By Jessica Easthope
Much of our nation’s history happened Lower Manhattan.
The area has ties to George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay — and it’s also where the first American saint laid the foundation for a legacy of faith and unwavering courage.
By Currents News
A Spanish talent show at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy included singing, dancing, and even piano performances in Brooklyn.
It was all part of the school’s celebration of “Spanish Week,” highlighting the culture in a way that was both educational and entertaining.
On top of the talent show, the students also took part in a Hispanic Fair, a Spanish Spelling Bee, and a game of Jeopardy played entirely in Spanish.
The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage kicked off on the feast of Pentecost in St. Augustine, Florida – over the next six weeks pilgrims will journey through the 13 colonies, with stops in 18 dioceses and archdioceses, before ending in Philadelphia for the Fourth of July weekend.
Bishop Robert Brennan honored U.S. service members who died in war during a Memorial Day field Mass, offering prayers for innocent people caught in the crosshairs of war and violence worldwide.
What does it mean to protect our humanity in the age of AI? Pope Leo XIV seeks to answer this question with the publication of his first papal encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas.”
Students at one Queens Catholic academy celebrated Catholic education and the spirit of community with a school-wide Walk-a-thon.
By Currents News and Bill Miller
FARMINGDALE — Human dignity, peace, justice, love, war, plus some notes on Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical on artificial intelligence, were recurring themes in Bishop Robert Brennan’s comments on May 25 during a Memorial Day field Mass.
More than 250 people attended the Mass at St. Charles/Resurrection Cemeteries in Farmingdale on Long Island.
Bishop Brennan celebrated the Mass on Memorial Day to honor all U.S. service members who died defending the nation.
“Remembering those who have made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for the cause of peace and justice,” Bishop Brennan said during the homily. “We pray fervently for those who are in harm’s way, that serving with dignity and honor, they might be protected.”
Field Masses, which are hosted each year by the diocesan Catholic Cemeteries Office, were also celebrated at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village; Holy Cross Cemetery, Flatbush; and Mount St. Mary Cemetery, Flushing.
Bishop Brennan also offered prayers for innocent people “caught in the crosshairs of war and violence all around the world.” \
“We ask God,” he continued, “to make of us, true instruments of his peace.”
The homily also touched on aspects of human dignity in the first encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIV. The letter — titled, “Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), On the Protection of the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” — was signed May 15 and published on May 25.
In it, the Holy Father warns that “the use of AI is never a purely technical matter.”
“When it enters processes that affect people’s lives,” he continued, “it touches on rights, opportunities, status and freedom.”
Pope Leo added that important decisions concerning employment, credit, access to public services, or reputations, “risk being fully delegated to automated systems” that do not know “compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and above all, the hope that people are able to change.”
RELATED: 13 Things To Know About Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical on AI
He also noted that AI used in war could place the responsibility for life-and-death decisions into “automated systems.”
“No algorithm,” Pope Leo wrote, “can make war morally acceptable.”
Bishop Brennan likened AI to the ancient people’s attempt to build the Tower of Babel “to reach the heavens and unseat God.”
“Well,” he said, “we know how that worked out. This was not just idolatry, worshipping their own work over God, it was also a gross misunderstanding of human dignity — of the magnificence of being human.
“Pope Leo calls on us to be builders of communion, not architects of Babel, so that humanity may not lose its magnificence and the world may recognize, in the human heart, the place where God wishes to dwell.”
Bishop Brennan blessed pins that were distributed at the end of the Mass, recognizing the commitment of the four Catholic Cemeteries of Brooklyn and Queens to honor the nation’s citizens who died in war.
Before the final blessing, Msgr. Michael Reid, CEO of Catholic Cemeteries of Brooklyn and Queens, offered remarks and led those gathered in a prayer for the United States before the closing song, “America the Beautiful,” was played.
By Christine Persichette and Gretchen R. Crowe
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (OSV News) – A softening of hearts toward the Eucharist, a greater sense of unity in the Church, and a “fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit” – these were the intentions held in the hearts of perpetual pilgrims as they set out on the third National Eucharistic Pilgrimage from St. Augustine May 24.
Under the bright Florida sun, on the grounds of the Mission Nombre de Dios and the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, Bishop Erik T. Pohlmeier of St. Augustine celebrated Mass to kick off the 2026 pilgrimage on the feast of Pentecost – nearly 500 years after the first Mass of Thanksgiving there in 1565 in what is now “the oldest site of continuous Catholic presence in the United States.”
