San Damiano Mission, Greenpoint

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: On December 8, 2020, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio reopened Holy Family church in Greenpoint under an administrator from the Shalom Catholic Community, a group of Brazilian roots. Please see the article in the Brooklyn Tablet linked HERE.
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This parish was established in 1905, and the cornerstone of the church above reads 1911. It seems that Slovak Franciscan Friars cared for the faithful here during the parish's early era. 
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When I took the above photo about 5:15 p.m. on a weekday in 2008, many cyclists seemed to be heading home on an established fast bike lane, unlike the worse traffic of parallel Manhattan Avenue.  The church is on North 15th Street at Nassau Avenue.
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In 2011, the bishop of Brooklyn merged this parish with the parish of St. Anthony of Padua, which earlier had absorbed the parish of St. Alphonsus.  Since early 2015, it is San Damiano Mission.
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Above, the rectory at 21 Nassau Avenue.

The parish school, which closed in 1970, is now a day care center operated by the diocesan Catholic Charities.

Brooklyn mergers, September, 2019, no closures

The Tablet website includes the appointment of pastors of newly-merged parishes. 
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In Bensonhurst, St. Athanasius, 61st Street, and St. Dominic, 75th Street, are merged, with  the new pastor Msgr. David Cassato. The churches are a mile apart.
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Holy Family, on Flatlands Avenue, Canarsie, is merged with St. Laurence, 1.25 mile further east on Flatlands Avenue, East New York. The pastor is Fr. Edward Kane.
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All Saints, Williamsburg, is merged with Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompei, a mile to the northeast. The pastor of All Saints, Fr. Vincenzo Cardilicchia, becomes pastor of the merged parish. He remains in ministry with the Neo-Catechumenal Way.
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In Cypress Hills, Fr. Luis Laverde, pastor of Blessed Sacrament is now pastor of the merged parish of Blessed Sacrament and St. Sylvester. The two churches are less than a mile distant.
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In Bath Beach, Fr. John Maduri, pastor of Most Precious Blood is now pastor of the merged parish of Most Precious Blood and Saints Simon and Jude, a mile northeast.
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As no churches are closed and the new merged parish often resembles what existed previously (regarding priestly staffing), maybe this news is rather minor. Instead of finding sixteen qualified pastors, the bishop now needs eight. Instead of sixteen accounts, there will be eight.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Park Slope

The photos and text below are from when I visited this parish in 2010.  Much has changed since then. The church is red brick, not painted off-white as in my photo.  The interior is more colorful. Please see The Tablet article of June 18, 2015, for a complete description of the extensive renovations.  The article includes an excellent slide show.

St. Thomas Aquinas church is located on the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue (to the left) and Ninth Street (with bus B61 at the right). Its mailing address is 249 Ninth Street, Brooklyn NY 11215, telephone 718-768-9471. In 2008, Holy Family parish on 14th Street was merged with St. Thomas Aquinas.

The parish was established in 1884. If I read the history on the website correctly, this church was dedicated in 1886.

These clips for men's caps and hats appeared in many churches in the last century.

A helpful folder available inside the church offers suggestions for prayer. "The doors of our church are open all day as a symbol that all are welcomed to enter and pray!" St. Thomas Aquinas is depicted with a scroll on which is written "Joy is the noblest human act."
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Regarding that axiom, an interesting link is here.

This building at Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street was the parish school from 1919 to 2005. It is now rented to the New York City Board of Education. There are at least several public school buildings with crosses in our city. The Brentwood Josephites taught in this parish since 1884.
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In Brooklyn there are two parishes named St. Thomas Aquinas. The other one is in Flatlands, established almost at the same time, but before Flatlands was part of the city of Brooklyn.





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San Damiano Mission, Greenpoint

As of November, 2019, I have been unable to ascertain the status of Holy Family Church or the  San Damiano mission.
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Please see my 2013 post about Holy Family parish for photographs. A few years ago, the parish was merged with that of St. Anthony of Padua and staffed by Oblates of Mary Immaculate from India, but it is now San Damiano Mission.
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For a 2016 commentary about the inviting doors of this church, please see the blog Brooklyn Relics. While Holy Family church may be a relic of the Slovak community of workers in Greenpoint, this mission is no dead relic.
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In August, 2016, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis ran an article with a photo:
http://stlouisreview.com/article/2016-08-25/friars-bring-god
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In September, 2019, the Brooklyn Eagle website noted that the organ at San Damiano Mission is merely two years old. See the article HERE.

Holy Family, Greenpoint

IMPORTANT NOTE:  In November, 2019, I am unable to ascertain the role of this church. Some changes have happened.
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This parish was established in 1905, and the cornerstone of the church above reads 1911. It seems that Slovak Franciscan Friars cared for the faithful here during the parish's early era. 
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When I took the above photo about 5:15 p.m. on a weekday in 2008, many cyclists seemed to be heading home on an established fast bike lane, unlike the worse traffic of parallel Manhattan Avenue.  The church is on North 15th Street at Nassau Avenue.
----
In 2011, the bishop of Brooklyn merged this parish with the parish of St. Anthony of Padua, which earlier had absorbed the parish of St. Alphonsus.  Since early 2015, it is San Damiano Mission.
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Above, the rectory at 21 Nassau Avenue.

The parish school, which closed in 1970, is now a day care center operated by the diocesan Catholic Charities.

More parish mergers, 5.1.2011

More parish "reconfigurations" were decreed, as linked here.
Mergers effective June 30, 2011:
1) St. John the Evangelist with St. Rocco.
2) Our Lady of Mercy with Our Lady of Presentation (which already absorbed Our Lady of Loreto)
3) Holy Family, Greenpoint, with St. Anthony of Padua (which already absorbed St. Alphonsus)
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Also, 13 parishes received warnings.  Please see the above link.

Holy Family, Flatlands Ave., Canarsie

Above, the church of the Holy Family stands at the busy intersection of Rockaway Parkway and Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie, Brooklyn. The mailing address is 9719 Flatlands Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11236, telephone 718-257-4423. A website is under construction HERE.


The "cornerstone" to the right shows the 1950 date of the construction of this church, replacing an older parish church. The parish was founded in 1880.


Left to right on the north side of Flatlands Avenue: the church, rectory, and former school.
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Two other churches dedicated to the Holy Family exist in the borough of Brooklyn, one in Greenpoint, the other on 14th Street, Park Slope.
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Holy Family, 14th Street, Park Slope

The parish of Holy Family was established in 1880 for German Catholics, the same year that another Holy Family parish was established on Flatlands Avenue, Canarsie! A third Holy Family parish was established for Slovaks in 1905 in Greenpoint. The parish school here closed in 1978. The church in the photo was built in 1928.






Please click on the word Comments above the photo for interesting memories.
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Holy Family parish, 14th Street, has been merged with that of St. Thomas Aquinas, 9th Street, under one pastor. The website for the merged parish is linked here and a parish blog is linked here. Neither location offers a parish elementary school. It seems that Mass is offered at Holy Family once a week, 9 a.m. Sundays.