PALM BEACH GARDENS | On Aug. 22, 1994, the life that then-Father Gerald M. Barbarito knew in the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, changed forever. On that day 30 years ago, he was ordained a bishop.
He actually learned of his elevation to the episcopacy two months earlier, when Brooklyn Bishop Thomas V. Daily, whom he served as priest-secretary, came into his room at night, which was unusual, and closed the door.
“He told me that the nuncio at the bishop’s meeting had spoken to him and told him that he was to tell me that I was named an auxiliary bishop for Brooklyn,” Bishop Barbarito said. “I was absolutely bowled over. I couldn’t believe it.”
In fact, he told Bishop Daily that there must be a mistake. “I told him, ‘There’s somebody else you should be telling this to, not me.’ ‘You saying the pope made a mistake?’ ‘No, no, I didn’t say the pope made a mistake, I’m saying you made a mistake,’” Bishop Barbarito recalled.
There was no error. But he learned that he had to keep it a secret until the following Tuesday. “When the nuncio then called and told me everything, he said I could tell my parents, but the night before (the announcement), right before they go to bed,” he said.
Parents, who have seen their child grow up and endure trials, are sometimes the most surprised — but joyful nonetheless — when their son or daughter achieves a pinnacle for which they never aspired.
“It’s funny because I went home, and my father, who was ailing at the time, got up and he was going outside,” Bishop Barbarito said. “I said, ‘Dad, I have something to tell you.’ He says, ‘Well, tell me.’ I said, ‘I think you better sit down.’ So, he said, ‘Well, this better be good.’”
The bishop, who besides being Bishop Daily’s secretary was vice chancellor for the Brooklyn Diocese, said around that time some priests were being named monsignors. So, out of the blue, his father said, “‘Have you been made a monsignor?’ I was shocked. So, I said, ‘No, I was made a bishop.’
“So, my mother, she was very good. She said, ‘Why would they make you a bishop?’ ‘That’s my question, too, Mom,’” he said.
Bishop Barbarito said he was informed of the decision to make him a bishop on June 22, the feast day of St. Thomas More, for whom he has a strong devotion, and the ordination was planned for Aug. 22, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During that interim period, his father’s health kept declining to the point that he was hospitalized. Bishop Barbarito said he visited his father one night and was introduced to a nurse. “This is my son,” his father told her. “He’s going to be a bishop.”
“She looked at me, at 44 years old, and looked at my father and said, ‘I’m sure if he works very hard, someday he will be.’ He said, ‘No, he really is going to be a bishop,’” Bishop Barbarito said.
The bishop’s father passed away almost two weeks before the episcopal ordination. “He was so happy. It was really nice and made me so happy that this made him happy,” he said.
At his Aug. 22, 1994, episcopal ordination in the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito, right, holds the crozier (bishop's staff) of the diocesan ordinary, Bishop Thomas V. Daily.
FLORIDA CATHOLIC FILE PHOTO
Bishop Barbarito was ordained an auxiliary bishop with another Brooklyn priest, Father Ignatius Catanello. Earlier, they had been assigned to the same parish. The ordination Mass was a wonderful celebration, Bishop Barbarito said, with many bishops in attendance. What began as a sunny summer morning transitioned to a very rainy afternoon.
His work changed after ordination. He became vicar for clergy and head of one of the two regions of the large Diocese of Brooklyn, with responsibility for many confirmations.
“Brooklyn was a huge place,” he said. “The smallest territory as a diocese in the country, 178 square miles, but the largest in terms of population. So, I would have easily 60 to 70 confirmations a year. That’s been a part of my life as a bishop, which has been a good one, as I’ve always had a lot of confirmations.”
In recent years, the church has made an effort to educate and prepare newly ordained bishops by offering workshops in Rome. But 30 years ago, there was nothing like that. You learned on the job, Bishop Barbarito said. Thankfully, he had the model of Bishop Daily, who served as founding bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach from 1984 to 1990.
“I learned a lot from him being his secretary in terms of his hands-on style, his love for people. While he was big, and you knew he was present, he was one of everybody. He fit right in and made everybody feel at ease. That was a great example,” Bishop Barbarito said.
In Brooklyn, later as head of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, and in Palm Beach, his goal has always been to be a priest, teaching, leading and sanctifying, he said. “But over the years, even though I’ve been to such completely different places, people are people. The things that people face are all the same. The important part of priestly life is to relate to people. But you find out no matter what the situation is, we’re all the same.”
Following five and a half years in Brooklyn, three and a half in Ogdensburg and almost 21 years in Palm Beach, the overall experience has been wonderful, Bishop Barbarito said.
“I’m very grateful that my 30 years as a bishop have been happy ones,” he added. “Lots of challenges. Lots of things I never expected over those years. All happy, and that’s because of being a priest.”
To learn more about Bishop Barbarito’s ministry, visit www.diocesepb.org/about-us/bishop/.
