Come one, come all to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of our Lord,
Jesus Christ at the St. Boniface Martyr Children’s Christmas Pageant on Saturday, December 22 at 6:30pm in the church.

Come sing with us and join us for refreshments after the performance.

The sexual abuse of any human being—and particularly the sexual abuse of children—is a terrible sin and a crime.  It should not happen anywhere, and it most particularly should not happen in the Catholic Church.  The fact that it did—and on such a significant scale—is disgraceful and the Bishop is committed to removing any remaining abusers and keeping out future ones.

Although it does not excuse the crimes, sins and failures of the past, since 2002, the dioceses of Pennsylvania and elsewhere have put into place programs to prevent the abuse of children and make sure that cases of abuse are properly reported.  Bishop Barres became bishop of Allentown in July 2009. 

In 2002, years before Bishop Barres became bishop, Allentown opened up its files on abusers to the local district attorneys and subsequently all reports of abuse were forwarded to law enforcement. The documents given to the Pennsylvania attorney general in 2016 thus had largely been reviewed by local prosecutors over a decade previously.  During Bishop Barres time in Allentown, abusers were removed from office and all reports of abuse were sent on to the appropriate prosecutors.

The 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report contains certain statements concerning how Bishop Barres and the Diocese handled the case of a priest removed from ministry named Michael Lawrence.  The Report is materially incorrect on these points, and a summary discussing the errors follows at the end of this statement.

          Bishop Barres has spent many years talking to and counselling the survivors of abuse (including the survivors of abuse elsewhere in society who should not be forgotten) and is aware of how devastating it can be to survivors and their families.  The independent reconciliation and compensation program of the Diocese of Rockville Centre (modelled after Cardinal Dolan’s example in the Archdiocese of New York) is designed to help survivors of abuse in their recovery processes.

Errors in the Report Regarding Michael Lawrence.

          At pages 60-61 of the Report certain statements are made concerning how Bishop Barres handled the case of Michael Lawrence.  Unfortunately there are errors in that recitation—which can be seen when the attached letter from Bishop Barres to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (“CDF”) is read.

1.      Bishop Barres and the Diocese of Allentown informed the Holy See of all relevant facts about Lawrence. 

The Report says that it appears that Bishop Barres never told the CDF about Lawrence’s first accuser.   It misreads the very letter it cites.

Lawrence was removed from ministry long before Bishop Barres arrived in Allentown, and had been sent to live in a secure and carefully monitored rural facility for sex offenders.  The Diocese of Allentown sought to have Lawrence removed from the clerical state by the Holy See, and sent a report on his conduct to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the “CDF”), which is the appropriate congregation in Rome.  That report was supplemented by additional material when a second victim also reported abuse.

The letter cited in the Report is reproduced on pages 63-64 of the Report.  As can be seen can see, the very first paragraph of the letter makes clear that there had been prior allegations that had previously been discussed.  It refers to “the more recent allegations made against” Lawrence (hence necessarily implying that there were prior allegations).  The second paragraph then refers to the “additional accusations which were made against him and communicated to the [CDF] on 22 September 2011,” and then refers to a 2008 psychological report on Lawrence and explicitly notes that the psychological report was made “three years before the new allegation was reported.”

In other words, the letter is just one part of the of correspondence between the Diocese of Allentown and the CDF; the entire situation was set forth in the earlier correspondence, and this final letter both refers to the prior correspondence and shows that Rome had been told about both victims.

2.     Lawrence was removed from ministry.  He ultimately was not removed from the clerical state to ensure he would stay in a secured facility far from children.

Some have read the Report to suggest that Lawrence remained in ministry.  That is incorrect.  He had been removed from ministry long before Bishop Barres came to Allentown and was kept in a secure facility for sex abusers.  Initially Bishop Barres asked the Holy See to remove Lawrence from the “clerical state.” (What is sometimes called being “defrocked”).  However, as the letter itself notes, Bishop Barres and the Diocese decided to withdraw that application because they were concerned that if Lawrence was removed from the clerical state he would decide to leave the secure facility and rejoin society.  As the letter shows, Bishop Barres concluded that it was better for Lawrence to continue in this “supervised’ way of life” at the secure facility rather than to have him re-enter society. Lawrence died a few months later.

Bishop Barres stands by this decision.  Although he did not know Lawrence personally, his advisors who knew Lawrence unanimously thought Lawrence might present a danger to children if he was not kept at the secure facility and all therefore concluded that keeping him at the secure facility was the highest priority.

3.      Bishop Barres is in the process of requesting the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office correct its report on these subjects.

www.DRVC.org 

Please spread the word among your high-school aged students, their friends and your neighbors. Each “Chat” takes just one hour a week for three weeks. The program is specially designed to give young people a chance to discuss and explore our faith; please visit our webpage and consider trying it.

As part of our continuous faith journey we wish to make available to young people a new avenue of growth, called #FaithChat, designed specifically by St. Boniface parishioners for our high school-aged Catholics.

#FaithChat consists of a number of “Chats” on various topics which take place in sessions throughout the year.  Each chat meets one day a week for three consecutive weeks.

