When the Chancery doors opened after the holiday weekend, things just weren’t the same. For the first time in 38 years, Frank DeRosa didn’t report to work.

DeRosa, the spokesman for the Diocese, had retired after a remarkable 50-year career working for the Church in Brooklyn and Queens. He worked for The Tablet as a writer and reporter for the first 12 years. For the past 10 years, he also served as Associate Publisher of the diocesan newspaper.

He served three bishops – Bishops Francis J. Mugavero, Thomas V. Daily and Nicholas DiMarzio. When the news media wanted information about something that was going on in the local Church, it was Frank DeRosa who took the questions and delivered the answers. In doing so, he earned the respect of the City’s electronic and print media because its members always knew that DeRosa spoke straight to them.

Three Papal Visits

At a dinner in his honor at the bishop’s residence on the eve of his retirement, DeRosa spoke about some of his memories. There were three papal visits for which he served on planning committees, which demanded more than simply responding to the media.

Frank DeRosa says goodbye

He recalled the tremendous downpour of rain and eventual sunshine when Pope John Paul II visited Shea Stadium in 1979, the whipping winds of John Paul II’s Mass at Aqueduct Racetrack, and the overwhelming success of Pope Benedict’s recent trip to New York, when the Brooklyn Diocese handled the arrival and departure ceremonies at Kennedy Airport.

He also recalled the dark days of 2002 when the Church became embroiled in the clergy sex scandal that touched the diocesan Church. But rather than dwell on the bad deeds of a few priests, DeRosa explained that there were many more members of the clergy doing miraculous deeds with little or no publicity.

Whenever a parish, a school, or other diocesan institution was put under the microscope of publicity, the first call from pastors and principals to the Chancery always was to DeRosa for advice on how to handle the reporters. His advice was always to honestly answer the inquiries lest a little white lie get out of hand at a future time.

The stories about the misdeeds of clergy pained him the most. The reason being that he knew the goodness behind the vast majority of the priests. He feared that they all would be painted with the same smear.

At his dinner were a little more than 50 people who represented the people who worked with him over the years at the Chancery and those who continued to deal with him on a daily basis.

Role at The Tablet

Those at The Tablet will miss his wisdom and advice. Often his counsel was sought about the appropriateness of a story or a remark. Daily he would be consulted about what was and what was not happening in the Church.

He paid great detail to his press releases and would follow up if there appeared to be a comma out of place. That goes back to his days of teaching writing at St. Peter’s College, Jersey City, his alma mater.

Born in Brooklyn, he rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers and told with great glee the story of waiting on line as a kid in the wee hours of the morning to gain entry to a World Series game at Ebbets Field.

He also was well-known among state and national church media people. Though his name alone could open the doors of bishops and cardinals across the country, he never was one to look for personal recognition. But recognition came in 1992 when he was named a Gentleman of His Holiness by Pope John Paul II, one of the highest church honors afforded to a layman. Like everyone else, the Holy Father recognized that Frank DeRosa was a true gentleman.

DeRosa and his wife Liliane plan to do some traveling, visiting with their five children and their spouses and 17 grandchildren.

While he’ll be sorely missed around these offices, it’s nice to know that he will be spending more time with his wonderful family, his greatest legacy.