Francis John Mugavero
| Francis Mugavero | |
|---|---|
| Bishop emeritus of Brooklyn | |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 18, 1940 by Archbishop Luigi Raimondi |
| Consecration | September 12, 1968 |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 8, 1914 Bedford-Stuyvesant |
| Died | July 12, 1991 (aged 77) East Hampton, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Education | Cathedral College |
| Alma mater | Immaculate Conception Seminary |
Francis John Mugavero (June 8, 1914 – July 12, 1991) was the Roman Catholic Bishop (later Bishop Emeritus) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn from 1968 to 1990. This diocese is one of the largest dioceses in the United States, with more than 1,556,575 Catholics in Kings and Queens counties.
Francis John Mugavero (pronounced Ma-GUV-a-ro) was born on June 8, 1914 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and grew up over his father's barber shop. He studied at Cathedral College in Brooklyn and Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, L.I. and received a master's degree in social work from Fordham. He was ordained as a parish priest on May 18, 1940, at the age of 25.
In 1965 he was Master of Ceremonies at the Vatican Pavilion of the New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows during the visit of Pope Paul VI. (Brooklyn and Queens form the diocese of Brooklyn, thus that was the diocese where the World's Fair site was located.)
Mugavero had a background in charity work rather than canon law. He headed Brooklyn's office of Catholic Charities before being appointed a bishop. On July 15, 1968, aged 54, he was appointed as the 5th (and first Italian-American) Bishop of Brooklyn, and was consecrated September 12, 1968. His consecrators were Archbishop Luigi Raimondi (Principal Consecrator), Archbishop Terence Cooke and Bishop John Joseph Boardman. Bishop Mugavero was the first bishop of the diocese native to Brooklyn. The Diocese of Brooklyn is separate from the Archdiocese of New York, which encompasses the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, and also Westchester and six other counties north of New York City.
In 1971, Mugavero established the Catholic Migration Office to serve the needs of immigrants and refugees living in Brooklyn and Queens. The first Apostolates were established in 1972 to meet the unique needs of the Italian, Haitian, Polish, Korean, Croatian, and Spanish communities. He often called Brooklyn "the diocese of immigrants," and was proud that Mass was said there in 14 languages.
The Nehemiah concept was formally announced by Bishop Mugavero and the East Brooklyn Churches at a press conference in June, 1982. Named for the biblical prophet who oversaw the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem, the plan is to build on the vast acres of vacant land in eastern Brooklyn and offer the homes to buyers with incomes between $20,000 and $40,000. By 1985 the Nehemiah project had produced 300 new row houses in Brownsville at an average cost of $51,000 and sold them to families with incomes averaging less than $25,000.
In 1986 Bishop Mugavero issued a declaration concerning the Bayside Movement, Our Lady of the Roses, in which he stated, "I, the undersigned Diocesan Bishop of Brooklyn, in my role as the legitimate shepherd of this particular Church, wish to confirm the constant position of the Diocese of Brooklyn that a thorough investigation revealed that the alleged "visions of Bayside" completely lacked authenticity".
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