Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Community calendar

Preserving Identity: Puerto Rican Shift from Catholicism to Pentecostalism

An examination of the indirect and direct factors why the change from Catholicism to Pentecostalism allowed the early generation Puerto Rican to preserve their identity in New York City

Presenter: Ramón Ortiz, New York Theological Seminary

6 p.m., Wednesday, February 25

Centro Conference Room 1437 East Bldg.
Hunter College
68th & Lexington Avenue, Manhattan

www.centropr.org

Miguel Cotto delivers a great show at the ring

On the sports corner

After boxer Miguel Cotto suffered a bitter defeat in the hands of Antonio Margarito last July 2008, there were some who questioned whether Cotto lost his confidence. At the same time, he lay low for more than 200 days. There was concern that the layoff would make him rusty. But on the night of February 21, he proved everyone wrong at Square Garden in front of a large fan base.
That night Cotto met Michael Jennings from England who came in with a record of 34-2 and 16 knockouts. It was Jennings first time fighting at the Garden. Cotto won every round, scoring with left jabs, shots to the body, two knockdowns in round four and one more in round five. When referee Benji Estevez saw enough, he said no mas, stopping the fight with 2:36 remaining in the fifth round.
Cotto captured the vacant World Boxing Organization Welterweight Champion.
After the fight, there was some talk about a rematch with Shane Mosley who this past January 24th defeated Margarito.
My advice: Cotto relax, train, be confident, but don’t get over confident. – Ismael Nunez

Monday, February 23, 2009

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan to lead the Archdiocese of New York


We have a new archbishop.

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, as the new Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York.

The new archbishop says he is looking forward to working with the vibrant Latino Catholic Church community here. When I first heard that Dolan was appointed instead of Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan, Puerto Rico, I was a little disappointed. I guess the Archdiocese of New York is not ready for a Latino archbishop yet. They decided to name another Irishman (nothing against the Irish), but I think it is about time to diversify the leadership of the church. But I'm feeling good about Dolan's appointment. Hearing him speak today, I got a sense that he is very aware of how important Latinos are to the Archdiocese. It is definitely not a community to be taken for granted. He seems to be a down-to-earth kind of bishop. I hear he's strict on such issues as abortion and celibacy in the priesthood.

A historian, he seems to be familiar with the story of immigration and the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of New York. He is still working on his Spanish and hopes to improve it. He knows Italian too and admits he sometimes confuses his Spanish and Italian and prefers to use text when he speaks Spanish. I suspect he will pick up a lot of Spanish in New York City.

Puerto Rico Sun welcomes the new archbishop to our Latino parishes.

Here's the press release:

Archbishop Dolan Appointed Archbishop of New York Retirement of Cardinal Egan Accepted

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has appointed His Excellency, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, to the Archdiocese of New York. Archbishop Dolan has served as the Archbishop of Milwaukee since 2002. He will be the 13th Bishop and 10th Archbishop of the See of New York. He succeeds His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, who submitted his letter of retirement upon reaching the age of 75 on April 2, 2007.

Cardinal Egan has been named Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of New York until the Installation of Archbishop Dolan. The Archbishop will be installed by His Excellency, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States at Saint Patrick's Cathedral on April 15, 2009.

In a statement, Archbishop Dolan addressed New Yorkers, saying, "My brother bishops, priests, religious women and men, seminarians, committed Catholics of this wonderful Church, I pledge to you my love, my life, my heart, and I can tell you already that I love you, I need so much your prayers and support, I am so honored, humbled, and happy to serve as your pastor."

Born in 1950, the oldest of five children to Robert and Shirley Dolan, Archbishop Dolan's education began at Holy Infant Grade School in Ballwin, Missouri, and continued at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary, Cardinal Glennon College, and the Pontifical North American College, in Rome.

Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis on June 19, 1976, Father Dolan then served as a parish priest, earned his doctorate in Church History at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C., worked at the Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican Embassy) in Washington, D.C., served on the faculty at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, and returned to Rome as rector of the Pontifical North American College.

He came back to the Archdiocese of St. Louis as auxiliary bishop in June 2001, to be appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee a year later.

source: Archdiocese of New York

(photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of New York)

Friday, February 20, 2009

Community calendar

Artists raise money to create 'The Freedom Album' and help Puerto Rican political prisoners and their families


The Puerto Rican Freedom Project will be throwing a fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the 1199 MLK, JR Union Center, 310 West 43rd St., Manhattan. Proceeds will go toward the creation of "The Freedom Album," a dual CD featuring Puerto Rican artists from the island and beyond, due out early this spring.
The musical compilation is being created to raise funds for the Puerto Rican political prisoners and their families. The current Puerto Rican political prisoners are Oscar Lopez, Carlos Alberto Torres, Haydee Beltran and Avelino Gonzalez Claudio. Suggested donation for the event: $10-$15.

For more information about this project, go to www.prfreedomproject.org or www.myspace.com/freeourpoliticalprisoners.


(Click on image for larger text.)