Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre

Diocese of Rockville Centre Dioecesis Petropolitana in Insula Longa
St. Agnes Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Long Island, New York
Ecclesiastical province	New York
Statistics
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2014) 2,851,977 1,531,445[1] (53.7%)
Parishes	134
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	April 6, 1957
Cathedral	St. Agnes Cathedral
Patron saint	Saint Agnes
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	John Barres
Auxiliary Bishops	Andrzej Jerzy Zglejszewski Robert J. Coyle Richard Garth Henning Luis Miguel Romero Fernández
Bishops emeritus	William Murphy Emil Aloysius Wcela John Charles Dunne
Map
Website
drvc.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre (Latin: Dioecesis Petropolitana in Insula Longa) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that comprises the territory of Nassau and Suffolk counties (regionally known as Long Island) in the U.S. state of New York state, except for Fishers Island, which is part of Suffolk County but is included in the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut. Founded in 1957, this diocese was created from territory that once belonged to the Diocese of Brooklyn.

As of 2005, it the sixth-largest Catholic diocese in the United States, currently serving approximately 1.5 million people in 134 parishes.^[2] The diocese is named for the village where its cathedral, St. Agnes Cathedral, is located, Rockville Centre in Nassau County. The fifth and current bishop is John Barres.^[3] The Diocese of Rockville Centre is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of New York.

History[]

The Diocese of Rockville Centre was split off from the Diocese of Brooklyn April 6, 1957. St. Agnes Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. (Fishers Island is part of Suffolk County but is included in the diocese of Norwich, Connecticut.)

Walter P. Kellenberg, former Bishop of Ogdensburg, served as first bishop of the diocese from 1957 to 1976.^[4] He founded the diocese's Catholic Charities office in 1957.^[5] Kellenberg was followed by Bishop John McGann, who retired in 2000 and died in 2002. The diocese was led briefly by Bishop James T. McHugh, who died of cancer on December 10, 2000.

William Murphy served as the diocese's fourth bishop from 2001 to 2017. Murphy arrived in Long Island from his native Archdiocese of Boston, where he served as the archdiocese's vicar general. He was succeeded by John Barres on January 31, 2017.

Reports of sex abuse and bankruptcy[]

By August 2019, 68 clergy who served in the Diocese of Rockville Centre were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sex abuse.^[6] Some were either convicted for their crimes or agreed to pay financial settlements.^[6] Former priest Robert E. Guglielmone, who was later appointed Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina, was also revealed to have been named as a defendant in a sex abuse lawsuit in the state of New York and is accused of committing acts of sex abuse while serving in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.^[7]

On May 8, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo extended the 2019 New York Child Victims Act's statute of limitation deadline to file sex abuse lawsuits from August 14, 2020 to January 14, 2021.^[8] On May 13, 2020, a Nassau County Supreme Court justice allowed pending lawsuits against the Diocese of Rockville Centre to proceed after rejecting claims that the New York Child Victims Act, which serves as the legal basis for the upcoming sex abuse lawsuits, violated due process.^[9][10] In June 2020, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which also suffered significant financial damage from the COVID-19 pandemic, filed court documents which stated that the Diocese will file for bankruptcy if there is no pause in nearly 100 pending sex abuse lawsuits.^{[11][12][13][14]}

On October 1, 2020, the diocese of Rockville Center became the fourth diocese in New York state to file for bankruptcy as a result of the sexual abuse litigations.^[15]

An April 15 2021 bankruptcy filing documents allegations against some former priests who hadn’t previously been publicly accused of abuse. In total, the Diocese listed 101 accused clergy members, though a committee of unsecured creditors has published 46 more names ^[16]

Bishops[]

Bishops of Rockville Centre[]

1. Walter P. Kellenberg (1957-1976)
2. John R. McGann (1976-2000)
3. James T. McHugh (2000; coadjutor bishop 1998–2000)
4. William F. Murphy (2001-2017)
5. John O. Barres (2017–present)

Auxiliary Bishops[]

• Vincent John Baldwin (1962–1979)
• Gerald Augustine John Ryan (1977–1985)
• James Joseph Daly (1977–1996)
• Alfred John Markiewicz (1986–1994), appointed Bishop of Kalamazoo
• Emil Aloysius Wcela (1988–2007)
• John Charles Dunne (1988–2013)
• Paul Henry Walsh (2003–2012)
• Peter Anthony Libasci (2007–2011), appointed Bishop of Manchester
• Nelson J. Perez (2012-2017), appointed Bishop of Cleveland, later Archbishop of Philadelphia
• Robert J. Brennan (2012–2019), appointed Bishop of Columbus
• Andrzej Jerzy Zglejszewski (2014–present)
• Robert J. Coyle (2018–present) (had been auxiliary bishop of Military, U.S., 2013-2018)
• Richard Garth Henning (2018–present)
• Luis Miguel Romero Fernández (2020-present)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops[]

• Robert E. Guglielmone, appointed Bishop of Charleston in 2009

Coat of Arms[]

Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre hide

Notes Arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected Adopted 1957 Escutcheon The arms of the Diocese of Rockville Centre is divided per saltire and is bordered by a bordure composed of wavy lines. The colors of the field within the bordure are gold and blue. Three of the four partitions formed by the saltire are emblazoned with a scallop shell. The top partition is filled with a lamb's head. A black roundel in the center of the shield with the three stones or rocks is present. Symbolism The arms is based on the history of Long Island and the etymology of the name Rockville Centre. The colors of the field within the bordure, gold and blue, appears on the coat of arms of King William III of the House of Nassau and on the arms which the county of Suffolk in England has used at times, these arms being those of Ipswich. Although there are more than 12 names for Long Island, the name generally preferred by the Indians of the mainland was Seawanhacky or "Island of Shells." The scallop shell is also truly heraldic, and a symbol which is often used to signify the flowing of water in the Sacrament of Baptism. The wavy silver bordure is the heraldic equivalent of water and surrounding, as it does, the other charges, signifies the insular nature of the diocese. The lamb's head is the symbol of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr, the titular of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. St. Agnes has been represented with a lamb, the symbol of her virginal innocence, since the Middle Ages. The black roundel in the center of the shield with the three stones or rocks affords canting arms for Rockville Centre. The black roundel is in the exact center of the shield. The three rocks or stones are derived from the coat of arms of Pope Pius XII, who established the new Diocese of Rockville Centre in April, 1957. The roundel is tinctured in black to represent the seventeenth century name of Brooklyn, from the diocese from which the See of Rockville Centre was separated. The black tincture represents the marshes, which recalled to the Dutch their homeland in Breuckelen in the Province of Utrecht. The Dutch who first settled Brooklyn called it "Breuck-Landt'" meaning "broken land,' or "marshland," inasmuch as a great deal of the land was broken up by patches of water.

Media[]

Catholic Faith Network, formerly known as "Telecare" was founded in 1969 by Monsignor Thomas Hartman of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York. CFn's programming includes live religious services, talk shows, devotional programs, educational programming, entertainment, and children's programs. It also presents coverage of special events at the Vatican and of papal journeys. It serves subscribers in three states.

In 2012 the diocesan weekly newspaper Long Island Catholic switched to a subscription-based monthly magazine.^[17]

Educational institutions[]

Seminary

• Seminary of the Immaculate Conception

High schools

As of 2019, there were nine Catholic high schools on Long Island.

• Diocesan

• Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, Hicksville
• St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School, West Islip
• St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary, Uniondale (closed in 1984)
• Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School, Riverhead (closed in June 2018)

  Private

• Academy of Saint Joseph, Brentwood (Closed June 2009)
• Chaminade High School, Mineola
• Kellenberg Memorial High School, Uniondale
• Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Syosset
• Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead
• St. Anthony's High School, South Huntington
• St. Dominic High School, Oyster Bay
• St. Mary's High School, Manhasset

Catholic Charities[]

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rockville Centre began operating in 1957. In 1974, they opened a residence for the developmentally disabled in Valley Stream. As of 2019, there were thirteen such residences. A shelter for single mothers opened in 1968 and in 2009 expanded to include transitional housing. Catholic Charities is the one largest provider of affordable senior housing on Long Island, operating over 1,300 units.^[18]

Catholic Health[]

Catholic Health, formerly Catholic Health Services of Long Island, was founded in 1997 and operates under the sponsorship of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.^[19] CHS operates six hospitals: Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, in Rockville Centre, Saint Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, in Port Jefferson, Saint Francis Hospital and Heart Center in Roslyn, and in Bethpage.^[20] The health system is the primary clinical affiliate and major teaching site of New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine.^[21] With 17,000 employees, CHS is the third-largest employer on Long Island.^[22] In 2021, CHSLI's name was changed to Catholic Health to reflect an expanded range of services and its connection to the medical school.^[23]

Cemeteries[]

In 2016 the Diocese created a new corporation, Catholic Cemeteries of Long Island, to assume ownership of its cemeteries.

There are four major cemeteries administered by Catholic Cemeteries of Long Island:^[24]

• Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury
• Queen of Peace Cemetery in Old Westbury
• in Central Islip
• Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Coram

In addition, there are 21 parish churches within the diocese, 6 of which are managed by Catholic Cemeteries of Long Island, and the remainder by the individual parishes.^[24]

St. Charles / Resurrection Cemeteries, despite being located in East Farmingdale, is administered by the Diocese of Brooklyn rather than Rockville Centre.

References[]

External links[]

• The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre Official Site

Coordinates: 40°39′48″N 73°38′13″W / 40.66333°N 73.63694°W / 40.66333; -73.63694