Deacon Joseph Marie Falciano, FSSP, will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha on May 28. His first Mass will follow on May 29 at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valpraiso, Nebraska.  Prior to entering the FSSP seminary, Deacon Falciano was a resident of the Bronx and a parishioner at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk.

He will be coming to the Connecticut/New York area soon. Here follows a schedule of First Masses:

Tuesday June 9: St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, 7pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow.

Wednesday, June 10, St. Josaphat Oratory, Bayside, Queens, 7 pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow

Friday, June 12, St. Vincent Ferrer, New York, NY, 9:30 am, Solemn Mass for Feast of the Sacred Heart, Missa Pange Lingua by Josquin des Prez.

Saturday, June 13. St. Margaret of Cortona, Bronx, NY, 10 am, Solemn Mass

Sunday, June 14, Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, 2 pm, Solemn Mass, reception to follow

Father Jon Tveit will celebrate the following Traditional Masses to mark his 10th anniversary of ordination:

Sunday, May 24: Annunciation Church in Crestwood, NY, Solemn Mass, 2 pm, convivium to follow

Saturday, May 30, Church of the Blessed Sacrament, New Rochelle, NY, 12 noon, Ember Saturday Solemn Mass

This Thursday, May 14, is Ascension Thursday, a Holy Day of Obligation. The following churches will offer the Traditional Mass.

If you know of a Mass that is not on our schedule, please contact us so that we can add it.

Connecticut

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, low Mass 8 am; Solemn Mass 7 pm

Georgetown Oratory of the Most Sacred Heart, Redding, Missa Cantata, 6 pm

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, low Mass 7:45 am; high Mass, 6 pm

St. Patrick Oratory, Waterbury, low Mass 8 am; high Mass 6 pm preceded by Benediction

St. Martha Church, Enfield, 7 pm

New York

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, NY Low Mass 8 am; High Mass 6 pm

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New York, NY, 7 pm

St. Josaphat Oratory, Bayside, Queens, 7 am Low Mass (Confession after Mass); 6 pm Eucharistic Holy Hour (Confession will be heard during adoration); 7 pm High Mass

St. Rocco Church, Glen Cove, Long Island, 7 pm

St. Matthew Church, Dix Hills, Long Island, 10:30 am

St. Paul the Apostle, Yonkers, 12 noon

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, Missa Cantata 7 pm

Immaculate Conception, Sleepy Hollow, low Mass, 5 pm

Sacred Heart, Esopus, 11:30 am

St. Mary and St. Andrew, Ellenville, 7 pm

St Joseph’s, Troy, 5:30 pm. Carmelite Rite.

New Jersey

Our Lady of Sorrows, Jersey City, High Mass, 7 pm

Holy Trinity Church, Hackensack, Missa Cantata, 7 pm

Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, Pequannock, 7 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 7 pm

St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, Low Mass 9 am; HIgh Mass 7 pm

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, 7 pm

St. John the Baptist, Allentown, High Mass 7 pm

Deacon Joseph Marie Falciano, FSSP, will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha on May 28. His first Mass will follow on May 29 at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valpraiso, Nebraska.

He will celebrate Solemn Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Norwalk on Tuesday June 9 at 7 pm, sponsored by the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny. After Mass the faithful may receive his first priestly blessing. Deacon Falciano was a parishioner at St. Mary’s prior to his entrance into the seminary of the Fraternity of St. Peter. He served many Traditional Masses at St. Mary’s and ardently promoted the Traditional Mass in the area, most notably through the Lepanto Conferences he helped organize and our Society sponsored.

Deacon Falciano will also be celebrating two more traditional Masses while he is in the area:

St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York, NY, Solemn Mass, Friday, June 12 at 9:30 am

Annunciation Church, Crestwood, NY, Solemn Mass, Sunday, June 14 at 2 PM, followed by a reception

As an acolyte at the Easter Vigil at St. Mary Church, Norwalk, in 2019

CREW is a Catholic Leadership Program that serves teens in the greater Danbury area and brings community, tradition, and the Traditional Mass to teens who would otherwise never have access to or experience it.

(Above) St. Brigid (Bridget) school in January 2013. Closed in 2019 and now to be sold.

The Archdiocese and secular media have now disclosed the magnitude of the settlement of sex abuse cases. The question now is how this money is to be obtained. One obvious source is the sale of Catholic schools and parishes. This is particularly so for Manhattan where the real estate values are the highest. This has been a process going on for many years which we have chronicled on this site. But now we may be coming to a climax.

(Above and below) Holy Name of Jesus parish’s former parochial school (with centennial plaque). Photo from 2014.

