Nassau County news

Since the Long Island Catholic switched to its new format of ten magazine issues per year, I have tried to categorize the items that might otherwise have appeared in a weekly newspaper.
One example might be the news that two Catholic grammar schools in our county have earned a  reprieve and will not be closed: St. Dominic's elementary school in Oyster Bay, and St. Edward Confessor school four miles south.  The Newsday article of 5.28.2013 reported an enrollment of 237 at St. Dominic and 213 at St. Edward.
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The article also quoted Sean Dolan as stating that all parish schools receive subsidies from the parishes.  Admirable. I think some other dioceses are backtracking on that requirement of one of the Plenary Councils of Baltimore by closing schools that need subsidies.
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Parishes have announced changes of priestly assignments, but that list has not yet appeared on the diocesan websites.  The Westbury Times reports the transfers of Msgr. Ralph Sommer to St. Bernard, Levittown, and  Fr. Anthony Stanganelli to St. Brigid 
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The June, 2013, issue of The Long Island Catholic magazine, page 8, has a headline, "Bishop Murphy appoints 16 new pastors."
Those appointed as pastors of Nassau County parishes include:
Msgr. Robert Batule, to Corpus Christi, Mineola, from Dunwoodie teaching.
Fr. Marian Bicz, to St. Hyacinth, Glen Head, from Our Lady of Ostrabama, Cutchogue.
Father Frank Grieco, to Holy Spirit, New Hyde Park, from St. Anthony of Padua, East Northport.
Fr. Robert Holz, to St. Raphael, East Meadow, from St. Christopher, Baldwin.
Msgr. James McNamara, to Our Lady of Miraculous Medal, Point Lookout, from Holy Cross, Nesconset.
Msgr. James Pareda, to St. Paul the Apostle, Brookville.
Fr. Valentine Rebello, to St. Pius X, Plainview, from St. Barnabas, Bellmore.
Msgr. Ralph Sommer, to St. Bernard, Levittown, from St. Brigid, Westbury.
Fr. Anthony Stanganelli, to St. Brigid, Westbury, from Ss. Philip and James, Saint James.
Fr. Brian Barr, raised from administrator to pastor at Our Lady of the Isle, Long Beach.
Fr. Fr. John McCartney, raised from administrator to pastor at Saint Mary, Roslyn.
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Fr. Andrew Greeley passed away on May 29, 2013.  For several years in the 1970's (if memory can be trusted), the Long Island Catholic published his weekly column.  A lengthy obit in today's Chicago Tribune is linked here.  Long ago, we heard him speak at Our Lady of the Snows, Floral Park, Queens.  One of his memorable stories was a "Kerryman joke," based on train departure announcements at Heuston Station, Dublin.  Besides narratives, he excelled with his sharp observations about the American church, as mentioned in the Tribune obit.  His website is linked here.
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St. Bernard, Levittown

St. Bernard's church is located at 3100 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, New York 11756, telephone 516-731-4220.  The well-maintained parish website is linked here.  As of February, 2015, there is a current Facebook page here.

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Lined with stores, Hempstead Turnpike (NY 24) is the principal east-west thoroughfare of Levittown.  St. Bernard's church is clearly marked with the above tower on the south side of the highway, on a service road.  A driveway at the stop sign leads to the the church entrance and the six buildings which surround a vast parking lot.  The tower and rectory have scant frontage on Hempstead Turnpike, but the property runs deep to the south.

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The main entrance to the church, seen in this view north towards Hempstead Turnpike. The rectory is to the right of this driveway.

 The above view looks west.

The tower serves its purpose.  On busy and cluttered Hempstead Turnpike, the large cross marks the building as a Christian church.  From the inside, one would not guess that the tower is to the right of those windows ahead.  Like a campanile, the tower and its windows have no presence inside the church, but each (the tower and the church) serves its purpose well.
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The parish was established in 1948, shortly after the first Levitt houses were constructed nearby.  An excellent history of the parish is provided here.  At the center of Levittown, St. Bernard's is the only Catholic parish with a Levittown address.  To the north, Holy Family parish, Hicksville, includes many families living in Levitt houses.  To the east is St. James parish in northern Seaford.  To the south is the parish of St. Frances de Chantal in northern Wantagh.  To the southwest is St. Raphael, East Meadow, and to the northwest is St. Brigid, Westbury.  I do not know how many of 53,000 inhabitants of Levittown live within the borders of St. Bernard's parish.

There seem to be six or seven buildings in the parish complex. Left to right: the parish center, with the Clairvaux house (an older building peeking over the center), the church, the rectory (a white frame house), a gymnasium, and a large school now shared by Faith Formation (youth and adults), a child-care program, and classes of the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services.  A convent is to the left, but behind the camera.
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The church is about a mile east of the Wantagh Parkway.  Four Long Island Bus routes ply Hempstead Turnpike in front of the church: N70, N71, N72, and N73.