St. Mary's Church, Roslyn: Pastor's Page

My dear people of St. Mary’s,

On June 7, 2018, Pope Francis today appointed Rev. Msgr. Richard Henning, S.T.D., 53, to serve as an auxiliary bishop of our Diocese of Rockville Centre.-elect Henning served as Rector of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, and also as the Interim Episcopal Vicar for the Central Vicariate of our diocese. He will be ordained by Bishop Barres on July 24, 2018, at a Mass of Episcopal Ordination to be celebrated at the Cathedral of Saint Agnes, in Rockville Centre.

Bishop-Elect Henning is a native of Holy Name of Mary Parish in Valley Stream. He is the eldest of five children of Richard and Maureen Henning.product of Catholic education, Henning attended Holy Name of Mary School and is a 1982 graduate of Chaminade High School in Mineola.then attended St. John’s University, Queens, graduating in 1986, anda master’s degree in history from the same institution in 1988.studiedthe priesthood at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, and was ordained on May 30, 1992, at St. Agnes Cathedral by Bishop John McGann, Bishop of Rockville Centre.

Following his ordination,went on to earn his Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.2007, he earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) from The University of St. Thomas Aquinas, The Angelicum, Rome.-elect Henning is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian and is also able to read French, Greek and Hebrew.

Since 2002, Bishop-elect Henning has served on the faculty of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. In 2012, he was named Rector of the Seminary and Director of the Sacred Heart Institute for the ongoing formation of clergy for the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre. He has assisted on weekends at Saint Patrick’s Church in Bay Shore and administers the summer mission church, Our Lady of the Magnificat at Ocean Beach in Fire Island. For many years he was one of the priests to celebrate our Saturday evening Spanish Mass here at St. Mary’s in Roslyn.is another connection as well: Bishop-elect Henning and I are classmates from Chaminade High School, Class of 1982!

Upon hearing of the appointment, Bishop Barres said: “The Diocese of Rockville Centre rejoices in Pope Francis’ appointment of Msgr. Henning as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese. Bishop-elect Henning’s pastoral charity and intelligence, his commitment to a demanding life of daily prayer, his love for the Hispanic community and evangelization, his biblical scholarship and experience in seminary formation, his national contributions to the ongoing formation of priests and assistance to international priests who serve in this country give him a wide range of pastoral experience and skills to help advance the New Evangelization and dramatic missionary growth on Long Island.”

Bishop-Elect Henning said in a statement of his own: “I am grateful to His Holiness, Pope Francis, for the call to serve as an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. I am also grateful to Bishops Barres and Murphy for their encouragement and mentoring.is a moment of deep reflection and the humble acknowledgement of my dependence upon the grace of God and my joy in His service.”

You will be able to watch the Episcopal Ordination live on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, on our diocesan television station Telecare, which can be viewed on Cablevision channel 29/137, Verizon FiOS TV channel 296, Time Warner Cable channel 471.addition, there will be more information about Bishop-elect Henning and his ordination in the month to come which you may find on the diocesan website:www.drvc.org;on the diocesan Facebook social media platform: www.facebook.com/RVCdiocese; and atLong Island Catholic site: www.LICatholic.org. I will also send you a reminder in July through our Constant Contact e-mail service.

Although we are classmates and friends, I can honestly say I am thrilled with this appointment; I know of no priest in our diocese more worthy of this honor, and more capable of undertaking this responsibility. Let us pray for Bishop-elect Henning as he prepares to answer God’s call to serve the people of our diocese as an auxiliary bishop.

—Fr. McCartney

[Note: This is the last Pastor’s Page before the summer hiatus. The Pastor’s Page will resume in September.]

My dear people of St. Mary’s,

On Saturday, June 23, at 11:00 am at St. Agnes Cathedral, Bishop Barres will ordain Transitional Deacon Leo Song a priest for the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Deacon Song was born in Seoul, South Korea, and came to the United States when he was six. His parents emigrated because they were looking for a better life for Leo and his younger sister, Jina. They lived first in Whitestone and then in Bayside, Queens, where St. Robert Bellarmine became their home parish. His family were always religious and active in church: his father, Han, has sung in the choir for more than twenty years; and his mother, Liz, has served the parish on various councils, committees and in a number of ministries. Deacon Song said: “Seeing my parents’ faith in action during my childhood made a profound impact on my own faith. I am deeply grateful to them for teaching and passing on the faith to my sister and me.”

Deacon Song attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received his degree in economics in 2004. Following college, after several years working in business in the city, he enrolled at CUNY Graduate Center, earning a doctorate with honors in physical therapy in 2011. He then worked with oncology patients at New York Presbyterian Weil Cornell Medical Center

During this time, he was also involved in his parish as a catechist, served as a youth minister, and was involved in the young adult ministry. He would later say, “Eventually it was God’s grace that opened my heart to listen to His call.” Despite being so involved with parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn, Deacon Song said: “I heard God tell me, ‘Leo, be a priest on Long Island.’”

For the next two years he was sent to study philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Following that experience, the diocese then sent him to study in Rome. He received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University last year, and will receive a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, both in Rome.

His “adopted” Long Island parish is the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Woodbury (where Msgr. Bauhoff is pastor) and which has a large and active Korean community. He will celebrate his first Mass there on Sunday, June 24th, at 12:15 pm.

The ordination will be broadcast live on our diocesan television station, Telecare, which can be viewed on Cablevision channel 29/137, Verizon FiOS TV channel 296, & Time Warner Cable channel 471.ordination can also be viewed on the diocesan website: www.drvc.org.

Let us pray for Deacon Song as he prepares for his ordination to the Holy Priesthood and readies himself to begin his pastoral ministry to the people of God in our diocese.

—Fr. McCartney