Participants may choose one chat or several among sessions in October, November, January, February and March on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.  Chats take place in welcoming and comfortable new meeting areas which have been created in the school building and the Parish Center.

This video will tell you more about #FaithChat.  Our #FaithChat booklet and registration form are below.

View our #FaithChat video to learn more:

#FAITHCHAT from MyStoryVideo on Vimeo.

Read our #FaithChat booklet (click to flip pages) to see #FaithChat listings:

To register, please complete and submit this form:

Please Note:   #FaithChat requires the use of gathering spaces conducive to discussion groups.  Any used sofas, armchairs, bean bag chairs or similar items are needed to create these spaces.  If you have such an item that you wish to donate to the program please contact Mrs. Croce at 516-671-0418 or stbonccd@gmail.com.  Thank you for your continued support and devotion to the faith formation of the young people in our parish community.

Parish Council Meeting Minutes

January 30, 2018 at the Rectory

In attendance: Fr. Kevin, Fr. Perera, John Daley, Bill Schiller, Scott Whitting, Ben Szemerenyi, Debbie Mink, Joe Giordano, Gina Pisciotta, Belinda Basaca Zeitlin.

Opening Prayer

Discussion of concerns brought up: in light of the flu epidemic whether we will hold hands during the Our Father, shake hands at sign of peace, continue offering the Precious Blood, have coffee and cake after mass during Lent; Emergency Preparedness and Precautions.

After consultation with both the Staff and Pastoral Council, decision was made to keep the current practices in place. We will not discontinue any of the aforementioned suggestions, but rather leave it up to the individuals who may choose NOT to drink from the chalice and who may choose to abstain from the Sunday morning coffee/cake.  The amount of precious blood however, will be decreased as there seems to be some left over at every mass and many ministers do not want to consume the remaining precious blood in the chalice.

Deacon Frank McGuinness of the Office of Risk management of the Diocese contacted Fr. Kevin and stated that parishes should have some plan of action emergency preparedness, whether it is an individual suffers a medical emergency such as a heart attack, a terrorism type event, other emergencies.  Members of the Pastoral Council will look into/research training for these emergency events.

Parish “Thank You” Party – March 18, 4pm-8pm, at Knights of Columbus.

Discussion of Lenten Parish Mission, March 19-21, which this year will be led by a layperson, Jim Ryan.

Former Pastor, Fr. Mike Torpey’s 50th anniversary as a priest, Sunday June 3rd at noon.  He will be saying 12 noon mass at St. Boniface to celebrate this occasion!

Deacon Tom St. Boniface Lecture in the church possibly for June 10th in honor of Feast Day of St. Boniface, will also have light refreshments, raffle, suggested donation $10 will include raffle ticket. To be hosted by the Madonna Mother Support Circle. Belinda will verify date with Deacon Tom.

Marriage tips video pro bono video to be done with married parishioners giving tips for a lasting marriage, to be unveiled at the lecture in June. These can be used for Pre–Cana and Madonna Mother Support Circle ministries.

Parish Yard Sale: September 29

Handel’s Messiah: December 2

Christmas Around the World: December 8

Welcome Committee: Each new parishioner family receives a folder with all the ministries, Faith Direct, etc. after they register in the parish.

Helping Hands Contact List discussion: benefits vs. liabilities; will look into legalities

Miscellaneous news: Back field legal issues: we needed to have a fence built in, so we got one and the field is now all fenced in. Also, cars are not to block the garage behind rectory because priests need the way clear for emergencies.

Open floor for questions from the Council:

Pastoral council virtual; suggestion box; ¨stbonpc¨ email – Belinda to speak with Robert Lynch to set up, Belinda will also distribute all the pastoral council email addresses to its members.

Next Pastoral Council will be scheduled for some time in June – exact date TBA and emailed to all members in lieu of postal mailing.

Closing Prayer

Creative Ministries Inc. Presents

JOURNEY, CROSS & CRUCIFIXION

Friday, March 20, 2020, 8 pm

St. Boniface Church

The Journey, Cross & Crucifixion is a journey back through time. It is an opportunity to walk with Christ and become one with Him and the people who walked with Him. For many who have shared the Journey it is almost as if it were happening now for the first time.

The music, narration, dialogue and poignant silences all add to the power of this prayerful meditation. To be part of The Journey, Cross & Crucifixion is to experience the complete and utter frustration and devastation of Mary, the frustration of Simon, the loneliness and desolation of John, Pilate’s struggle between justice and expediency, the excruciating pain and degradation Jesus suffered on the way to Calvary and His ultimate death on the Cross.

For over thirty years, the troupes have been presenting this powerful Journey to churches and schools throughout Long Island, leading people of all ages in a powerful, prayerful Lenten experience. The troupes are made up of volunteer actors, singers and musicians who use their gifts to bring the Passion Story to life.

The North Shore Chamber Choir and our very own cantors Kathleen Clancy and Christopher Lau will be featured in this beautiful, moving musical performance directed by our very own Jeffrey Schneider. It is truly a wonderful and joyous way to start the Christmas Season. Wine and cheese social follows. Tickets are $25 and are available online or at the door.

Click here to purchase tickets online.