Bishop Brennan of Brooklyn Dealing With Upset Donors

I met Bishop Robert Brennan a few times when I lived on Long Island and I volunteered at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington.  I thought he was very gracious. So I was sad to hear that he has a few different problems, he's dealing with at the moment. For one, apparently he mentioned to the media and it was repeated by Raymond Arroyo on his EWTN show, that Mass attendance in the Diocese of Brooklyn is down considerably. That's a big enough problem. And then there is this..... My dear friend, has a good friend who is a big donor in the Diocese of Brooklyn. And she has many friends who are big donors too. And they are very upset and apparently they have let the Bishop know.  The cause of their concern is that they don't feel that Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello was treated fairly when he was removed as Vicar for Development on November 3rd. The cause of the sudden and shocking removal was a mistake that Msgr. Jamie made by allowing a controversial music video to be filmed in the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brooklyn, where he is pastor. (He apologized to parishioners for his lack of judgment and mistake).  

In his defense, he is a very busy pastor of two churches, in addition to the job he held as Vicar and he must have assumed that the video would not have been as controversial or in such bad taste as it was. The music video which was very provocative, very quickly went viral and many Catholics were upset and felt the Church was desecrated by the actions of the singer and crew. Bishop Brennan responded by "cleansing" the Church in a ritual action, after the video was made there. Then Msgr. Jamie lost his important job as Vicar of Development. 

The unfortunate story doesn't end there. According to my friend, who has first hand knowledge, some very influential donors are not happy and are coming to the defense of Msgr. Jamie. He has some very loyal friends. They think he should not have been removed for making an unintentional mistake. They are not happy and when donors are not happy....well you can imagine what is going to happen......So this story continues.......I hope it gets resolved and the good charitable works of the Diocese are not affected.

I hope the story ends well for all involved. 

NJA

Thanksgiving 2023

 So much to be thankful for.....but mostly for believing in God, for trusting in God and having strength and courage from belief and a relationship with God. Without trust and belief my life would lack meaning and depth.

Sharing my faith and belief with my granddaughters. I have a little bottle of holy water, several in fact and my granddaughters and me take turns blessing each other with the water. Simple acts of faith that can be shared and have meaning. 

 My granddaughters lost their other grandmother this Fall. It was the saddest of deaths. A faith-filled woman who loved Jesus and her faith, has been taken from us. A short illness with no hope for a cure.  Now she is with God, a big loss for all of us.

So a reminder this Thanksgiving and each day, to savor each day of life and be grateful for the good we have. To be grateful we live in peace where we are, but thinking and praying for those poor, unfortunate people surrounded by war, pain and death. Praying for peace between Russia and Ukraine, praying for peace in the land called holy, praying for solutions that work, solutions that will have staying power so that the world can live in peace, as God wills.

Happy Thanksgiving 2023

NJA