1st ‘Pinoy Church’ rises in NY

A Catholic church in New York City will be officially designated a "Church of Filipinos" on July 30, and President Arroyo has been invited to preside over the event, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) said yesterday.

The NCCA said a church hall adjoining the San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel will also be formally dedicated to the memory of the late archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin, to be dubbed "Cardinal Sin Memorial Hall."

NCCA executive director Cecille Guidote-Alvarez said the Cardinal Sin Memorial Hall could be a center for culture and values education outreach for Filipinos abroad, especially in New York and New Jersey.

"Through this new Filipino Church, the NCCA hopes to create a cultural link with Filipino communities overseas and touch base with them and their children, reminding them and teaching them of the rich cultural heritage of their motherland, also in line with NCCA’s effort to provide KALAHI Culture Services to Filipinos overseas," she said.

Quoting Fr. Erno Diaz, coordinator of the Filipino Apostolate in the Archdiocese of New York, the NCCA said the San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel on No. 378 Broome st. in Lower Manhattan will be renamed "San Lorenzo Ruiz Church," following a designation by Archbishop of New York Edward Cardinal Egan.

It will be the first church in the United States to be declared as "Church of Filipinos" and the second in the world, the statement added.

The NCCA said Egan also named Diaz as director of the Filipino Apostolate, with a term starting Sept. 1, 2005.

"We thank the almighty for the historic gift of the church that services the tri-state Eastern Seaboard population of about 300,000 Filipinos," Diaz was quoted as saying.

"It is the first church in the United States to be officially designated as ‘Church of Filipinos’ and second in the world, the first being the Filipino Church in Rome."

Diaz said as the occasion coincides with the 40th day of Sin’s passing, a special requiem Mass will be held at the San Lorenzo Ruiz Church in honor of the Cardinal.

"It was here in 1984, that the Cardinal came to rally support for the canonization of the Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz," he said.

"Two years before EDSA I he already manifested a clear sign that he was going to lead the people in EDSA. He said Mass in a jam-packed St. Patrick’s Cathedral and from the pulpit, he led the people in singing ‘Pilipinas Kong Mahal,’ which moved many of us to tears."