Media report that at this moment two properties are being actively worked.1) The former school building (and convent) of Holy Name of Jesus parish at 200 W. 97th St. is being sold to the Rockefeller Group and Atlas Capital for $96 million. 2) The former parochial school of Saint Brigid on Tompkins Square is being marketed to luxury housing developers. The school was closed as recently as 2019. 3)

Regarding Holy Name of Jesus parish and its school, I wrote in 2014:

 But you soon notice that the church is just the center of a complex of buildings occupying a full block facing Amsterdam Avenue. …Then there is the impressive school building of 1904, with a former convent attached. A metal plaque commemorates the school’s 100th anniversary in 2005. Holy Name of Jesus School did not survive another ten years; it was closed in 2013. A ”De La Salle Academy” occupying several floors of the school also moved out to Holy Cross parish this year. Given the real estate values in the greater Upper West Side area, I would expect that this fine school building is not long for this world. 

Additional school closures have been announced, freeing up more buildings for sale. The Archdiocesan explanations for school closures are Orwellian: 

The Superintendent of Schools Office for the Archdiocese of New York on Monday provided an update on its ongoing School Renewal Plan process, a faith-filled initiative aimed at sustaining and strengthening Catholic education across the archdiocese….

“Just as Christ calls us to turn toward Him in faith, this season invites us to see God at work in our schools, creating new opportunities for growth and learning, and bringing hope to our students and communities.” Sr. Mary Grace Walsh wrote. The renewal plan follows a school viability study conducted during the 2024-2025 academic year and is part of an ongoing process to ensure Catholic education remains vibrant, accessible, and life-giving for generations to come….As part of the ongoing plan, three schools will close at the end of the 2025–2026 academic year: Incarnation School in Manhattan, Sacred Heart School in Hartsdale, and Most Precious Blood School in Walden.4) 

Cathedral High School, that, in September 2023, had to move out of the Archdiocesan headquarters building when that was sold,  is itself now being shut down. 5)  That frees up a building for sale that I believe was originally the parochial school of St. Francis de Sales parish. Second , Incarnation school in Washington Heights will be closing. 6) And even the successful school of Transfiguration parish (which includes the former parochial school of Saint James where Governor Al Smith received his education) is now being reduced from three buildings to two.7)

Certainly, this is just the beginning. I could think of other parishes with dual “worship spaces,”  or superfluous schools, convents or rectories, that may well be next. St. Michael’s parish with its surrounding complex of buildings next to the Hudson Yards, and currently closed, seems to me an obvious target. Most Holy Redeemer on East 3rd Street is already the subject of animated discussion. Another candidate that comes to mind is Sacred Heart parish in Hell’s Kitchen, merged with St. Malachi’s parish (perhaps including its school building, currently used by the active Blessed Sacrament school?).  I might also mention, among others, the parishes of St. Thomas More and Our Lady of Good Counsel, or Corpus Christi, now combined with Notre Dame.

Then there are the parishes targeted in previous waves of closures that for one reason or another were spared, such as  the above-mentioned St. Thomas More or Holy Innocents.  But really any parish or school is potentially at risk – regardless of how successful it may be. Remember the fight over the Archdiocese’s attempt to close St Thomas More – surely not an impoverished parish! 

And all of these actions are just the developments in the borough of Manhattan! Judging from the reaction so far, other than aggrieved locals, no one in the Catholic community seems to care.

1. Kelly, Keith J.,” Pastors Worry as Archdiocese Pushes $800 Million Sex Abuse Settlement,” ourtownny.com (5/5/2026)
2.  Ibid. See also Saltonstall, Gus and Muha, Laura, Upper West Side Church to sell for $96M  and become Housing,” westsiderag.com (2.2/2026) (As the latter article states, the church and rectory in fact were not sold)
3. Kelly, Keith J., “St. Brigid School in East Village Put on Block by Archdiocese,” ourtownny.com (5/3/2026).
4. Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York continue renewal, announce Key Changes, thegoodnewsroom.org ( 3/16/2026).
5. “Cathedral High School to close following the 2025-26 Academic Year,thegoodnewsroom.org (9/19/2025).
6. Kelly, Keith J., “Another Manhattan School to Close: Archdiocese,”  ourtownny.com (3/24/2026) In his informative report,  Kelly points out that the Archdiocesan claims of relocating students to other Catholic schools are unrealistic, given the distances involved.
7.  Ibid. Also,  Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York, supra Note 4.

The Wall Street Journal today returns to the theme of young Catholics attending Mass at Saint Joseph’s in the Village and at Saint Patrick’s basilica.

Bhutani, Anvee, “Gen. Z finds a home in Sunday Mass,” Page A3, The Wall Street Journal, (Monday 5/4/2026).

As in the case of the Epstein saga,  this report continues the trend of the mainstream news publications  –  and specifically the WSJ  – of simply commenting on news previously reported in online sources. 1)

The reporter describes a 6:00 PM Sunday Mass – certainly a welcome time for college students! And it seems that a number of them have come to this Mass after a pizza dinner an hour earlier. The reporter is struck by the fact that all the pews were filled, folded chairs had to be provided, the balconies were utilized and even then, some had to stand for the 90-minute service. The reporter, who seems unfamiliar with the Catholic Church, could not know that prior to Vatican II that seating situation was routine at the main Sunday Masses in ordinary parish churches. And also, that Our Lady of Pompeii,  a much larger Catholic church,  is located a little way down the Avenue and seems to be, relatively speaking, empty.

