CENTENNIAL

Corpus Christi parish in upper Manhattan is renowned for its commitment to preserving the musical heritage of the Church, much of it performed by its highly regarded choir, seen here leading the recessional after the parish Centennial Mass.

'Incredible History'

Corpus Christi parish in Morningside Heights

celebrates 100 years

By Mary Ann Poust

With a long tradition of fostering the Church's rich heritage of liturgy and music, Corpus Christi parish in northern Manhattan has created a special niche for itself in the archdiocese.

The Morningside Heights parish, now launching its 100th anniversary year, is surrounded by some of the city's most prestigious academic and religious institutions, including Columbia University, the Manhattan School of Music and Riverside Church.

But rather than being overshadowed by its internationally known neighbors, Corpus Christi is a well-integrated part of the community as it follows a dual missions as a spiritual home for parishioners and as one of the few places in the city to hear the early music of the Church.

"We've had a 'Music Before 1800' program at the church for more than 30 years," said the pastor, Father Raymond M. Rafferty, praising the work of the longtime parish music director and organist, Louise Basbas, who established the concert series.

PARISH PROFILE

Corpus Christi,

Manhattan

Established 1906

Fr. Raymond M. Rafferty,

Pastor

"It's probably the oldest early music program in the city," Father Rafferty said.

At the main 11:15 a.m. Mass on Sundays, a professional choir offers Gregorian chant, polyphonic works from the Renaissance, baroque and classical repertories, and new works commissioned from contemporary composers. Students from the Manhattan School of Music also perform four concerts a year for the children of the parish, and other groups perform as well.

"The acoustics of the church are magnificent," the pastor said. "It is a very comfortable space for music."

Corpus Christi is also known as the parish where the noted spiritual writer and Trappist monk Thomas Merton was baptized in 1938 after he converted to Catholicism while a graduate student at Columbia.

Not as well known is that the parish is also the place where Cardinal Terence Cooke, the Archbishop of New York from 1968 to 1983, was baptized.

"Everybody thinks he's from the Bronx, but he was born on LaSalle Street just a few blocks from here," said Father Rafferty, adding that the baptismal font was from Corpus Christi's original church.

"We still use it," he said.

Corpus Christi, at 529 W. 121 St., has been planning its centennial celebration for a year, with a series of liturgical and cultural events, repairs to the church roof and sanctuary and a $300,000 capital campaign.

Auxiliary Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, vicar general, celebrated the Centennial Mass on Sunday, Oct. 22, in place of Cardinal Egan, who was recovering from knee surgery. A free concert by students of the Manhattan School of Music was held at the church the following evening, and a Mass for deceased parishioners was scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m.

The parish was established in 1906 to serve a growing Catholic community in Morningside Heights, with Masses celebrated in a temporary chapel by the founding pastor, Father John H. Dooley. A church, school and rectory were completed in 1907, with the school staffed by two Sisters of Charity and a lay teacher.

After Father Dooley's death in 1934, Father George Barry Ford was named pastor. The Catholic chaplain at Columbia, he held both conditions simultaneously.

A popular and well-known New Yorker, Father Ford considered Eleanor Roosevelt among his closest friends and was a leading pre-Vatican II figure promoting liturgical renewal in the Church. "We had Masses celebrated in English here in the 1940s," said Father Rafferty, adding that Father Ford also was active in ecumenical affairs as far back as the 1930s, when he established connections to Riverside Church and the Episcopal Church's Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Father Rafferty noted that his predecessor's sometimes unorthodox practices did not always sit well with the archdiocesan hierarchy, but he nevertheless remained in his post until 1958 and oversaw a major rebuilding of the parish properties. It was under his pastorate that the building that houses the current church, school and convent was dedicated in 1936, the same year that the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Wis., arrived to staff the school.

Father Ford also installed a Holtkamp organ in 1956, hired a music director and launched a full program of choral and congregational singing. The program continued and expanded with the support of the Friends of Liturgical Music, a fund-raising organization that was formed in 1988 by a group of parishioners who were interested in preserving historical Church music.

Also making his mark on the parish was Msgr. Myles M. Bourke, a renowned Scripture scholar who was pastor from 1966 until his retirement in 1992. He was succeeded by Msgr. Patrick J. Carney, now pastor of Sacred Heart, Hartsdale.

Father Rafferty, pastor since 1998, is assisted by parochial vicar Father William Wizeman, S.J., and parish secretary Patricia Garcia. Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of archdiocesan Catholic Charities, is in residence.

Corpus Christi today serves a community that's extremely diverse, with respect to income, ethnicity, age and education.

"It's very mixed," Father Rafferty said. "We have everything from students in the local institutions, the elderly who have been in the parish for many years and a significant Latino community from many different countries."

PARISHIONERS--Father Raymond M. Rafferty, the pastor, chats with Dan Mongan and Anna Bernasek and four-year-old Lily during reception after the Centennial Mass.

He said, "We also have some people who come here by choice. They don't necessarily live in the territory, but they like the liturgy here--especially our use of chant and Latin polyphony."

One thing the parish does not have in abundance is children. Although there are families with children in a low-income housing project in the parish, many of the other residential buildings with family-size apartments were bought over the years by the educational institutions for uses that could include office space and student and faculty housing.

So even with 450 families registered in the parish, there are only about 30 children in the religious education program, which Father Rafferty administers himself. "Many of the children who are in the parish go to Catholic schools," he noted.

That would include Corpus Christi School., with a student body of 200 and headed by principal John Balbi. The school, which goes from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, offers a strong academic program with honors at the middle school level, enrichment programs including studio art and music and an after-school program.

There's a diverse mix of other parish activities and groups including a young adults group coordinated by Katrina Mary Uhly; a senior citizens lunch group; a spiritual book club; the Community of Sant'Egidio; Pax Christi; the Legion of Mary, Apostleship of Prayer and a Spanish prayer group; and the International Thomas Merton Society.

Father Rafferty said that it's the mix, and the role that the parish has played in the Church in New York, that makes it special for him. "It means being part of an incredible history," he said, "and it's an incredible neighborhood."