Philippine Pastoral Center 378 Broome St jeh

Most Holy Crucifix Church 378 Broome Street entrance

The Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

chapel in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encom ...

, located at 378

Broome Street Broome Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan. It runs nearly the full width of Manhattan island, from Hudson Street in the west to Lewis Street in the east, near the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The street is interrupted in ...

between

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and

Mott Mott is both an English surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname B *Basil Mott (1859–1938), British civil engineer *Bitsy Mott (1918–2001), American baseball player C * Charles James Mott (1880–1918), British bar ...

Streets in the

Nolita Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of Little Italy",Roberts, Sam"New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year"'' New York Times'' (February 21, 2011) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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. The chapel was established in 2005. The building was originally constructed for the Church of the Most Holy Crucifix in 1925–26, and was designed by Robert J. Reiley. The chapel is designated for the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese. It was named as the official "Church of Filipinos" by Archbishop Edward Cardinal Egan on June 15, 2005."Visit of Her Excellency President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...

to Participate in the

2005 World Summit The 2005 World Summit, held between 14 and 16 September 2005, was a follow-up summit meeting to the United Nations' 2000 Millennium Summit, which had led to the Millennium Declaration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Representatives ( ...

- High Level

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference which all members of all parties are to attend. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily related to a specific st ...

of the 60th Session of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

, New York,

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, 12–15 September 2005",

press kit A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the media for pr ...

, Office of the President, Government Mass Media Group, Bureau of Communications Services,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

, September, 2005.

Building

The Church of the Most Holy Crucifix parish was established in 1925 for the mostly Italian community. It closed in 2005, when the building became the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz. The sanctuary, along with a three-story rectory, was designed by Robert J. Reiley and was built in 1925–26 at the cost of $40,000. It has a capacity of 250 persons.Filipino Apostolate/Archdiocese of New York, Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz, ChapelofSanLorenzoRuiz.org
, retrieved on: 09 June 2007 The building has three floors which house the "Cardinal Sin Memorial Hall", offices and living quarters for the archdiocese coordinator.

History

In 1982, a bronze statue of the first Filipino saint, San Lorenzo Ruiz, was donated by Philippine Cardinal

Jaime Sin Jaime Lachica Sin ( zh, t=辛海梅, 辛海棉, poj=Sin Hái-mûi, Sin Hái-mî; August 31, 1928 – June 21, 2005), commonly and formally known as Jaime Cardinal Sin, was the 30th Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila and the third cardinal fro ...

to Filipinos in the United States. It was brought to the U.S. by Celso Al Carunungan, author of ''To Die A Thousand Deaths'', a book on the life and martyrdom of Ruiz, accompanied by Father Ramon Salinas, the national director of the Movement for the Cause of San Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs. Carunungan and Salinas, together with Filipino youth leaders Antonio Santiago and Paul John Durano Gorre, were delegated by Cardinal Sin to establish a movement for San Lorenzo Ruiz in the United States. The statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz was displayed every September at Saint Patrick's Cathedral during the mass for the saint's feast day. It was originally displayed at the Holy Family Church at the United Nations until it was transferred to the Philippine Pastoral Center in 1998.

Filipino Apostolate

The Filipino Apostolate was established by Archbishop

John Cardinal O'Connor John Joseph O'Connor (January 15, 1920 – May 3, 2000) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1984 until his death in 2000, and was made a cardinal in 1985. He previously served as a U. ...

on April 11, 1995, to address the pastoral needs of Filipino Catholics in New York. It is in charge of the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz and the Philippine Pastoral Center. Father Erno Diaz was appointed as the first archdiocesan coordinator and director of the Filipino Apostolate. Rev. Dr. Jose Marabe is the present Director of San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel. In 1998, a building was leased to the Filipino Apostolate at 248 East 62nd Street in Manhattan. The building was officially named as the Philippine Pastoral Center and became a venue for priests and cultural groups in New York, giving lectures, celebrating masses and performing cultural and religious activities.

Chapel

The Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz officially opened on September 1, 2005. The opening was followed by an inaugural mass celebrated by Cardinal O'Connor on September 15, 2005. It is the third Catholic church officially dedicated to Filipinos outside the Philippines. The first one - St. Columban Filipino Catholic Church (1944) - is in

Historic Filipinotown Historic Filipinotown (alternately known as HiFi ) is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles. It is one of the six Asian Pacific Islander neighborhoods (Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown, Little Bangladesh, Koreatown, and Thai Town ...

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, and the second one - The Basilica of Sta. Pudenciana (1991) - is in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. On September 15, 2005, the bronze statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz was enshrined and unveiled in the chapel. Philippine President

was the guest of honor. Weekly masses and novenas are held in the chapel to honor the first Filipino saint and martyr. The statue is considered miraculous by devotees. Although not an official

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, Cardinal Egan has authorized the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz to offer weekday and weekend masses and all of the Sacraments of the Church, with the exception of the

Sacrament of Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

, as only a bishop can confer the Sacrament of Confirmation. Sunday

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

es, Filipino-style

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baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

s, and

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...

s are held in the chapel. Although it has been designated as a church for the Filipino community and was authorized to perform Filipino

liturgies Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

, it welcomes all peoples regardless of ethnicity and background to attend its services and to participate in the events held in it and the Philippine Pastoral Center. The Filipino Apostolate's aim is to elevate the designation of the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz into a parish church status. Factors that will help the Filipino Apostolate in achieving this goal is by maintaining good record-keeping, financial management and pastoral programs.

20th anniversary

On September 29, 2007, the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

celebrated the 20th anniversary of Lorenzo Ruiz's

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

in 1987.

's Then

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said:

''Kahit saan nandoon ang mga Pilipino, ang katapatan sa Diyos ay dala-dala ng Pinoy.'' ("Wherever Filipinos may go, they carry their faith in God.") Inquirer.net, Church marks 20th anniversary of Lorenzo Ruiz sainthood
/ref>

Sale

On July 11, 2017, it was announced that the archdiocese sold the church for $7.3 million.Bekiempis, Victoria
Archdiocese agrees to sell Little Italy church for $7.3M
''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...

''. July 11, 2017.

References

Notes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel (New York City) Saint Lorenzo Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Filipino-American culture in New York City 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Christian organizations established in 1925 Christian organizations established in 1995 Christian organizations established in 2005 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1926 Nolita Roman Catholic chapels in the United States