Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, vicar for clergy, was honored Tuesday evening by Staten Island Borough President Vito J. Fossella with the 2023 Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award.

In a sentimental ceremony at Bishop Whalen’s alma mater, Monsignor Farrell High School in Oakwood Heights, Fossella praised Bishop Whalen for “always answering the call,” first to serve God through the priesthood, and the larger community in Staten Island.

“What (Bishop Whalen) did and still does is that he sees the beauty and the excellence in everybody. And he tries to bring out what that person can offer,” Fossella said in opening remarks at the ceremony. The borough president recalled that both of his sons knew Bishop Whalen as students at the all-male Monsignor Farrell.

Bishop Whalen, who grew up in West Brighton, graduated from Monsignor Farrell in 1976. He later joined the school’s faculty and returned in 2010 as its seventh principal. His time at the school is marked on the Monsignor Farrell Hall of Fame, which occupies one wall of the school’s main entryway.

Upon receiving the award, Bishop Whalen spoke with characteristic modesty, thanking Fossella but then turning to his time at the school, recalling that his goal as principal was that “this Farrell diploma has to mean something.” Of Staten Island, he said, “There is no better place to grow up.”

Fossella and Bishop Whalen unveiled a replica of the award, named for Albert V. Maniscalco, who served as Staten Island borough president from 1954 to 1965. The original is displayed at Staten Island Borough Hall.

“It’s humbling because this place has a special meaning for all of us who went to school here, and it made us the men we are today. The whole goal, Monsignor Farrell’s dream, was good men who would be good citizens, good men of the Church, and do the right thing because it’s right. To see that’s who we are and that’s what we’re about,” Bishop Whalen told The Good Newsroom after the ceremony. He said that Staten Island is special because “it is good, solid, simple people, hard-working, who pull together.”

“I thought it was important to say that we thank Bishop Whalen for his selfless service,” Fossella said in an interview with The Good Newsroom. “What he has meant and done for so many, and now with his elevation to the archdiocese, I hope he pursues and achieves bigger and even better things.” 

In 2018, the former rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary and former pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church, Monsignor Peter G. Finn, received the Maniscalco Award. Monsignor Finn died in 2022.