Rain relocates, but can't wash out Brooklyn eucharistic celebration

Published: 2005-10-21

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) -- It wasn't supposed to end like this. The Diocese of Brooklyn's observance of the closing of the Year of the Eucharist was celebrated Oct. 15 with a festive liturgy at St. James Cathedral Basilica in Brooklyn. But plans called for a day of prayer, adoration and Mass at KeySpan Park on Coney Island, and about 10,000 people had tickets to attend. But several days of heavy rain forced cancellation of the park event. "Our plan was not to be here," said Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio at the beginning of the Mass at St. James. "But the Lord had other plans for us." Msgr. Francis J. Caggiano was more philosophical about the 13 inches of rain over eight days that inundated KeySpan, Coney Island and beyond. "Man proposes," he said, "and God disposes." The pelting rain included a record-breaking eight inches Oct. 13-14 alone, the days the field was to be prepared. This "created a hazardous condition, much of it involving electrical wiring and equipment," said Msgr. Caggiano, vicar for evangelization and pastoral life, who chaired the committee that organized the program. There was also concern that uneven, soggy terrain would lead to trips and falls, he said. "For prudence sake, we canceled," he told The Tablet, Brooklyn's diocesan newspaper.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .