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FRESH MEADOWS — The Holy Family Parish community can begin to heal, now that their statue of the Child Jesus, left decapitated in a hate crime last month, has been repaired. Remnants of the damage to the statue, which sits just feet away from the church’s doors, can now barely be seen.
Michael Nicholas, a restorationist with Cave Company, the supplier of ecclesiastical products and services organization that performed the repair, said the Child Jesus statue, positioned between those of Mother Mary and Joseph, is now reinforced with an aluminum rod, making it stronger than before.
“I can’t explain the feeling that we’re able to come and do repairs, especially when it comes to vandalism, which is so senseless,” Nicholas said. “It makes me feel good that I’m able to actually come and do these repairs.”
He said it took less than three hours for the head of the statue to be refitted onto its body, adding that it brought him joy knowing that he could play a part in bringing the church congregation back to life.
Restoration included fitting the aluminum rod inside the statue’s head, with material specifically chosen so it would not rust. It was then screwed into the body of the statue, and resin was used to fill in the cracks along where the head was removed.
The statue of Jesus was first built by Cave Company over 40 years ago, according to third-generation company owner Gregory Cave. He explained that it was originally made of resin fiberglass, which made for a seamless fix. After sanding down and spray painting the statue, little evidence of the vandalism attack remains.
While he was there, Nicholas also restored a destroyed finger of the statue of Jesus, even though that was not believed to have been damaged in the vandalism attack. In total, the repair cost approximately $3,000, he said.
“I got chills. His head is back on. We can come here, and we can feel a little bit more peace,” said Holy Family parishioner Carolann Foley.
Foley, the president of the 107th Precinct Community Council, has been a parishioner at Holy Family for about 30 years. She was at the church the morning after the statue was attacked, and seeing it repaired now brings tears to her eyes.
A man has been charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime for the attack, which took place in the early hours of June 30. Jamshaid Choudhry, 44, was arrested on July 11 and charged the following day. He faces five to 15 years if convicted and is set to return to court on Aug. 1.
“Let’s hope that it’ll go somewhere so that people learn that they just can’t do this. This is disgraceful,” Foley said.
According to the Queens District Attorney, police investigators say that video surveillance footage captured the vandal’s attack. It showed him exiting a yellow cab parked across the street, coming up to the church, taking off his shoe, and hitting the statue with it.
“Thank God the police caught him,” said Holy Family’s pastor, Father Sean Suckiel.
Father Suckiel “hopes justice will be served” and that Choudhry is convicted for the attack. His parishioners share this sentiment.
“We definitely forgive him. We know that he is a broken man, and hopefully this will be a life-changing experience for him in a good way,” he added.
A month later, the statue of the child Jesus and adjoining statues of Mary and Joseph at Holy Family Church in Fresh Meadows are being repaired.
A man has been charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime for the vandalism.
Katie Vasquez has the story tonight at 7.
The Vatican’s Secretary of State recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, on Tuesday, July 23, and conveyed the Pope’s pleas for peace.
During the morning meeting, Zelenskyy thanked Cardinal Pietro Parolin for visiting the capitol, saying it was a “good signal from the Vatican.”
The Cardinal reaffirmed the Holy Father’s solidarity and his commitment to peace.
During his six-day visit, Cardinal Parolin closed one of the most popular pilgrimages for Ukrainian Catholics and visited a children’s hospital that was attacked earlier in the month.
By Katie Vasquez
It’s a big day for scouts at the Ten Mile River Scout Camp in the Catskills.
While normally they are preparing to strengthen their camping skills, today they got a lesson in faith from Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan.
“It’s a beautiful spot, but it’s great to see the enthusiasm of the young people from all around the tri-state area and beyond, actually, who love the outdoors, love the skills they’re learning, practical skills, really in harmony with nature,” Bishop Brennan said. “Then they encounter the Lord in that.”
Bishop Brennan’s trip to the camp is an annual tradition.
For the last three years, he has hiked to the camp, leading the young men and women in prayer in the mess hall, and at the nature chapel, where he celebrates Mass.
For the scouts hailing from the Diocese of Brooklyn, the prayers make being hundreds of miles away from home feel a little less daunting.
“I do like that because I go to Mass usually every Sunday,” said Aryan Adams, a scout from Troop 173. “So this makes me feel more at home.”
“I like expressing how it is and loving Jesus and all of that stuff,” said Lucas Senatore, a scout from Troop 99.
