Parishioners and former parishioners gathered outside St. Veronica's after what had been announced by the Archdiocese of New York as its last Mass on Sunday, July 23, 2017. [Photo by Peter McDermott]
By Irish Echo Staff
Campaigners for St. Veronica’s of Greenwich Village have announced that Mass will take place there on next Monday evening, June 7, at 6 p.m.
The St. Veronica Moving Forward Committee has issued an invitation to supporters and former parishioners to “our commemorative Mass as we celebrate our official sanctuary dedication that was held on June 7, 1903.”
“Since our historic sanctuary was closed by the Archdiocese in 2017,” said Terri Cook, “the committee has been actively working to keep St. Veronica’s as part of the Greenwich Village community.
“With our canon lawyer, we petitioned Rome and won a favorable decision to celebrate Mass on our official dedication day, as well as on St. Veronica’s February feast day. The sanctuary will also be opened during the week for meditation and quiet prayer. We await the Archdiocese’s plan. Please join us with our celebrant and new pastor, The Reverend Jesus Ledezma, whom we share with St. Bernard’s Church.” St. Veronica’s is located at 149 Christopher St., between Washington & Greenwich Streets.
“Always a compassionate sanctuary, St. Veronica’s interior is filled with mementos of American and New York City history,” Cook said. “Former congregations and pastors offered space to longshoremen to meet and organize; they placed plaques on the back walls to remember all those who served in America’s wars since World War 1; they proposed their lower balcony be used to establish the AIDS Memorial as a comforting space to mourn and remember; and they welcomed downtown soot-covered workers on 9/11 who streamed up the West Side seeking a safe refuge.”
