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Our Parish History - Part 4 - 1976
- 1996 |
| 1976 Bishop Kellenberg announces that, at age 75, he will retire. Pope
Paul VI appoints Bishop McGann as the second Diocesan Bishop of Rockville Centre.
Bishop McGann once again takes up residence at the Cathedral Rectory. St. Agnes
opens its storefront Cathedral Service Center on Clinton Avenue under the
direction of Sister Josephine Hitlin, O.P., with the guidance of Catholic
Charities. |
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1978
St. Agnes Parish surpasses its goal in the first Bishop's
Annual Appeal conducted to improve the financial condition of the
diocese.
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1980
Bishop McGann ordains the second class of
permanent deacons, including Robert J. Poh of St. Agnes Parish.
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1981
Msgr. Melton adds Sister Maelene Meehan, O. P.,
to the parish staff as full-time Parish Visitor. Plans are announced for a major renovation of St. Agnes
Cathedral. A temporary chapel is erected in the parking lot across
for the Cathedral for daily Masses during the renovation work. John
Hanlon, senior lay member of the Cathedral family and Superintendent of
Buildings and Grounds, Hits his 25 year mark at St. Agnes.
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1982 During Lent, St Agnes
Parishioners and others
begin attending daily Masses in the Episcopal Church of the Ascension
(opposite St Agnes Convent) at the gracious invitation of The Venerable
Donald C. Latham, as the temporary "Lady Chapel" in the parking
lot proves too small for Lenten communicants. Later in the year the renovation of the Cathedral is completed and St. Agnes is
rededicated 25 years to the day that Bishop Kellenberg became the Founding
Bishop and St. Agnes became the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. |
1984
With
declining enrollment and increasing costs Bishop McGann announces the need
to close two Diocesan High Schools on Long Island. To further
consolidate costs, St. Agnes High School is moved to the closed Maria
Regina Diocesan High School in Uniondale. This high school will eventually
become Kellenberg Memorial. |
| 1985 The
parish celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the present day St. Agnes Church,
a Cathedral since 1957. |
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1986 Bishop Kellenberg dies at age 84.
The old Parish High School Building is renamed the Msgr. Williams Building.
(It will now house diocesan agencies and the St. Christopher Ottilie
Foster Care Agency until plans are unveiled in 2000 for the eventual
construction of a new parish activity center.)
Mother Teresa visits the Diocese and speaks at a Prayer
Service. |
| Monsignor Melton retires as Rector. He remains in residence at St. Agnes.
Monsignor Robert Mulligan PhD. is named as Rector of the parish. |
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| 1996 Monsignor Mulligan dies suddenly of a heart attack at age
69 after serving 10 years as Rector. |
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Sources:
- "From a Blacksmith Shop To A Majestic Gothic
Edifice", 1935
- Leonard, CSJ, Sr. Joan de Lourdes, "Richly Blessed, The Diocese of
Rockville Centre 1957-1990", (Walsworth Publishing, 1991)
- O'Neill, James "To Believe In A Vision" (Delmar, 1983)
- "Rededication Journal", 1982 |
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