In attendance were the nine “perpetual pilgrims” of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage who will be traveling with the Eucharist – which Catholics believe to be Jesus Christ truly present in his body, blood, soul and divinity – for six weeks on the “St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route” up the East Coast, ending in Philadelphia over the July 4 holiday. Also present were officials connected to the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and the Diocese of St. Augustine, and as many as 1,500 pilgrims gathered for the first leg of the 2026 pilgrimage.
RELATED: National Eucharistic Pilgrimage Arrives in Los Angeles, Bringing Hope and Christ
“Today, on the feast of Pentecost, I’ve really just been praying for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit: that we would be really filled with his gifts, and would experience peace and joy and freedom, and that that comes by living in an authentic relationship with Jesus,” said Mary Carmen Zakrajsek, a perpetual pilgrim from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, at a press event at the start of the day. “And so that is my intention today, is that all of us here will allow Jesus to breathe new life into us through the Holy Spirit, and draw us into an even deeper relationship with him.”
Zakrajsek, 26, told OSV News that being at Mass at the Mission Nombre de Dios is a “very surreal moment.”
“To be in the place where the first Catholic Mass was celebrated centuries ago in this country is really historic and unique,” she said. “And I think we as pilgrims are on this pilgrimage, we as a country are also on a pilgrimage, right? And it’s a beautiful full-circle moment to see where we started, and where we are now, and where the Lord wants to take us in the future.”
During Mass, umbrellas blocked the sun in chairs near the altar, while worshippers – seated on beach and lawn chairs, or crowded on blankets – sought out any available shade under surrounding trees or tents. A steady breeze blew in from the nearby Matanzas River and, beyond that, the Atlantic Ocean. Participants ranged from families to the elderly, from Knights of Columbus to women religious.
Sister Mary Faithful Virgin, a member of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara, a missionary order founded in Argentina, told OSV News she traveled from central Florida, where she is based, with 40 parishioners.
“It is a beautiful opportunity to be part of this moment of history and to pray for our country and our nation, that we can live truly ‘One Nation under God,’” she said, referring to the 2026 pilgrimage’s theme.
Buddy Odom and his wife, Gina, traveled from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to St. Augustine for the launch of the pilgrimage. “We wanted to be part of the beginning of it,” Buddy told OSV News. “It’s really a wonderful thing to be a part of: to see everybody coming together for Christ and to demonstrate that to others.”
Maria Basilice attended the Mass with her husband and nine children. The family had participated in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage when it went through Springfield, Illinois, in 2024.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Basilice told OSV News about Jesus Christ being brought to the streets of the U.S. through the Eucharist. “Other people who may not ever encounter Jesus will get to.”
In his homily, Bishop Pohlmeier focused on two effects of Pentecost: the “missionary impulse because of the coming of the Holy Spirit” and “the divine power of the Church’s work because of the coming of the Holy Spirit.”
“From the beginning, we see that the Church is able to carry out the mission entrusted by God himself – able to carry it out because God provides,” he said. “And what God asks is that we faithfully receive the gifts that He gives. That in receiving those gifts, we step out in faith, allowing God to work in us.”
Following Mass, Bishop Pohlmeier processed throughout the grounds of the shrine with the Eucharist to the “Rustic Altar,” a memorial of where Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales celebrated St. Augustine’s first Mass Sept. 8, 1565. From there, Bishop Pohlmeier carried the Blessed Sacrament to the altar in the historic chapel of Our Lady of La Leche, where he placed Jesus at the foot of the iconic image of Our Lady holding the Child Jesus to her breast.
Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress organization, which operates the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, said they wanted to begin the 2026 leg in St. Augustine to “highlight the Catholic contribution to this American experiment before there was even a Declaration of Independence” as the U.S. prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary July 4.
“The Catholic contribution for us started with Mass,” he told OSV News. “I think with these times of polarization and ideology … it’s really important for us to go back to the roots. And for us as Catholics, it’s going back to the roots of Mass and the Eucharist.”
Shanks also wanted to “lean into the cultural diversity” of the Church. He said, “We felt it’s important to tell that the Catholic story in America has always been culturally diverse.
“It’s missionary – it started with missions there in Florida – and it’s bigger than any sort of region or ethnic group,” he added. “Through the Eucharist, there is unity in diversity in how our faith is expressed.”
Pilgrim Zach Dotson, who drove the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage van outfitted with a monstrance from its resting place in Zionsville, Indiana, to St. Augustine earlier this week, told OSV News that it’s fitting the pilgrimage should begin in a place named for the saint who himself described the Church as being a people on pilgrimage.
