Free Republic

ALBANY -- As the legislature began the process of enacting a new state budget Sunday, its top Republican said Sunday they effectively will cancel a ban on the sale of gun and rifle magazines larger than seven rounds that was set to take effect April 15. In doing so, Senate co-leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) confirmed a plan lawmakers outlined last week.

A man from Long Island, New York, is facing up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine after a neighbor complained to police he was laughing too loudly. Police issued Robert Schiavelli, 41, two tickets for disturbing the peace for laughing out the window of his home in Rockville Centre on Long Island at about 6 pm on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, his lawyer said. …

Rockville Centre — They were not yet born — nor had their parents probably met — when the new liturgy was introduced in the 1960s, but a dozen teens and pre-teens last Sunday were happy to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in a Latin ceremony. Bishop William Murphy conferred the sacrament last Sunday at St. Agnes Cathedral here for a group of children and one adult whose families regularly attend an approved Tridentine (traditional Latin) Mass offered each Sunday at St. Matthew’s Church in Dix Hills. Bishop Murphy administered the sacrament of confirmation in the traditional Latin rite during a...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., has ordered an end to weekday Communion services outside the context of Mass by July 1. Citing guidelines for the distribution of Communion in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Bishop Murphy said in a May 9 pastoral letter that his decision would bring the diocese "into conformity with the liturgical norms of the church." The order applies to parishes, schools and social and charitable organizations which had adopted the practice of offering "celebrations of the word" with the distribution of Communion when no daily Mass was scheduled....

As I reported last week, my Pastor informed us that at the request of Bishop Murphy (Diocese of Rockville Centre) that the church would be moving the tabernacle back to the center of the church. I wasn't sure at the time if this was a general request or something limited to my parish. If it was limited to my parish, what provoked this request? Well now I know. The Bishop visited at confirmation time and was not pleased with what he saw. My Pastor, Father Joe, printed the request of the Bishop this week in the bulletin for all to...

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, New York, APRIL 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Emil Wcela, 75, and named Monsignor Peter Libasci to replace him as auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre. Born Nov. 9, 1951, in Brooklyn, Peter Libasci earned a master's in divinity at St. Meinrad's Archabbey Seminary in Indiana. He was ordained for the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 1978. Father Libasci then earned a master's in theology and catechetics from St. John's University. Bishop Wcela had been appointed auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre in 1988.

According to a priest who does not identify himself as a Conservative, the formation program of the Diocese of Rockville Centre was in dire need of a deep overhaul.Every formation program in the diocese was handled for decades by the “Pastoral Formation Institute” or PFI, run until recently by Sister Lauren Hanley, CSJ, whose congregation has its Mother house at Brentwood, NY, in the same diocese. This is how our Priest, who has been a first-hand witness for years, describes the controversial program: “For years the PFI has been forming the laity of Rockville Centre in a mix of very liberal...

Rockville Centre Bishop William Murphy announced a major shakeup of religious education yesterday that reconfigures the program that produced a generation of lay Catholic leaders, as well as many members of Voice of the Faithful, an activist group that has demanded the bishop's resignation. Murphy said the restructuring would "not mean a major change in the content of what we offer, which is the teaching of the Church," in a column in this week's diocesan newspaper. But critics said they feared the changes - coming two weeks after he named a new seminary rector known for strict orthodoxy - signal...

A Jesuit retreat house in Manhasset is hosting a workshop about gay Catholics and the church that had been barred from diocesan property last year by Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The workshop on building bridges to gay people comes just as the Vatican is about to release a document restating its prohibition barring gay men from the priesthood. Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, the organization leading the workshop, said yesterday that the program does not challenge church orthodoxy. "Our mission is simply to try to help Catholic institutions learn more about the...

A former parish business manager accused of stealing about $500,000 with another former employee pleaded guilty yesterday and admitted he used a church credit card to purchase personal items and attempted to cover up the thefts by changing church records, prosecutors said. Joseph Cavaco, 62, of Wading River padded his paychecks and used an American Express card issued to the Holy Family Parish to purchase jewelry and clothes and pay for dental work, prosecutors said. In Nassau County Court in Mineola, he admitted using the credit card to buy more than $50,000 in personal items, prosecutors said. Among the items...

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) _ A Long Island priest who admitted sodomizing a teenage boy was sentenced to two years in jail on Tuesday, as part of a deal with prosecutors in two counties where the abuse took place. Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen Braslow gave the Rev. Michael Hands two consecutive one-year sentences after the priest pleaded guilty last month to the pair of sodomy charges stemming from sexual relations he had with the boy while he was assigned to St. Philip Neri Church in Northport. The case against Hands stretched for more than 20 months through courts in both...

Catholic church officials on Long Island failed in the past to protect children from sexual abuse by priests and cannot be trusted to protect them now without changes in state law, according to a withering Suffolk County grand jury report to be released this morning. The 180-page report depicts, sometimes in lurid detail, how the hierarchy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre concealed the alleged criminal behavior of its priests and used "deception and intimidation" in dealing with abuse victims. The report repeatedly points out how avoiding bad publicity was paramount.