St. Joseph Returns to Callicoon

By Rob Potter
CALLICOON — March 21, 2000 -- After spending 23 years in the Bronx, St. Joseph has come back to Callicoon.
A crowd of about 30 parishioners joined church leaders Sunday afternoon at Holy Cross Church in Callicoon for the rededication of the Statue of St. Joseph.
Since 1977, the statue, which shows St. Joseph instructing the Child Jesus, has been located at Jeanne Jugan Residence for the Elderly in the Bronx. But when the facility closed in October, Catholic church leaders in the Bronx contacted several priests in the area in an attempt to return the four-ton solid block of granite to its prior location.
The statue arrived in Callicoon last week, and a cement base was poured for it on the Holy Cross lawn.
Several parishioners noted how beautiful the statue was and how happy they were to see it again.
“This is a very wonderful occurance for Holy Cross,” noted Father Ignatious Smith. “We appreciate the fact that this wonderful piece of history has been given back to us.”
Smith noted the good efforts of Father Evan Grecco of St. Anthony’s Church in Yulan for St. Joseph’s return. Grecco helped arrange the transportation details for the statue.
“It’s nice to see St. Joseph back home in Callicoon,” Grecco remarked.
The statue was made specifically for St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon. In 1911, the statue and Seminary were solemnly dedicated by John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
For the next 66 years, until the seminary was sold in 1977, the magnificent granite image of St. Joseph and the young Jesus overlooked Callicoon and the Delaware Valley.
Although about two miles north of where it originally sat, all agreed the statue is back home.