The decade of the 60's began with a set-back.
Our very large parish was dissected to give birth to a new parish - Our Lady of Hope. With that
decision, R.A. was no longer among the largest and more affluent of the parishes in Queens County.
Tellingly, over the next thirty years, Our Lady of Hope would match -- and surpass -- us in its
Catholic population. But, what seemed, initially, as a set-back, in 1960, actually proved to be a
God-send for R.A. In retrospect, we would never have been able to [adequately] minister to the
spiritual and educational needs of so many newcomers. At the same time, it was also a blessing for
these newcomers of Our Lady of Hope to "grow up" with a new parish -- expanding, commensurate with their needs.
Unfortunately, just two years later [in 1962]
on New Year's Day, Pr. Lynch died. His successor was Fr. Adam Weber. As Fr. Weber began his pastorate,
Vatican Council II (1962-65) commenced. One of the earlier documents coming from that Council
concentrated on Liturgy. Among many other changes, the Council decrees called for Churches to
undertake renovations so that the altar of sacrifice -- and the celebrant -- faced the congregation.
Fr. Weber, faithfully, responded to that challenge when R.A. Church was renovated.
Such efforts, however, drained Fr. Weber's
energy and he felt that he could no longer adequately serve as the pastor of R.A. Bishop Mugavero
accepted his resignation. In 1967, Fr. Charles Clark was appointed as the new pastor of R.A.
Nevertheless; Fr. Weber continued to reside here as pastor emeritus.
Shortly thereafter, Fr. Clark encountered
one of the unforeseen "fall-outs" of Vatican II. Religious men and women "exited" their communities
seeking dispensations. This situation (seriously) impacted among our own Marist Brothers and the
Sisters of Charity within our parish community. To say the least, it was a particularly “upsetting”
and “confusing” time for the parish, as well as its pastor.
In 1970, Fr. Clark realized that the declining
number of Marist Brothers could not adequately staff the Boys' Department. Therefore, he recommended
that this community withdraw from the parish in order that the Sisters of Charity could graciously
stepped forward to "staff" the entire school -- which was then converted to a co-ed operation.
A year later, Fr. Clark died -- rather suddenly
-- and Vincent Dooley was appointed the "new" pastor of R.A. As many of our current parishioners can
attest, Fr. Dooley came with:
►a wealth of experience,
►a firm faith,
►a great sense of humor, and
►an endless charm.
In short, Fr. Dooley utilized ALL of these wonderful gifts which brought our beloved parish of
Resurrection-Ascension to a NEW SPRING!!
