Simbang Gabi returns to NYC after a brief ban

[milkcake]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. ¨C New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan has lifted the ban on ¡°Simbang Gabi Sa Konsulado¡± in New York.
Now the 27-year-old Pinoy tradition will resume this year and the following years at the Philippine Center.
The decision came after community leader Loida Nicolas Lewis wrote a letter to the Archbishop and asked him to reconsider his decision to withdraw the Diocese¡¯s permission to allow Simbang Gabi at the consulate.
The Archbishop replied and said that permission has been granted every year for ¡°Misa de Gallo¡± to be celebrated at the consulate.
He also said that only in the rarest of cases should a mass not be celebrated in a church.
Simbang Gabi Sa Konsulado will be held at the Kalayaan Hall, at the Philippine Center from December 4 to 12 at 6:45 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. on weekends.
¡°It was a long effort,¡± said Mario De Leon, Consul General of PCGNY, ¡°But it was maybe the effort of Loida Nicolas Lewis that made at least the Diocese give us back Simbang Gabi.¡±

www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/09/19/14/simbang-gabi-returns-nyc-after-brief-ban

 

[janeway529]

Hooray! Although the situation makes me ask some questions. Maybe those familiar with the situation can help enlighten us.

How long has Simbang Gabi been celebrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral or the parishes in New York? Also, wouldn’t a consulate be considered Philippine sovereign territory, not necessarily under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of New York?