Just like a pilgrimage, he said, with our earthly lives “we’re heading towards that end goal, which is hopefully to heaven, to full communion with God, to join the community of saints.”
Dotson told OSV News he hopes the witness of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will inspire all people, whether they are Catholics, other fellow Christians, those fallen-away from the faith or those with no faith.
“You don’t celebrate, for nearly 500 years, the Mass for a symbol,” he said, referring to how long Catholics have celebrated the Eucharist in what is now the U.S. “You don’t follow behind in procession a symbol or a piece of bread. People don’t fall on their knees or lie prostrate for a symbol; but we do for our Lord and Savior, for the King of Kings. We follow after him. We lie prostrate for him. … So I hope that is the true witness: people seeing us live our faith authentically in our worship and in our adoration of our Lord, especially in the Blessed Sacrament.”
Following a period of Eucharistic adoration at the shrine, the pilgrimage continued with a one-mile procession down San Marco Avenue to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augusti
by Maria Wiering
(OSV News) – What does it mean to safeguard our humanity? That question is at the heart of Pope Leo XIV’s much anticipated first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” released May 25. The following are some key things to know about this weighty papal letter.
1. Latin for “Magnificent Humanity,” the title is drawn from the opening words of the text as rendered in Latin, as is customary for papal encyclicals. Those words state, in its English translation, “Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together.” Throughout the encyclical, Pope Leo points to “the grandeur of humanity,” with men and women created by God for relationship with him and each other, cooperating in God’s creative work and guided by the Holy Spirit.
2. The document is about 42,000 words long, including footnotes, making it roughly the size of a novella. It spans five chapters sandwiched between a robust introduction and conclusion. The first chapter traces the development of Catholic social doctrine, or social teaching, especially since “Rerum Novarum,” Pope Leo XIII’s seminal 1891 encyclical on the dignity of labor. The second chapter dives into the substance of Catholic social teaching. The third chapter explores the challenges artificial intelligence presents to humanity; the fourth chapter hones in on safeguarding truth, work and freedom; and the fifth chapter focuses on the implications of AI in warfare.
3. From education and jobs to private tech companies and families, “Magnifica Humanitas” is wide-ranging. It touches on the prospect of massive unemployment, the future of education, the protection of human freedom, excessive screen time for young people and technology addiction, data ownership, cryptocurrencies, economic disparities, environmental impacts, transhumanism and posthumanism, and cyberattacks and other forms of warfare. Pope Leo addresses the idea of “moral AI,” and argues that the basis for “alignment of AI with human values” requires “openly discussing the ethical frameworks involved and subjecting them to shared standards of social justice” in a conversation inclusive to all communities.
4. The document includes references to an array of influential thinkers. Beyond Pope Leo’s papal predecessors, the letter points to or quotes Dorothy Day, Maria Montessori, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., J.R.R. Tolkien, Plato, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the American humanist thinker Hannah Arendt, among others. And, of course, Pope Leo weaves in St. Augustine, the patron of Pope Leo’s Augustinian religious order and Pope Leo’s ever-present guide, particularly through the African bishop’s important fifth-century book, “The City of God.”
5. It uses biblical imagery, imploring people to examine what humanity is building in “the construction site of our time.” The Tower of Babel and the City of God are contrasted throughout the encyclical to illustrate the two possible directions that the era of AI could take: a path of arrogance, artificial sense of self-sufficiency and chaos, or a path towards communion, relationship and God. Pope Leo underlines the critical need for developing a process for discernment to guide the development of AI. “The task of building today must place our relationship with God at its center,” Pope Leo writes.
RELATED: AI & The Future of Human Dignity
6. Despite its challenges, AI is not to be inherently feared. “Technology should not be considered, in itself, as a force antagonistic to humanity,” he writes. “Over the centuries, technological development has significantly improved the living conditions of humanity. At the same time, each phase of progress has also revealed the ambiguity of tools that can cause harm when not oriented toward the good.” He speaks directly to AI developers, telling them that “technological innovation can represent human participation in the divine act of creation,” and therefore they “bear a particular ethical and spiritual responsibility, for every design choice reflects a vision of humanity.”
