Bart Jones

Long Island

Religion Reporter at Newsday

@Newsday religion, immigration and general news reporter. Author of HUGO! Chavez. Venezuela @AP alum.

Articles

How an American defied the long odds to become Pope Leo XIV

5 days ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

It was supposed to be nearly impossible: an American getting elected pope. But it happened on Thursday, stunning Vatican experts and millions of the faithful in the pews alike. The elevation of Chicago-native Robert Francis Prevost appeared to come from a confluence of factors, analysts said on Friday. He was a longtime missionary in Peru, he headed a major international religious order, and he held a top Vatican post.
Election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, first American pope, stuns, elates Long Islanders

6 days ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

Some Long Island Catholics reacted with shock but also joy and hope to the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the first American pope. "I am absolutely stunned," said Richard Koubek, community outreach coordinator for Long Island Jobs for Justice and a lifelong Catholic. He said he was especially thrilled that the new pontiff had chosen the name of Pope Leo XIV, since Pope Leo XIII was the founder of Catholic social justice teachings.
LI priest attends Mass in St. Peter's before start of conclave

1 week ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

The Rev. Michael Duffy arrived at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome three hours before the start of a 10 a.m. Mass on Wednesday that kicked off the conclave that will elect the next pope. But the wait was more than worth it for Duffy, who is rector of the Cathedral of St. Agnes parish in Rockville Centre.
Successor to Pope Francis likely to be in his 70s, experts say

1 week ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

It’s one of the hardest jobs on the planet, requiring frequent international travel, overseeing a vast bureaucracy, and handling everything from major real estate holdings to hot-button cultural issues. Yet whoever is elected pope — a lifetime appointment — is typically at an age when most people are retired or close to it. Sometimes being a younger man even hurts a cardinal’s chances of getting selected to lead the 1.4 billon strong Roman Catholic Church, according to Vatican experts.
Why Cardinal Timothy Dolan, fellow Americans are unlikely to be elected pope

1 week ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, might be considered a strong candidate to become pope, according to longtime Vatican observers. He has a pastoral approach and charisma not unlike Pope Francis, is a proven administrator, has global experience and speaks five languages. But he has one major problem: He’s an American. The Roman Catholic Church has had 266 popes during its 2,000-year history, dating to St. Peter, the first.
Pope Francis considered, but didn't restore, women deacons

1 week ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

Phyllis Zagano was sitting in the dining hall at the Santa Marta residence at the Vatican when Pope Francis came up to her and other members of a commission he named to study the issue of bringing back women deacons to the Roman Catholic Church. Francis asked them half-jokingly, "So who’s going to be the first deaconess." And they all pointed to Zagano.
Marta Thomas, mom of two and Southold Mothers' Club member, dies at 45

1 week ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

When Marta Thomas joined the Southold Mothers’ Club, its membership was meager. After she helped reinvigorate it, nearly 300 mothers had joined, according to her relatives. Thomas, a dynamo whom they described as "a sheer force of nature," died Monday after a yearlong battle with a brain tumor that doctors said was inoperable. She was 45 years old and leaves behind two young children and her husband, a local oysterman.
Hate crime defendants to be offered antisemitism education

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

Nassau County prosecutors and a Holocaust museum are teaming up for a new program to fight hate crimes that will focus more on education than punishment, officials said Monday. Prosecutors said they will offer defendants accused of hate crimes, including antisemitic ones, opportunities to undergo educational programs in exchange for reducing their jail or probation time, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said.
Pope Francis funeral: Long Islanders among the thousands who honored the 'people's pope' at his funeral

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones |Matthew Chayes

The silence is what struck Rev. Michael Duffy, rector of the Cathedral of St. Agnes parish in Rockville Centre. Though an estimated 250,000 mourners from around the globe filled St. Peter's Square in Rome Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, Duffy said the crowd fell into a deep, reverent hush during the Mass. “It was a powerful shared moment of prayer,” he wrote in an email after Francis' funeral.
Long Island Catholic priests attend Pope Francis' funeral

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Bart Jones

The Rev. Michael Duffy, rector of the Cathedral of St. Agnes parish in Rockville Centre, has blessed the bodies of scores of people at funerals. But this week he found himself praying over the body of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica. As soon as he landed on Thursday morning after an overnight flight to Rome, he went straight to the Vatican, "where I was graciously permitted to spend a few moments in silent prayer near his body," Duffy told Newsday in a text.