By Jessica Easthope
By Katie Vasquez
By Jessica Easthope and Paula Katinas
WILLIAMSBURG — Eighty-three years after he was killed in a wartime plane crash in the South Pacific, the remains of a World War II airman were finally returned to his native Brooklyn, giving his family the chance to gather for his funeral Mass on April 24.
Staff Sgt. Nicholas J. Governale’s remains were positively identified thanks to DNA, decades after his death.
“You think the impossible can’t happen,” his nephew Edward Veneziano said. “But with divine intervention and technology and all those things working together, anything can happen.
“And that’s the one thing we’ve learned from all of this.”
Relatives of Staff Sgt. Governale — many who are far too young to remember him, but who grew up hearing older relatives tell stories about him — were joined by members of local chapters of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars at the funeral Mass at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg.
“And now, at long last, he is home,” said Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who was the celebrant for the Mass.
Staff Sgt. Governale was a 22-year-old gunner in the U.S. Army Air Forces when his B-25C-1 bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff near Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands on July 10, 1943, killing four of the five men on board. One airman managed to escape before the plane sank into the ocean.
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The U.S. Navy dispatched divers to search for the wreckage, but the plane and its airmen were not found.
Staff Sgt. Governale’s family was informed by letter that he was missing in action and presumed dead. The U.S. military officially declared him “nonrecoverable” in 1949.
However, in 2022, thanks to technology that was not available during World War II, the Defense Department POW/MIA Accounting Agency and Project Recover, an organization dedicated to finding and identifying the remains of lost military servicemembers, recovered remains at the crash site.
In 2025, Staff Sgt. Governale was positively identified after a DNA sample submitted by his sister, Marion Veneziano, years earlier was analyzed. She passed away in 2019 and never learned that he had been identified, according to her son Edward Veneziano.
Staff Sgt. Governale’s remains were returned to his relatives, who arranged for a funeral Mass and burial at Linden Hill United Methodist Cemetery in Ridgewood.
“It means so much to my family to be able to do this for him,” said his grand-niece, Christina Mace, who is a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. “We feel he can finally rest in peace.”
As the casket was carried from the church, military veterans formed an honor guard and saluted Staff Sgt. Governale.
John Pieprzak, a Marine veteran of Operation Desert Storm and a Veterans of Foreign Wars member, said he wanted to pay tribute.
“World War II vets always hold a special place in everyone’s heart because they are the Greatest Generation. They gave the most,” he said. “So, when you find someone who has been lost for so many years, you have to make a big deal out of it.”
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Sgt. Governale’s parents and siblings are all deceased, but the younger members of his family grew up hearing stories about him, Edward Veneziano said.
“You certainly felt the love and the concern and the loss that our parents, our grandparents felt whenever they talked about him,” he explained, adding that “we all had little Uncle Nick shrines in the house…his picture was there.”
As the older relatives passed away, the younger members relied on their Catholic faith and hoped that he would one day be returned home. “His family that remained prayed and never forgot him,” Msgr. Gigantiello said.
Nicholas Governale was born on July 26, 1920, and grew up in Bushwick. He was the eldest son of five siblings. He went to East New York Vocational High School to learn to be a mechanic, but dropped out at 16 to get a job and help support the family during the Great Depression. In 1939, he joined the Army and trained as an Air Force gunner before being eventually sent to the Pacific Theater, where he met his fate.
It was important to his family that Staff Sgt. Governale received a Mass of Christian Burial, Edward Veneziano said.
“That was one of the first things that we talked about when he was identified was that he needs a Catholic burial,” he added. “It’s one of the sacrifices he was denied, and it’s important to us to get it.”
By Currents News
Bishop Robert Brennan joined the faithful at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, leading a multilingual rosary for peace in solidarity with Pope Leo XIV. The prayer service preceded the Diocese of Brooklyn’s annual Pro Vita Mass, where the bishop emphasized the dignity of every human life.
By Jessica Easthope
It won’t bring a father, husband and son back, but there was some justice for NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller’s family. At Queens Criminal Court on April 27, Guy Rivera, the man convicted of killing Detective Diller during a traffic stop in Far Rockaway in 2024, was sentenced to 115 years in prison.
“A husband, a father and a son. And a police officer. Guy Rivera respected neither one of those,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said after the sentencing. “On March 25, 2024, not only was Jonathan Diller killed, but they attempted to kill Sergeant Rosen. Guy Rivera will spend the rest of his life in jail.”
A courtroom packed with police officers heard victim impact statements from Detective Diller’s family members. Detective Diller and his partner conducted a traffic stop on March 25, 2024. Guy Rivera, a passenger in the car, refused to comply with the officers’ orders to exit the vehicle. When they tried to remove him, he fired. Detective Diller was shot at point-blank range in the torso below his bulletproof vest and was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he died. NYPD Assistant Chief Chaplain Monsignor David Cassato was at the hospital that day.
