This link explains OBT and the work of this Sister of Mercy.
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A helpful article in the Home Reporter of 7.11.2011 is linked here.  It describes the merger of the two parishes.  The diocese has removed the decree from the diocesan website.
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A comment follows:
There once was a time when St. Rocco's Youth Center of the Home of St. Rocco's Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps... Founded in 1957 By the late great Andy DiOrio...
All though the Cadets disbanded in 1969... The members of St. Rocco's Cadets to this day keep the spirit of those days close to their hearts... They came from all walks of life... Rich kids, poor kids, black or white... It didn't matter who you were...
All you had to do is walk in those doors and willing to dedicate yourself to Andy's vision... 

Andy DiOrio was the father some never had... We called him Uncle Andy, or Big Andy... And in a time of civil unrest,he showed the whole Drum Corps community how kids of all races could come together and produce one of the greatest Drums Corps that ever took the field of competition...

It seems to me the world was a better place for me way back then... The youth Center became our home... a safe house where you could learn with the help of your fellow Cadets to be your very best....

Andy DiOrio pasted away in the summer of 2009...
And we came from all over the country to honor our father, and it felt good to be amongst each other...

God has blessed us all through this single man... Who had made better men, and women with him amazing heart.....

R.I.P
Harold Smiley Davis (zippy)

St. Rocco's Cadets Website:
www.stroccoscadets.com/

Academies: alignment decree

An alignment decree signed by Bishop DiMarzio and effective May 17, 2011, is linked here.
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The decree is a list of some Catholic Academies (that is, parish or regional elementary schools renamed as Catholic Academies with a two-level board in charge). Below each academy on the list are the parishes whose priests are responsible for the pastoral care of the students in the academies. It seems to be largely aimed at the provision of Mass and the sacrament of Reconciliation. Please read the document.
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My interest is in the geographical assignment of parishes to academies. These are the Brooklyn schools on the list:
St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, Greenpoint.
Sts. Joseph and Dominic, Williamsburg
Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy, Williamsburg
Holy Angels Catholic Academy, Bay Ridge
Midwood Catholic Academy, Midwood
St. Mary, Mother of Jesus - St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Academy, Bensonhurst
Our Lady of Trust, Canarsie
Pope John Paul II Family Academy, Bushwick
St. Catherine of Genoa - St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Academy, East Flatbush
Salve Regina Catholic Academy, East New York

Our Lady of the Presentation, Bedford-Stuyvesant

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Our Lady of Presentation - Our Lady of Mercy parish has a Facebook page linked HERE, as of August, 2016.  Its office address given by the diocese is 680 Mother Gaston Boulevard, Brooklyn NY 11212, at Our Lady of Mercy Church, telephone 718-345-2604. However, Our Lady of the Presentation church is also listed as 1677 St. Mark's Avenue.  
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A photo of Our Lady of the Presentation church is on Flickr, linked here.  It is an imposing structure on the north side of Eastern Parkway where Rockaway Avenue and St. Marks Avenue also meet.  
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Thanks to a correspondent wrote this explanation: 
"Actually Our Lady of the Presentation Church is in Bedford-Stuyvesant via zip code 11233. Brownsville's zip code is 11212. East New York's zip code is 11208. Historically though, the boundary of Brownsville had started at Eastern Parkway (the church is on the corner of St. Marks Avenue and Eastern Parkway). Now the northern boundary of Brownsville starts at East New York Avenue to coordinate with its 11212 zip code." 
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Effective 6.30.2011, a new parish was created, named Our Lady of the Presentation - Our Lady of Mercy.    
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Nearby Our Lady of Loreto parish was closed.