{"id":236338,"date":"2026-05-19T03:50:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T03:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/236338\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T03:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T03:50:04","slug":"72-high-school-students-confirmed-in-the-diocese-of-brooklyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/236338\/","title":{"rendered":"72 High School Students Confirmed in the Diocese of Brooklyn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\"\"Bishop Robert Brennan anoints confirmation candidates during the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s high school confirmation Mass at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston. (Photos: Jessica Meditz)<\/p>\n

DOUGLASTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0A\u00a0thunderous\u00a0round of applause filled the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston as Bishop Robert Brennan concluded his opening\u00a0remarks\u00a0at the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s high school confirmation\u00a0Mass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School freshman Blair Morris with her sponsor, godmother, and aunt, Jaclyn Fitzsimmons.<\/p>\n

Candidates, sponsors, and loved ones filled the chapel\u00a0for a\u00a0standing-room-only Mass as 72 students from high schools\u00a0across\u00a0the Diocese of Brooklyn were sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Father\u00a0Joseph Gibino<\/a>, vicar for evangelization and catechesis in the diocese, said the annual celebration reflects what he described as a growing spiritual interest among young people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really been a resurgence among young adults and youth interest in the faith,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re searching for the truth \u2026 for meaning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Social Media and Social Outings: Young Catholics Are Flocking to Mass<\/a><\/p>\n

Father Gibino said the diocese\u2019s confirmation preparation focuses\u00a0not only on\u00a0religious instruction,\u00a0but also\u00a0on\u00a0helping\u00a0students grow spiritually, intellectually, and socially while encouraging them to live out the Church\u2019s mission through service to others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That sense of community was especially visible among a group of students from Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in\u00a0East\u00a0Elmhurst, several of whom chose close friends and peers \u2014 rather than family members \u2014 to serve as their confirmation sponsors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brothers Thomas and James Carden chose their best friends and classmates\u00a0as\u00a0sponsors to help guide them\u00a0on\u00a0their\u00a0spiritual journeys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School classmates Adam Briggeler, James Carden, Michael Frankowski, and Thomas Carden stand together before the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s high school confirmation Mass, where the close friends chose one another to serve as confirmation sponsors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like an honor to step up and become an adult in your Catholic faith,\u201d James said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good feeling knowing that I\u2019ll have more responsibilities and more commitment to my faith.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His\u00a0best\u00a0friend Adam\u00a0Briggeler\u00a0served as his sponsor during the Mass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely an honor to be chosen, especially by somebody so close to me,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m supposed to be\u00a0his\u00a0guide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blair Morris, a\u00a0freshman\u00a0at Monsignor McClancy, said receiving the sacrament marked\u00a0an important step\u00a0in deepening\u00a0the\u00a0faith\u00a0she was raised in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to grow closer to God and become a more active participant in my faith,\u201d said Blair, who chose St. Brigid as her confirmation name in honor of her Irish heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her aunt and godmother, Jaclyn\u00a0Fitzsimmons, served as her sponsor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited to stand by her as she becomes an adult in the Catholic faith,\u201d Fitzsimmons said. \u201cI\u2019m\u00a0so proud of Blair, just seeing her grow up into such a lovely young woman.\u00a0She\u2019s\u00a0so full of grace and love.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bishop Brennan said\u00a0this year\u2019s\u00a0larger\u00a0turnout\u00a0and energy from students throughout the Mass gave him hope for the future of the Church in Brooklyn, Queens, and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGod sent his Spirit upon these young people, and now we have the blessing that God\u2019s working through them in new ways, and we\u2019re excited about that,\u201d he told The Tablet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also encouraged the newly confirmed students to remain rooted in their friendship with Christ while embracing the mission that comes with the sacrament.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus said he himself was anointed and sent, so they were anointed and sent,\u201d Bishop Brennan said. \u201cThey witness to Jesus, and Jesus will accomplish great things through them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Bishop Robert Brennan greets confirmation candidates and their sponsors following the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s high school confirmation Mass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bishop Robert Brennan anoints confirmation candidates during the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s high school confirmation Mass at the Immaculate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-236338","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\/236338","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=236338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}