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7320 4th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11209
Located between 73rd and 74th street in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, Our Lady of Angels is among the oldest churches in Bay Ridge. The Parish was established on September 24th, 1891 and the first mass was held on September 27th of that same year.
The church encompasses half a block and the Catholic academy associated with the church encompasses the other half of the block. The structure of the building is exemplary of traditional Catholic churches, which have a great mansion-like look to them, as if a King occupies the structure; perhaps the clearest aspect showing this is the tower that rises next to the building. Above the doorway, an engraving proclaiming the Latin translation of the church name reads: S. Mariae Angelroum Digatum. Above the doorway, as well as at the top of the roof, stands the Christian cross welcoming all believers.
History
Our Lady of Angels was established by Bishop John Loughlin on September 24th, 1891. The first mass was held in a small firehouse on 67th street, between 2nd and 3rd avenue because the building that houses the church was not built until 1893. The first Pastor of the church, Father Martin Loftus, offered the first mass three days after the church was established. The building that houses the church today was dedicated in June 23rd, 1929 and still stands mightily as a sign of the Roman Catholic community in Bay Ridge.
Our lady of Angels has had a very rich history and has overcome many obstacles, thanks to the strong faith and motivation of its pastors. Bishop John Boardman became pastor of the church in 1959 and helped the congregation through many changes that resulted from the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (Vatican Council II). Bishop Boardain was especially successful in educating the church followers to the changes in the Roman Catholic Church because he attended the meeting in Rome himself. In 1981 Monsignor James Cavanagh became pastor and the church began a new chapter in its history. Under his leadership, the church underwent a 2.6 million dollar renovation, in which the interior was painted and the original stonewalls cleaned.
Father Jim Devlin took over in 1998 and led the church through another renovation. Father Devlin was also a major advocate for keeping the church’s school open and led the way for transforming Our Lady of Angels School to Holy Angels Catholic Academy. The current pastor of the church is Msgr. Kevin Noone, a former graduate of Our Lady of Angels School. Father Lewk, who was kind enough to allow us to interview him, also leads the Congregation. We discussed the changes that he has seen in the congregation since he came to Our Lady of Angels in 1998. He has noticed that the number of followers has declined since he came to the church. In our discussion we explored the possibility of many followers changing their place of worship because of their ethnicity. In Bay Ridge there are approximately three churches per block and many of these churches are ethnically defined, with their followers naturally belonging to their ethnic group. Father Lewk pointed out that in addition to many people changing churches so that they are with their ethnic relatives, a lot of people have become secular. For this reason, he often questions himself if he is doing all he can to keep followers faithful to the religion.
Pictures
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