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Catholic News Headlines for Monday 3/3/2025

Starting a new life in a new country and learning a new language isn’t easy, but Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens is helping newcomers ease into the transition.

The Vatican is continuing to monitor Pope Francis’ health, saying that on Monday the Holy Father had two episodes of acute respiratory failure.

Bishop Robert Brennan is sharing an important Gospel message with parishioners in the Diocese of Brooklyn as they prepare for the Lenten season.

The St. John’s University’s men’s basketball team has won its first Big East regular season title since 1985, and the school’s athletics chaplain is sharing his courtside view of the big moment with Currents News.

Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens Offers Free ESL Classes

By Katie Vasquez

The lesson for the March 3, 2025, English as a Second Language class Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, Queens is “days of the week,” where students are learning basic phrases and a new language from scratch. 

“I need talking, the English, very important,” Eva Mireles, a student in the class, tells Currents News. 

The courses at the churchare offered by Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens free of charge thanks to federal and state funding, as well as private donations. Laura Dotterer, who is the project director for Queens, says they do so to give the new arrivals a chance at a better life. 

“They’re here to first survive. They don’t have money to spend on going to private English, a second language school program,” she explains.

This class’s instructor, Charito Tubera, understands personally how the adults in these seats feel. In 1975 she came to the U.S. from the Philippines. 

“I had no clue because I wasn’t given any orientation on what the weather is like, what the people looked like, the culture,” she recalls.

Charito says one of her biggest struggles back then was learning English.

“I was eager to learn because I’m in a foreign country where I have to relearn everything,” she says of how she became a fluent English speaker.

Now, she’s paying it forward, Charito has been teaching English as a second language for nearly 16 years and recently she joined with Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens in their efforts to help new arrivals,. She says combining her professional experience with her faith has brought new power to her calling. 

“What’s most important is that I know that these people can actually receive something that they’ve never received before,” she says.

Our Lady of Sorrows offers the courses twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays, for adults 18 and older. Catholic Charities say the door is open for anyone to learn. All they have to do is apply online. 

For more information on the English classes and the other services Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens has to offer, just go to ccbq.org

Hospital Chaplain’s Book Tackles Women’s Leadership in Catholic Education

By Currents News

Father Emmanuel Conduah is the hospital chaplain at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Brooklyn, and he’s also a staunch advocate for women’s leadership.

Born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, Father Conduah was nurtured in a patriarchal society that profoundly influenced his early views on leadership.

However, through his extensive education and experiences, he has challenged these traditional beliefs and become interested in understanding women’s leadership, particularly in the context of Catholic education.

His advocacy led him to write a book on the topic. As we approach International Women’s Day on March 8, Father Conduah joins Currents News to discuss his book. “Untapped: Harnessing the Maximum Potential of Women in Leadership.”

You can purchase the book on Amazon.  

Putting Faith Into Action: 23 New Altar Servers Installed at St. Joseph’s Church

By Currents News

Almost two dozen boys and girls joined the spiritual team at St. Joseph Church in Astoria, Queens: the parish installed 23 new altar servers on March 1. 

The new altar servers are from the church’s religious education program and Catholic academy.

St Joseph’s pastor Father Vincent Chirichella and the parish’s parochial vicar Father Pedro Angucho blessed the altar servers’ white vestments and told the students how proud they are of them for putting their faith into action.

As St. John’s Red Storm Reigns Big East Champions, Athletics Chaplain Prays for March Madness Win

By Currents News

Basketball fans have been making a pilgrimage to Madison Square Garden recently to see the St. John’s University men’s basketball team play in New York City.

On Feb. 28 the sold out crowd at the world’s most famous arena witnessed the Johnnies beat Seton Hall University 71 to 6, clinching the Big East regular season title. It’s a first for the Red Storm since 1985.

Father Richard Rock – the team’s chaplain – spoke with Currents News about the moment the game ended. 

“It was unbelievable, you know, with the confetti and everything coming down,” he recalled. “There was such an excitement after such a long period of time and they finally realized that it happened. There was so much joy going on. It was a great experience. They were so excited you couldn’t believe it!”

Father Rock went on to say he believes Lou Carnesecca, the legendary St. John’s basketball coach who passed away late last year, has been watching over the team.

Next up for St. John’s is a game against Marquette, then the Big East Tournament and the NCAA. 

Lenten Pilgrimage to Begin; Ash Wednesday Masses in the Diocese of Brooklyn

By Currents News

Catholics will soon celebrate Lent. As faithful prepare for the death and resurrection of Christ, Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan is reminding his flock of an important Gospel message.

Bishop Brennan, the Diocese of Brooklyn, and NET-TV are dedicated to bringing you closer to Christ this Lent.