“You walk into the hospital, there’s just such sadness and grief,” Monsignor Cassato said. “We pray for peace in the heart of his family. And, you know, we pray that somehow God intervenes in his life and brings some sort of measure of repentance.”
Police Benevolence Association President Patrick Hendry said the jury’s verdict after a weeks-long trial was disappointing. Although Rivera was found guilty of aggravated manslaughter, attempted murder and weapons charges, he was acquitted of first-degree murder. Hendry said outside court on April 27 that this is the justice system at work.
“The verdict in this case did not send the right message to the family, and every police officer who wears the uniform. But this sentence, it sent the right message.”
At the time of the shooting, Rivera had 21 prior arrests. District Attorney Melinda Katz said he will only be eligible for parole after the 115 years. Detective Diller left behind a wife and 3-year-old son.
By Katie Vasquez
A new New York City bill aimed at protecting the right to pray while preserving the right to protest has gone into effect.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani allowed Intro 1-B to become law, applying specifically to houses of worship. The legislation was proposed following two separate incidents, one outside a Manhattan synagogue and another at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills.
On Jan. 8, while an Israeli real estate event was taking place inside the synagogue in Kew Gardens Hills, protesters gathered outside shouting remarks.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who sponsored the bill, said the measure requires the NYPD to determine if, when, and to what extent security perimeters may be used to protect places of worship. She emphasized that freedom of religion must be safeguarded while also upholding First Amendment rights.
The American Jewish Committee said Jewish New Yorkers have felt unsafe entering houses of worship, particularly as antisemitic hate crimes accounted for 57% of all reported hate crimes in 2025.
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership said the bill is a step in the right direction but expressed concerns about its scope.
“While I appreciate the buffer zone protecting the area around a space of worship, it doesn’t protect people,” Hirschfield said. “And the idea that you have to choose between protecting people’s right to protest, as we do, as we must in America, does not mean that people should have carte blanche to shout some of the hateful and violent things they have shouted at Jews who happen to support Israel. And this law avoids that by confusing, as people often do, the freedom to worship with the freedom to be who we are as people of faith, which is not limited to the few hours a week we may spend in a house of worship.”
Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed a similar statewide bill that would prohibit protesters from gathering within 25 feet of houses of worship. The proposal was included in this year’s state budget policy agenda, which lawmakers are still negotiating.
The man convicted of killing NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller was sentenced to 115 years in prison.
Bishop Robert Brennan led prayers for peace and celebrated the Diocese of Brooklyn’s annual Pro Vita Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.
New Yorkers of many faiths are backing new legislation that would create buffer zones around houses of worship while preserving the right to protest.
The family of a World War II soldier finally laid him to rest in Brooklyn after his remains were identified more than 80 years after he was declared missing in action.
By Currents News
The door to ESL teacher Lanell Schultheis’ classroom is always open, because everyone is welcome at the parish house of St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Queens – no matter where they come from or what language they speak.
Her mission is simple: teach them English, one word at a time.
By Jessica Easthope
Guy Rivera has been sentenced to 115 years to life in prison after being convicted for fatally shooting NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller and attempting to murder NYPD Sergeant Sasha Rosen in Queens on March 25, 2024.
By Christine Persichette
For some Catholics, faith extends well beyond the walls of a church. Every first Friday of the month, members of the Flushing First Friday Club gather at Verdi’s restaurant in Whitestone to celebrate Mass and honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The tradition, which has endured for more than six decades, transforms the banquet hall into a sacred space where tables become pews and the faithful come together in prayer and community.
Barbara Eivers, 90, the club’s program chair, said she loves attending Mass outside of a traditional church setting. “I love attending mass outside away from church to show people that faith is everywhere — everywhere we are,” she said.
The devotion calls Catholics to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays. Eivers recalled the promise attached to the practice.
“We’ve been promised a happy death if you make the Fridays,” she said.John Golden, board chair, has been part of the club for decades after being recruited by one of its original members.
“It’s important to keep the Catholic faith going in reference especially to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” he said.
Carol White, club president and a retired nurse, said the gatherings offer more than just a meal and Mass. “The camaraderie, the spiritual uplift. We always have wonderful guest speakers,” she said.
The club sends notices to about 18 Queens churches to invite parishioners, but all are welcome.
The cost is $48, which covers a five-course meal.For decades, the Flushing First Friday Club has kept a simple but powerful mission alive — bringing faith, friendship and devotion to the Sacred Heart into the heart of everyday life.