Archdiocese of Newark: four counties and two islands! At least one part of the Archdiocese of Newark remained sunny through the rainy weekend! The Archdiocese recently added a group of "islands in the sun" -- and their Catholic populations -- to its responsibilities. On Sunday, Jan. 3, as the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord, the Archdiocese of Newark was enriched by the addition of two tropical islands, and about 20,000 people. The Turks and Caicos Islands were discovered by Christopher Columbus on his first journey in 1492. They have passed under the sovereignty of several nations, and for the last 200 years have been a colony of Great Britain. This series of some dozen islands in the sun, which for a couple of centuries were the lair of notorious pirates and buccaneers, are now constituted an independent mission (Missio sui Iuris) of the Catholic Church and have been assigned to the pastoral care of the Archdiocese of Newark. Cardinal Joseph Tomko, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, presided over the ceremony giving canonical possession of the islands to the Archdiocese. Archbishop of Newark Theodore E. McCarrick received the decrees establishing the assignment of jurisdiction and responsibility for the Church of Newark. Through the historic transfer of jurisdiction, the Archdiocese became the only diocese in the United States to have an independent mission joined to it in pastoral responsibility. "There are a number of U.S. Dioceses which have for years served the pastoral care of parishes or institutions in other parts of the world," Archbishop McCarrick explained. "Even today the Archdiocese serves parishes in Estonia and Puerto Rico; but this is the only instance of a local Church accepting an independent jurisdiction with all the competent responsibilities for its total missionary care." The Archbishop praised the people of the archdiocese for their generosity in accepting this responsibility. "This will be a great blessing for the Church of Newark in raising its missionary consciousness and reminding it of the command of the Lord to bring the Good News to every part of the world," he predicted. Two priests of the Archdiocese, Father Renzo Scaramello and Father Joseph Barrow have been assigned there and they are presently being aided by two seminarians in pastoral year assignments (service in a parish or mission setting prior to ordination). During the Synod of Bishops for Americas at the end of 1997, the Holy See asked the archdiocese to accept the responsibility for these islands, which had never had a resident pastor. Cardinal Tomko expressed the gratitude of the Holy Father at the celebration on the Island of Providenciales.
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