7. Taking time for discernment is critical in our path forward. The encyclical invites people of goodwill into “a shared discernment process for identifying the spiritual and cultural roots of ongoing transformations” as they relate to AI. “We are living through a rapid phase of transition, a ‘change of era,’ in which … most people are watching and waiting, observing from afar and merely hoping for the best,” Pope Leo writes. “For this very reason, crucial questions impose themselves on our conscience and can no longer be avoided: Where are we going? Toward what goal do we wish to orient ourselves? What direction should we choose as people and as a human community?”
8. It explains the principles of Catholic social teaching and why they are important in building a future where humanity flourishes. Pope Leo explains central tenets of Catholic social teaching – the dignity of the person, the common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity and justice – as he makes the case for their use as guiding principles for AI. “The Social Doctrine of the Church is a legacy of wisdom, where we find principles for thought, criteria for discernment and judgment, and concrete guidelines for action,” Pope Leo writes. “Founded on Sacred Scripture and Tradition, and in engagement with the sciences, it helps us clearly interpret the challenges of the present and identify appropriate ways for living out a clear Christian witness, with joy and in service to the world. It is not an inert set of concepts, but a living corpus of truth that safeguards and interprets humanity’s vocation to a full and just life.” As AI has exponentially advanced and become part of daily life, people of goodwill must “face the challenges of our time with clarity of thought and responsibility,” he writes.
9. People cannot be reduced to machines, measured for their efficiency and valued for their “optimization.” Artificial intelligence “threatens to normalize an anti-human vision,” Pope Leo writes. “In that vision, the fullness of life is equated with having more, reducing weakness, eliminating uncertainty and exerting total control. When efficiency becomes the ultimate measure of value, human beings are tempted to see themselves as a project to be optimized rather than as persons called to relationship and communion.” Instead, “the quality of a civilization,” he writes, “is measured not by the power of its means, but by the care it is able to offer, by its ability to recognize the other as a face not merely as a function.”
RELATED: Bishop Robert Brennan Says AI Can’t Replace True Relationship With Christ, Prayer
10. Robust ethical consideration should be given to AI’s impact on war. Pope Leo is particularly concerned that AI, “detached from ethics and responsibility, will render decisions about life and death more rapid and impersonal, and will present the use of force as an immediate and viable option.” In calling for the principles of Catholic social teaching to serve as decision-making guidelines, he condemns “the spread of a culture of power characterized by polarization and violence.” Instead, he calls humanity to “the civilization of love,” which is “no naïve utopia, but a demanding project, which consists in translating charity into structures of justice, giving institutional form to fraternity, and regarding others – whether individuals or peoples – as allies necessary for building the common good.” He also gives criteria for using AI in war.
11. “Magnifica Humanitas” is actually all about relationship. Throughout the encyclical, Pope Leo points to humanity’s relationship to God and relationship to each other. In this area, he underscores action over passivity, and urges people to work toward “a willed and chosen solidarity.” He writes, “This is the guiding principle for technological processes: it is not enough for artificial intelligence to make us more efficient or connected; it must also serve to build a universal human family, with shared rights and duties, where digital proximity becomes a real opportunity for encounter and mutual care.”
12. Whatever the future holds, humanity’s meaning is rooted in Jesus Christ. The document’s conclusion includes a compelling reflection on the Incarnation through the “face of the Son of God, the grandeur of humanity that shines a light also on the era of AI.” “No computational system, however sophisticated, can create a heart that gives itself, or a conscience that discerns good from evil. Even when machines excel in efficiency, a human face that asks to be gazed upon remains the center of our history,” Pope Leo writes. “This human face is the fullness toward which history is moving.”
13. The encyclical calls for personal conversion. The pope proposes for the Christian “a sober yet demanding program of Christian life with which we can navigate this epochal change in the light of the Gospel” centered on “contemplating God’s plan,” receiving the Eucharist, “building a world centered on the common good,” and praying in union with Mary. He encourages people to cultivate community and in-person relationships, educate young people to love wisdom, spend time with the poor and lonely, be a voice for justice, defend objective truth, and treat the digital world as “a new continent to be evangelized.” His final reflection centers on the “Magnificat,” Mary’s famous canticle glorifying God, recounted in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Pope Leo writes: “In the humble fidelity of daily life, even the era of AI can become a time in which the Holy Spirit brings about the civilization of love in our lives.”
By Alexandra Moyen
JACKSON HEIGHTS — On May 22, students at St. Joan of Arc Catholic School poured out of the building and into the streets for their annual Walk for Education.
The cheer and the sneakers were familiar. The dollar figure was not.
This year, the event raised more than $35,000, a record high and over seven times last year’s total, according to Father Christopher Heanue, pastor of St. Joan of Arc.
