May 19, 2015

Two Brooklyn priests named auxiliary bishops for their diocese

 

NATIONAL

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis has named two Brooklyn, N.Y., priests as auxiliary bishops for the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Father James Massa, 54, currently the diocese’s moderator of the curia and vicar for evangelization, and Father Witold Mroziewski, 49, pastor of Holy Cross Parish, were named in appointments publicized in Washington May 19 by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio.

Brooklyn currently has three active auxiliaries, Bishops Octavio Cisneros, Paul R. Sanchez and Raymond F. Chappetto. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has led the diocese since 2003.

The appointments were announced May 19 in Washington by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The diocese announced that Bishop DiMarzio will ordain the new bishops July 20 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.

“These two men represent the very best of the diocese,” Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement on the diocesan website. “One is a parish priest who at heart is a missionary pouring himself out for others. The other is a teacher but in fact very much a father to the young men of our diocese and beyond who are studying to be priests.

“I am deeply appreciative to these men for their tireless efforts,” he added, calling Bishop-designate Massa and Bishop-designate Mroziewski “men of faith who daily communicate the great joy of the Gospel. Each has taken on incredibly challenging tasks and not simply excelled but did so in a way that has demonstrated outstanding leadership and personal holiness.”

Both men expressed appreciation for their appointments in the statement.

“I receive this news of my appointment with gratitude to the Holy Father, who exemplifies in all he does ‘the joy of the Gospel,'” Bishop-designate Massa said. “Aware of my own inadequacies and fears, I place all my confidence in Jesus, whose love never fails us on the journey of faith.”

Bishop-designate Mroziewski said he was shocked “to the point of not saying anything.”

“Soon, it came to my senses and my conscience what a grace and honor I had received,” he said. “First of all, I give my humble thanks to His Holiness Pope Francis for selecting me and including me in the College of Bishops. My gratitude goes out to our diocesan bishop, Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio, for his trust in me, and his great example of dedication to apostolic service.”

He also said he appreciated the collaboration, spiritual support and fraternity he has felt since arriving in the Brooklyn Diocese 20 years ago.

Bishop-designate Massa is a native of Jersey City, N.J., born Sept. 3, 1960, who was ordained a priest in 1986. He attended the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, and has a bachelor of arts in theology and history from Boston College, a master’s in divinity from Yale University and a doctorate in systemic theology from Fordham University.

In addition to assignments in parish and campus ministry in the Brooklyn Diocese, Bishop-designate Massa has been a theology professor and from 2005 to 2011 was executive director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. From 2007 to 2015, he served on the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He has held his current post as moderator of the curia for the Brooklyn Diocese since 2014.

Bishop-designate Mroziewski is a native of Poland and currently is pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Maspeth, N.Y., which for 102 years has been a home for Polish immigrants and the Polish-American community.

Born March 25, 1966, he attended the seminary for the Diocese of Lomza, Poland, and was ordained a priest there in 1991. His education includes master’s degrees in divinity and canon law and a doctorate in canon law from the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland.

He arrived in Brooklyn not long after his ordination, serving in pastoral services beginning in 1992, then at Czestochowa-St. Casimir Parish in Brooklyn in various capacities before being made pastor of Holy Cross in 2013. He also serves as a judge of the diocesan tribunal and as a defender of the bond. He was incardinated into the Brooklyn Diocese in 2001.

In 2005, Bishop-designate Massa was named the coordinator of the celebration of the Mass in the extraordinary form, known as the Tridentine rite, in the Brooklyn Diocese by Bishop DiMarzio. While serving at the USCCB, he traveled to Brooklyn most weekends to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Mass, reported The Tablet, newspaper of the Brooklyn Diocese.