By JOHN WOODS

The Archdiocese of New York is prepared to embark on the Year of Faith initiated by Pope Benedict XVI that begins next week on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and continues for more than 13 months until ending on Nov. 24, 2013, the feast of Christ the King.

The anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, Oct. 11, will occur just four days into the three-week Synod of Bishops at the Vatican on the theme “New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” Cardinal Dolan was elected to serve as a member at the synod by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, of whom he is president.

Oct. 11 also marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992.

Back in New York, Cardinal Dolan will celebrate Mass at Mother Cabrini Shrine in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 10 a.m.

“Being a church of immigrants, we felt that this would be a most appropriate site to celebrate our forefathers bringing the faith to the Church of New York,” said Father Brian McWeeney, director of the Office of Adult Faith Formation who is coordinating many of the archdiocesan events for the Year of Faith in cooperation with other offices and institutions.

On Sunday, Dec. 16, at 1 p.m., the cardinal also will celebrate Mass at St. Peter’s Church on Barclay Street in lower Manhattan, which in 1785 became the first Catholic parish established in New York state.

Masses are also being planned in other regions of the archdiocese and for specific communities as the Year of Faith unfolds, Father McWeeney told CNY.

There also will be a full slate of prominent speakers such as author and columnist George Weigel, who will speak at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, on Feb. 15, 2013, at an event being co-sponsored by the seminary, the Sacred Heart Institute for Ongoing Formation of Clergy and the Office of Adult Faith Formation.

Other celebrations and events are being planned by the vicariates, parishes, schools, catechetical programs and other institutions of the archdiocese, Father McWeeney said.

Concerts will be conducted at Fordham University in the Bronx and Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh at dates to be determined. Choirs under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Pascual, director of music at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, will perform a selection that will blend traditional sacred music with more contemporary hymns reflecting the cultures represented in the archdiocese, Father McWeeney said.

Pope Benedict formally announced the Year of Faith last October in an apostolic letter, “Porta Fidei” (“The Door of Faith”).

“Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy,” he wrote.

The pope explained that the year’s focus would be on Jesus Christ because “in him, all the anguish and all the longing of the human heart finds fulfillment.”

Father McWeeney, in an interview this week in his office at the New York Catholic Center, said there has been a spirit of cooperation between other departments of the archdiocese and his office in planning for the Year of Faith.

“This is the perfect time, and a necessary time for the Year of Faith to occur. I’m excited by it,” he said, noting that a successful year will bode well for future adult faith formation efforts of his office.

Father McWeeney said that a Year of Faith website has been established at www.nyyearoffaith.org and will be offering a menu of categories as the year gets under way. A Facebook page and Twitter feed have also been set up.

In the coming weeks, Catholic New York is also planning to set up a dedicated tab for the Year of Faith on its website, cny.org.

Institutional Commodity Services is offering a banner for the Year of Faith for display in the churches of the archdiocese. The banner, which is available in English and Spanish, features the Vatican logo for the Year of Faith along with the Archdiocese of New York’s coat of arms flanking the words “Year of Faith 2012-2013: The Doors of Faith Are Open.”

“We are hoping that every church would have this,” Father McWeeney said.