{"id":227351,"date":"2026-05-11T16:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/227351\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T16:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:25:12","slug":"diocese-of-brooklyn-eighth-graders-celebrate-graduation-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/227351\/","title":{"rendered":"Diocese of Brooklyn Eighth Graders Celebrate Graduation, Pope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\"\"Bishop Robert Brennan celebrates Mass for middle schoolers from throughout the diocese at the Eighth Grade Graduation Mass on May 8 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights. (Photo: Bill Miller)<\/p>\n

PROSPECT HEIGHTS \u2014\u00a0Pope Leo XIV<\/a> got a special video greeting\u00a0from several hundred\u00a0middle school students\u00a0assembled\u00a0for a\u00a0Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan\u00a0in\u00a0the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u00a0was\u00a0the second\u00a0graduation Mass\u00a0this year\u00a0for\u00a0eighth graders\u00a0in the diocese\u00a0completing their elementary\u00a0school\u00a0education.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0co-cathedral\u00a0was filled\u00a0on May 8\u00a0with students from 35 schools\u00a0or Catholic academies in the Diocese of Brooklyn.\u00a0The day\u00a0also\u00a0marked\u00a0the first-year anniversary of Pope Leo\u2019s pontificate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To\u00a0celebrate\u00a0the\u00a0milestone, Father James Kuroly,\u00a0director\u00a0of\u00a0the Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the diocese, led the students in a video message to\u00a0the first American-born pontiff<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPope Leo,\u201d they all shouted, \u201cwe love you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0youthful congregation was supplemented\u00a0by teachers, chaperones, administrators, and parish pastors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During his homily,\u00a0Bishop Brennan\u00a0made\u00a0note\u00a0of\u00a0the concurrent cause\u00a0for\u00a0celebrating Pope Leo\u2019s first full year leading\u00a0as pontiff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s\u00a0a guy who went to a Catholic school in an American city, and God asked him to lead his universal Church,\u201d Bishop Brennan said. \u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0pretty incredible\u00a0when you think about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he was\u00a0in the eighth grade\u00a0at\u00a0a\u00a0public school in Chicago, do you think he ever thought about being the pope?\u00a0So, we pray for him in\u00a0a special way\u00a0today, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The graduation Mass was bittersweet for Ashley Civitano from Holy Family Catholic Academy in Fresh Meadows.\u00a0She plans to attend Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in East Elmhurst.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Ashley Civitano of Holy Family Catholic Academy in Fresh Meadows plans to attend Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in East Elmhurst. (Photo: Bill Miller)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0been in the same school since kindergarten,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cSo,\u00a0moving to a different school and being\u00a0with\u00a0completely different\u00a0people\u00a0is\u00a0kind of scary.\u00a0But\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0also exciting, because\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0going to\u00a0meet new people, make new friends,\u00a0and have a new beginning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ashley\u2019s classmate, Isabella Leyva,\u00a0expressed similar feelings\u00a0as she prepares to enter St. Francis Preparatory School, also in Fresh Meadows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout\u00a0the years, we\u2019ve made a lot of memories,\u201d she said. \u201cSince\u00a0everyone\u2019s\u00a0parting ways\u00a0and going to\u00a0their high schools,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0definitely\u00a0going\u00a0to\u00a0be\u00a0a big change.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0just going to\u00a0miss them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Isabella Leyva of Holy Family Catholic Academy will enter St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows this fall. (Photo: Bill Miller)<\/p>\n

Fabrina Elie from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy\u00a0in Prospect Lefferts Gardens\u00a0said she thinks a lot about entering Bishop\u00a0Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene,\u00a0and\u00a0even\u00a0beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI get a little shaken when I think, \u2018What am I going to do in my career,\u00a0and what am I going to do for a living?\u2019\u00a0\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0said. \u201cBut\u00a0my teachers\u00a0helped\u00a0me.\u00a0They let me know that God will help me get through it. God has already made a path for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe already knows that\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0going to succeed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Fabrina Elie of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy in Prospect Lefferts Gardens will be a freshman this fall at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene. (Photo: Bill Miller)<\/p>\n

During the homily, Bishop Brennan also reminded students that God keeps his promises, but that\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0make students immune from tough times. What is certain, the bishop said, is a friendship with Jesus Christ, who will be with them always.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bishop Brennan also reminded them\u00a0that they are loved \u201cbeyond belief\u201d by their families, the people at their schools, their bishop, and the\u00a0creator God in heaven.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He urged the\u00a0grads\u00a0to stay connected with the faith through the vibrant youth programs at local parishes. He referred them to\u00a0a\u00a0website\u00a0that links users to\u00a0the organizations<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0similar gathering\u00a0occurred on May 1<\/a>\u00a0at the Co-Cathedral, but with 32 schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2025-2026 school year was the third year in which two Masses were scheduled to accommodate the more than 1,000 students destined for high school.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Bishop Robert Brennan bids farewell to middle schoolers after the Eighth Grade Graduation Mass. (Photo: Bill Miller)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bishop Robert Brennan celebrates Mass for middle schoolers from throughout the diocese at the Eighth Grade Graduation Mass…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-227351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}