In the past few weeks as I observed my golden anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, May 29, 1971 – May 29, 2021, a number of people have asked me about these 50 years. The truth of the Latin phrase Tempus Fugit (Time Flies) is my experience. In response to these inquiries, I decided to write a reflection on the past 50 years of my priesthood. It will appear in THE CATHOLIC STAR HERALD in a few installments.
This is the fifth.
On Saturday, July 20, 1982, I arrived at 141 Henry St., the rectory of the parish of Saint Teresa of which I had been appointed pastor. Little did I think that South Manhattan would be my home for 21 years!
Jimmy Breslin, a legendary New York columnist, once wrote that South Manhattan was “America’s original Disneyland.” Within walking distance of the rectory are Soho, Tribeca, the Lower East Side, Nolita, Jewish New York, Little Italy, the World Trade Center, Wall Street, Chinatown, Noho, the Bowery, City Hall, the East Village, South Street Seaport, the West Village, Greenwich Village, Loisaida and Alphabet City, to name some of the interesting and eclectic neighborhoods.
The parish church, built in 1841 by Presbyterians on the site of their original 1798 church, was purchased by the Archdiocese of New York as large numbers of “papists” poured into the area following the 1844 Irish Potato Famine. The Presbyterians moved uptown as tens of thousands of poor, Irish, Roman Catholic immigrants populated the area. The nearby church of Saint Mary, established in 1826, could not contain the thousands of faithful Catholics at Sunday Masses. The Rutgers Presbyterian Church was dedicated to Saint Teresa of Avila by Archbishop John Hughes on June 21, 1863.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the area of the parish was teeming with people from all over the world. Large numbers of Jewish immigrants, followed by waves of immigrants from Italy and Sicily – bringing Saint Frances Cabrini to minister in the neighborhood – and then immigrants from Poland, Spain, the Slavic countries, Ireland, Russia, Greece, and Malta arrived soon thereafter. These surges of immigration resulted in social reformers of the 19th century reporting that the densest population in the world lived in this area.
Despite the poverty of the immigrant parishioners, the debt of the parish was paid off, and Cardinal McCloskey consecrated the church on Oct. 15, 1882. The interior of the church was remodeled with marble altars, splendid murals, stained glass, images of saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Two parish schools, one for girls administered by the Ursuline Sisters and the other administered by the Christian Brothers for boys, were opened and had heavy enrollment. The average Confirmation class numbered 700 children.
After World War II, urban renewal replaced abandoned buildings and old tenements with large public housing projects. In the 1950s, the numbers of parishioners increased with the arrival of Catholic Puerto Ricans, who were followed in the late 60s and early 70s by immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Then came the Chinese, who as of this writing make up a large percentage of the parishioners. In recent years, other newcomers – young urban professionals – have reclaimed old buildings, and developers have built new expensive housing. The area is considered “hot” real estate.
The parish has a proud history of welcoming the poor, the immigrant, the not-so-poor, the citizen, everyone. I did my best to keep alive that tradition of welcome for everyone, especially to my parishioners and the many good people with whom I would associate in a variety of community-based organizations.
I spent my first year as pastor getting to know my parishioners and the urban realities of life on New York’s Lower East Side. I made no changes to parish life. When I appoint a pastor, I give him the same wise counsel that served me so well. Get yourself established in the new assignment; become familiar with your flock and make no changes for a year. I was installed as pastor on the Feast of Saint Teresa, Oct.15, 1982, the 100th anniversary of the consecration of the Church by Cardinal McCloskey.
My parish staff included an associate pastor and two Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as pastoral associates. The sisters assisted with catechetical programs, adult faith instruction, parish visitations, liturgy, summer programs for families and children, social work, and even Bingo! They were loved by the parishioners and well-known and respected by all in the neighborhood.
With the support of Cardinal Cooke, the archbishop, the 21 parishes on the Lower East Side formed an organization called LESAC – Lower East Side Association of Catholics – which offered inter-parochial pastoral, theological training and ministry trainings for the laity. It was involved in some of the hot button social issues affecting the area. LESAC was an excellent Catholic ecclesial model for the 21 parishes and an effective organization. Its director and office were housed at Saint Teresa’s.