One of the ways the faithful can do so is by watching all the live Lenten and Easter celebrations on NET-TV. They begin with this week’s Ash Wednesday services.

NET-TV will be airing 4 Masses that day:

  • 8 am English Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
  • 9 am, Spanish Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
  • 10 am, Creole Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
  • 12 pm, English Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. James

Bishop Robert Brennan will be celebrating the Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. James, and it is at that Mass that the Diocese of Brooklyn will embark on a Lenten Pilgrimage.

The pilgrimage is encouraging Catholics to visit 40 churches throughout Brooklyn and Queens during the 40 days leading up to Easter. 

Pilgrims are also welcome to log their progress through the Lenten Pilgrimage app.

Even if you are not able to participate in person, you can still join the community online through the app to see all of the pilgrimage stops and even make prayer requests. To do so, download the Lenten Pilgrimage app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. 

You can also get more information by visiting lent.dioceseofbrooklyn.org/

BISHOP ROBERT BRENNAN’S ASH WEDNESDAY PUBLIC SCHEDULE

Bishop Robert J. Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn, will celebrate two Masses to mark Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and prayer to start the Christian observance of the season of Lent, tomorrow Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

The first will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Christ the King High School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Avenue, in the Middle Village section of Queens. Bishop Brennan will then celebrate Mass and distribute ashes at 12 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, located at 250 Cathedral Place in Downtown Brooklyn.

As is customary, the ashes used on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the blessed palms distributed the prior year on Palm Sunday. Lent ends with the celebration of the Sacred Triduum, the three holiest days on the Christian calendar: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Easter Sunday will be celebrated this year on April 20.

Ash Wednesday also begins the 2025 Diocesan Lenten Pilgrimage in Brooklyn and Queens, where the faithful will have the opportunity to visit different churches over the next 40 days. Individual parishes will offer opportunities for Mass, prayer, and reflection during these visits. The complete schedule can be found online at https://lent.dioceseofbrooklyn.org/schedule/

Catholic News Headlines for Friday 2/28/2025

Students at Brooklyn’s St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish are coming together to create art that celebrates the Jubilee Year.

Pope Francis is continuing his treatment for double pneumonia and will not lead Ash Wednesday services at the Vatican.

Before Central Park there was Seneca Village, a thriving community of freed African Americans in the 18th century – Currents News will show you what it was like to live there.

 

Just three months after its reopening, the Cathedral of Notre Dame is seeing more visitors than ever before, but some are questioning whether it’s the tourism or theology that’s bringing them to Paris.

Children From Faith Formation Program Create Artwork to Celebrate Jubilee 2025

By Katie Vasquez

Every piece of artwork at a limited-time exhibit at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church in Brooklyn has its own unique design, but the message across them is the same: hope.

The director of the faith formation program at the Bergen Beach church, Melissa Wagner, says it’s because all the art was inspired by the theme of the 2025 Jubilee, “Pilgrims of Hope.”

“We need to take them out of the classroom, out of the workbook, and to do things with them, to introduce their faith in other ways that are exciting and fun,” she tells Currents News.

The 250 children in the program created their own work based off their own interpretation of the Holy Year’s message.

“The love I have for Christianity and our faith and the stained glass made me think of church and being in Jesus’ home,” explains Justin Tasso, a member of the St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church faith formation program. 

“Hope for people battling cancer,” is the vision behind group member Michael Thornton’s art. “I want to give them courage to beat it.”

The exhibit also included interactive displays like painting a mural with spray bottles and tissue paper to create stained glass and ribbons that share individual intentions.

“We had to choose a color and each color meant something different, I chose red for love, and I wrote, “I love my family and teachers,'” Francesca Marino, who is also part of the faith formation program, tells Currents News.

Ultimately, the church hopes that the art sparks discussion about the Jubilee and spreads the Holy Year’s mission of faith and fellowship. 

“I think expressing that sense of hope, that sense of optimism but even beyond optimism,” Father John Maduri, the pastor of St Bernard of Clairvaux Church,” says. “That Christian hope that if we have that faith in God and faith in the Church, and faith in one another and faith in themselves, they can achieve great things.”

“It could really help somebody because people maybe really need a blessing, or something they’re struggling with or to find hope,” group member Christina Antoci adds.

This exhibit was only up for the day, but the church hopes to show the art again throughout the Holy Year. 

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 2/27/2025

A former Catholic school teacher is putting her book smarts to good use as the published author of books that are teaching kids important life lessons.

Students at St. Bernard Catholic Academy in Brooklyn are putting their creative skills to work with a new Jubilee-themed art exhibition.

Vatican officials say Pope Francis’ condition is improving, but that the prognosis remains cautious.

The last slave of New York State was a Christian woman who was laid to rest in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Currents News tells her story from Green-Wood Cemetery.