Bishop Brennan also just finished his own journey, hundreds of miles from home.
He recently attended the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis and is excited to share with the scouts the event’s main message about Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist.
“I was making that connection between the wonderful world of nature that we have here with the scouts and then the power and the majesty and the glory of God,” Bishop Brennan said. “He calls us into friendship and gives us his very body and blood in the Eucharist. So it all comes together. The experience of the Congress, their experience here, it all comes together in friendship with the Lord.”
Bishop Brennan hopes these scouts will also be inspired to evangelize.
Jon Paolo Marasigan, youth minister at Mary Gate of Heaven Church in Ozone Park, and a member of Troop 173, said he can already see a difference among his fellow scouts.
“We do have guys in our troop that are not Catholic and just kind of exposing them to the Catholic Mass, just giving them just even if they have questions as to what’s going on,” Marasigan said. “Answering those questions is enough to kind of give them the understanding that this is who we are, this is who we believe in as Catholics. I feel like scouting as a youth ministry is definitely a way of evangelization.”
Bishop Brennan said he hopes the Catholic scouts at the camp will be the faces of the Church, spreading witness to Jesus Christ, maybe even helping the scouts who have no faith find God in the wilderness.
Holy Family Parish in Gaza is working to educate the city’s youth who have been out of the classroom since the war began.
The St. Joseph Educational Project is for the 150 youth sheltering at the parish compound and the nearby Greek Orthodox Church.
The initiative started two months ago, but was suspended in early July due to Israeli airstrikes at the facility.
The classes resumed on Monday, July 23, with hopes to get the kids ready for a more formal school year in August.
He’s the only cleric formally allowed to give homilies to the Holy Father.
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa speaks at St. Peter’s Basilica every Good Friday and preaches to the Pope every Friday during Advent and Lent.
“Some say, ‘There is too much injustice, too much suffering in the world, to believe in God.’ It’s true, but let’s think for a moment how much more absurd and hopeless the evil that surrounds us becomes without faith in a final triumph of truth and good.”
The title, Preacher of the Papal Household or Apostolic Preacher, dates back to the mid-1500s when Pope Paul IV was reforming the Church and the Roman Curia.
Before that, the title Apostolic Preacher was given to some sacred orators, but it was purely honorary and no Apostolic Preacher actually preached in the presence of the Pope.
The office was held by various religious orders until the 18th century, when it was assigned permanently to the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor.
The current Capuchin in the role, Cardinal Cantalamessa, was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
Pope Benedict XVI renewed his appointment in 2005 and later Pope Francis retained him in his post as well. In 2020, he was made an honorary cardinal since he was already over the age of 80.
In his four decades since taking on the role, he has preached to a Pope more than 300 times, including this occasion in December of 2022, when he used his reflection to celebrate Pope Francis’ birthday.
Someone suggested to me that since tomorrow is the birthday of our beloved Holy Father, we should recite a Salve Regina for him together.
Cardinal Cantalamessa officially turned 90 on Monday, July 22.
So happy birthday to him and we pray he will continue to be able to preach for the Papal Household for years to come.
Over in Paris, athletes from around the world are preparing for the Summer Olympics, and one Christian social network is hoping to give them a spiritual boost.
The Hozana Association is asking for one million rosaries during the games for the athletes because, according to their development manager, Mary is the perfect coach.
To join these “Rosary Games,” just download the app called “Rosario – Pray the Rosary.”
When you go to join the group, just type in the invitation code STRIKETHEMATCH.
The Vatican is adding new security features to Michelangelo’s “Pieta” sculpture.
Nine bulletproof and shatterproof glass panels are being placed in front of the famous work of art to improve security and visibility for visitors.
St. Peter’s Basilica has been renovating the side chapel of the Pieta ahead of the Holy Year of 2025.
The work is expected to be finished in September.
From the Congress to Camp – Bishop Robert Brennan returned from the National Eucharistic Congress and headed to Ten Mile River Scout Camp to connect with young scouts.
Students in war-torn Gaza prepare to return to school, supported by the St. Joseph Educational Project at the Holy Family Parish and a nearby Greek Orthodox Church.
Cardinal Cantalamessa, the only cleric permitted to preach to the Pope, is celebrating his 90th birthday.
The Vatican is installing a new high-security barrier around Michelangelo’s Pietà in Rome, featuring bulletproof glass for protection before the Jubilee Year.