The 80s were a time of crime and poverty. Drugs were a rampant scourge in the parish, destroying young lives and family life. At the same time, there were many strong but poor families. Some of our parish children were enrolled in nearby Catholic schools. The buses picked them up in front of the church. I was there every morning to see them off and offer a prayer. Most of the parish children were enrolled in the public schools whose principals I got to personally know.
Both of my predecessors were members of a community-based organization named Two Bridges. A large section of the parish boundaries is between the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges, two iconic New York landmarks. In the early 60s, the pastor of Saint Teresa was a founding member of Two Bridges, and his successor, my predecessor, was also an active board member as was one of the Presentation Sisters. It was expected that I would be a board member.
Two Bridges accomplished an exceptional urban renewal, rebuilding and repopulating a neighborhood out of what is best described as an urban dump. Approximately 2,500 apartments in new buildings that front the East River between the two bridges were the result. It was a wise decision for my predecessors to serve on that board. A new role for a priest. Some folks and Archdiocesan authorities had concerns about the presence of a priest on a secular board. I learned the housing crisis that the neighborhood poor were facing and the complexities of creating government-sponsored affordable housing in New York City. If in the future there was to be a parish in the area, the pastor had to be involved in affordable housing. Not only did that board position give me prominence in the neighborhood, it also resulted in admiration from my flock who saw me as a shepherd who wanted decent housing for his people and a neighborhood in which children could be safely raised.
In the mid-80s a new deadly disease made its ugly appearance. AIDS most notably attacked the gay community, then heroin addicts. It was thought to be so contagious that its victims were placed in sealed bags at death and in coffins beneath protective layers of glass. No one could touch them. This was a time of intense sadness and suffering for some of our families who were burying their young. Everyone was terribly frightened by the disease.
I assisted an organization that sponsored an AIDS hospice in the parish. Some neighbors, even parishioners, fought me on this. NIMBY – not in my backyard. They were frightened by the possibility of contagion from the disease. Eventually, the public health authorities changed the popular misconception about the transmission of the disease and the hospice opened. It provided a place where AIDS victims could die in peace and their families find consolation. It was a very dark time burying those young victims and accompanying their sorrowful loved ones.
In one of our Two Bridges buildings, a parishioner cared for her daughter, an AIDS victim. Some of the neighbors wanted her removed. It became very ugly. I supported the mother, much to the annoyance of some who lived in that building, even a few parishioners. I sat with that mother on a Sunday afternoon as her daughter died, the first female in New York State to succumb to AIDS, and I offered her funeral Mass. Again, there was some controversy from those who disagreed with my actions.
Parish life went on through the 80s. There were staff changes and new programs of sacramental preparation for parents, and their children were introduced. A teenage group, JORNADA, which means journey, attracted many of our teens. An evangelization program of small groups meeting weekly in personal apartments was developed. Its pastoral goal was to get people interested in Jesus and His Church. Group leaders were trained. On average, 20 small groups met weekly and it went on for five years.
Since the mid-60s, the parish had reached out to the Chinese community in the neighborhood. One of the results of the evangelization programs in the buildings was reports of a growing Chinese community. The traditional boundaries of New York’s Chinatown had expanded into the Two Bridges Area. A more focused ministry to the Chinese was begun by a priest on staff who spoke both Cantonese and Mandarin. I focused on the American-born Chinese and issues emerging among the Chinese community. Two organizations, It’s Time, which offered legal aid, and tenant assistance and Immigrant Social Services, which focused on Chinese immigrants and their children, were both born out of the parish. They assisted thousands and became the face of Christ and His Church to those unfamiliar with them. We were now a trilingual parish.
(To be continued.)
Past installments of Bishop Sullivan’s priesthood reflections:
Short assignment leads to valuable lessons in ministry
The true Church is one of many races