“We’re spending a lot of effort and attention on the school,” Father Heanue said. “We value Catholic education here at St. Joan of Arc, and our parishioners do too.”
This year, the walk-a-thon included more than just the walk.
They set grade, class, and individual-level fundraising goals and enabled people to pledge donations online.
“The excitement was palpable,” Father Heanue said. “And look at it — it returned.”
Before the walk began, the school community honored Father Heanue, who arrived in 2025. Students circled around him as a teacher read an Irish blessing. They sang “You Are My Sunshine.”
Then, while on stage, a row of children held signs spelling out F-A-T-H-E-R H-E-A-N-U-E, each child reading aloud what their letter stood for — and what makes their pastor special to them.
“It’s an honor to be honored,” Father Heanue said. “I’m so happy to be in a parish — a dynamic parish — with a great school.”
Father Heanue has prioritized education since his installation on Sept. 28.
The “Installation Challenge” he created when he first arrived — a five-year giving commitment from vendors, donors, and family friends — has pulled in more than $160,000 for school scholarships, well past the $100,000 goal.
Principal Agnes Mosejczuk said Father Heanue had barely “unpacked his suitcase” in June before he was unloading ideas for the school.
“We work hard to improve our school each and every day, with a lot of energy and dreams, and now Father Heanue has come in and shared his support and his vision,” Mosejczuk said. “He encourages us to dream even bigger.
“Having his support allows us to reach high, and that is what we are doing.”
Father Heanue framed the fundraising surge as the fruit of a deliberate shift.
“We want to change culture at St. Joan of Arc,” he said. “We want everyone to be actively engaged and involved for the benefit of their parish, of their school.”
He included himself in the goal-setting. His personal target for the walk-a-thon was $1,000. He raised more than $2,000.
Mosejczuk, however, raised even more than her pastor — a detail Father Heanue volunteered with a grin.
Students also had a stake in the walka-thon. Whichever grade raised the most money would lead the procession through the streets. That honor went to the fourth grade, which raised about $3,500.
Elizabeth Rubio, a fourth grader, said the school coached each child on how to make donation requests — and she put the lesson to work by canvassing neighborhood businesses with her classmates.
“We made a lot of money. So that was really awesome because we all did the hard work,” Elizabeth said, adding that the school’s advice was helpful. “I entered the store, and I had my piece of paper so I would know what to say.”
The Walk for Education was also held in honor of the late Antoinette Balzano, a longtime school secretary, who organized the event for years.
“We miss her every single day,” Mosejczuk said. “This walk-a-thon was her baby. Every year, she put a lot of her energy into the fundraiser, so we continue her legacy.”
Father Heanue, like Balzano and Mosejczuk, sees the value of the fundraiser in investing in the school’s students.
“When you look at the excitement on these children’s faces, you see the future of our society, of our diocese, of our nation,” he said. “You see them with such potential — and the potential is discovered here. We treat our students with great love, great care, and affection. You can see that lived out here.”
In the Diocese of Brooklyn, there is a new class of extraordinary parishioners whose faith, service, and compassion are strengthening Catholic communities across Brooklyn and Queens.
Meet dedicated Catholics who quietly and faithfully go above and beyond for their parishes, embodying the spirit of ministry by generously sharing their time, talent, and treasure.
Here are some of the parishioners you’ll meet:
By Currents News
The Class of 2026 at one Catholic school in Bay Ridge is helping prepare the next generation of graduates: the eighth graders at St. Patrick Catholic Academy passing on their graduation caps to the Brooklyn school’s kindergartners.
In the caption of the video posted on Facebook, the passing of the hats symbolizes a journey that starts in small steps and ends with big dreams.
The school says once you are a St. Patrick Catholic Academy student, you are always part of the family.
The eighth graders are excited to take the next step.
They held a “Draft Day” to announce their high school choices, telling their fellow graduates what schools they got into and which ones they will attend in the fall.
We wish them the best of luck at their high school “picks.”
As the Brooklyn Bridge marks 143 years, meet Emily Roebling, the trailblazing woman who helped complete one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks.
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens gathered faith leaders, educators, and volunteers at Christ the King High School in Queens to help strengthen the Church’s mission of serving those most in need.
A California hairstylist is helping families in need by reviving bartering, trading salon services for skills and support within her community.
Eighth graders at St. Patrick Catholic Academy in Brooklyn are celebrating graduation season by passing their caps to kindergarteners and announcing their high school choices in a “Draft Day” tradition.