The reporter also makes the point that socializing seems to be a main benefit and even objective for those who attend Mass here. From the pulpit,  the priest says that he has heard that some attend Mass at St. Joseph’s not only to worship God:

“There is great excitement about falling in love with a pretty girl.” 

Now in today’s society that’s perhaps a sentiment to be commended!  But isn’t the evident interest in socializing expressed by the members of the congregation interviewed for this article more characteristic of a Protestant denomination?

Yet otherwise, all is not healthy in the Archdiocese of New York. Last week we learned from the secular media of the proposed amount of the settlement of sex abuse claims: $800 million. On May 1st, Archbishop Hicks issued a “message” in which he stated that he is “cautiously optimistic” the settlement will materialize. For Archbishop Hicks makes clear what the alternative is:

If a truly global settlement can be achieved, compensation will become available to victim survivors in the fastest, most comprehensive manner possible, without the need for lengthy painful litigation for victim-survivors or bankruptcy proceedings for the Archdiocese.2)

UPDATE:

A reader of this blog familiar with St. Jiseph’s shares some observations:

Hello Mr. Chessman, I’m a native New Yorker who has for the past few years regularly read your essays, book reviews, and blog posts on the Society’s website. While I don’t consider myself a capital-T traditionalist Catholic and I have not always agreed with the website’s perspective, I have my sympathies and I like to take in different points of view. It also helps that your website is among the few that regularly covers Catholicism in New York City besides the official archdiocesan channels. 

I’ve noticed that you’ve mentioned in quite a few recent posts the church I attend, St. Joseph’s in Greenwich Village, understandably so considering the media attention it has gotten this past year, coverage that shows no signs of letting up; a camera crew from PBS was over at the parish this past Sunday. I thought that you may be interested in a somewhat different perspective than what has been covered in most of the news articles.

For one thing, I attend the 11:30 A.M. Mass and have never attended the 6:00 P.M. Mass, which has gotten almost all of the news coverage. While the 6:00 Mass does have the highest attendance, the 11:30 Mass has been at or near full attendance as well. While attendees are still predominantly young adults, there are quite a few young families and even some older parishioners, including those who have been around since before the Dominicans took over. That mass has a choir that chants the propers and features polyphony from the likes of Byrd, Vivaldi, Lasso, etc. That same choir covers most of the Masses for non-Sunday solemnities, including the Triduum. I don’t have the finest ear so I can’t say if it’s better or worse than what I’ve heard at St. Vincent Ferrer or St. Josaphat’s, but I believe it’s quite beautiful and enriching to the solemnity of the Mass. 

I cannot comment on the feelings and inner convictions of every parishioner and I have been disappointed by some of the unnecessary comments made about traditionalist Catholics, but that’s thankfully not a sentiment I have personally witnessed and it’s not something I would tolerate nor something I believe the friars would encourage. I’ve met quite a few parishioners, including the guys I serve with, who are very sympathetic to tradition. 

I’m also aware that there may be some people who attend the 6:00 P.M. as an “event”, for lack of a better term. I would say that that kind is exceeded by those who are genuinely seeking to learn and grow in the faith. The Eucharistic devotion among the parishioners here is especially breathtaking. To give one example, the past couple of years the parish has hosted quarterly “NightFire” events, where the church is open all night to the public for Eucharistic adoration. The parish has produced at least two vocations to the priesthood and there are currently two former parishioners in formation for the Province of St. Joseph, alongside a couple of vocations to female religious life and several more parishioners presently discerning religious life.

It must also be said that the friars are truly exemplary and I think that the way they’ve been quoted by some of the secular media outlets have done them a disservice. They’re among the best preachers, confessors, and celebrants of the liturgy I’ve known, and the pastor Fr. Boniface deserves a lot of credit and has been very explicit in wanting to make St. Joseph’s a center of Catholic culture, as can be seen in its hosting of ArtHouse2B, the School of Sacred Music, and the Thomistic Institute, among other initiatives. 

Of course, it’s not like everything is perfect. I recognize the limitations that derive from the dominant liturgical/pastoral paradigm; as much as I believe eating pizza dinner before Mass is inappropriate, it’s likely those people are not violating the one hour fast before communion. Similar comments could be made regarding the contemporary music featured at the 6:00 P.M. Mass. But things are much improved from how they were two years ago, and are even more greatly improved than before the pandemic. I understand that there are aspects of the parish which will not be satisfying to traditionalists but I do believe that despite the hype, St. Joseph’s is a truly blessed place that I have been fortunate to participate in. That’s my two cents, anyway.

Thank you and God bless,

A Reader of the Society’s Website

1. See our previous report: “Looking for the ‘Catholic Revival.’” (5/26/2026) (summarizing earlier articles)
2.  “A Message from Archbishop Hicks,” thegoodnewsroom.org, (5/1/2026) . On the proposed settlement, see, e.g., DeGregory, Priscilla; Senzamici, Peter: and Troutman, Matt, “NY Archdiocese pitches $800M to settle child sex abuse claims — warns of bankruptcy if offer is rejected,” The New York Post (5/1/2026)