NEW YORK — Below are highlights of notable May events that took place around Holy Name Province:
One Year Ago
May 16, 2009 — Linh Hoang, OFM, Hugh Macsherry, OFM, Stephen Mimnaugh, OFM, and Harry Monaco, OFM, were ordained priests at St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street in New York. (On May 22, Lawrence Anderson, OFM, and David Phan, OFM, will be ordained at St. Francis.)
May 24, 2009 — Provincial Minister John O’Connor, OFM, participated in the Order’s month-long General Chapter in Assisi, Italy, which began at the Portiuncula of St. Mary of the Angels. The Ordinary Chapter, held every six years, was especially significant as it fell during the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Order.
May 27, 2009 — Medical ethicist Daniel Sulmasy, OFM, spoke at the commencement of New York Medical College, where he had been professor of medicine and director of the Bioethics Institute since 1998. (Dan, who is commemorating 25 years as a friar, was named by President Barack Obama to the Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues last month.)
Five Years Ago
May 6, 2005 — Holy Name Parish School on West 96th Street in Manhattan observed the centenary of its establishment. (Last month, the now 105-year-old school hosted Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who received a Francis Medal for his environmental initiatives — at its Earth Day celebration.)
15 Years Ago
May 25, 1995 — CREATE, Inc., founded by Benedict Taylor, OFM, opened its new headquarters in a rehabilitated building in Harlem (shown in photo). The new facility housed administrative offices and permitted expansion of care in an outpatient drug-free clinic as well as served as a site for Narcotics Anonymous meetings, individual counseling and adult literacy classes. (This month, Benedict celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest.)
40 Years Ago
May 24, 1970 — St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y., for the first time in its 70-year history, held an alumni reunion for laymen who had attended the school, but discontinued studies for the Franciscan priesthood. According to the Provincial Annals, “Many of the returnees brought wives and children, who helped swell the numbers of the guests enjoying the day.” Highlights included a concelebrated Mass in the seminary chapel and dinner.
45 Years Ago
May 31, 1965 — Fr. Emery Tang, OFM, executive coordinator of the Franciscan TV apostolate, spoke to members of the Holy Name College community about religious television programming and production. Fr. Emery, of St. Barbara Province, previewed the Hour of St. Francis film “That They May See” and discussed movies as an art form and as a means of spreading faith. The Hour of St. Francis was the world’s first motion picture studio specifically designed for Catholic filmmaking.
— Compiled by Rebecca Doel