A Catholic archbishop serving the military is speaking out against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision to provide abortion under certain circumstances.
The policy change allows service members and their relatives to get the procedure in instances of rape, incest, or when the life or health of the mother is at stake.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese of Military Services called the decision “at odds with the notion the military protects the innocent.”
A St. Francis Prep senior has beaten out hundreds of thousands of students across the country, scoring high enough on the PSAT to become a finalist in the running for a scholarship.
President Joe Biden will deliver his State of The Union address tonight.
In Alabama, IVF treatments are resuming, after the governor signed a bill to protect in vitro fertilization and provide immunity to patients and clinics during services.
Pope Francis’s holy week schedule has been made public.
Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan and the other pilgrims visited St. Clare Church in Rosedale, Queens, on Wednesday, March 6.
Bishop Brennan celebrated Mass with the pilgrims after he stopped at their Catholic academy, and greeted the kids arriving for school, along with the Mass, Bishop Brennan also prayed the rosary with pilgrims.
To see all the stops the pilgrims will make, download the Lenten Pilgrimage App. Search “Lenten Pilgrimage” on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
If you can’t be there in person, the app helps you there too. You can join the prayer community from the palm of your hand.
by Katie Vasquez
Sitting in the first pew at St. Sebastian’s church in Woodside, Queens, is Shekhar Giri and his wife, Arlene Allam Assi.
They’re a staple for the 10:30 am Sunday mass, but what you probably couldn’t tell is that Shekhar is not Catholic, at least not yet.
He is one of the 447 catechumens in the Diocese of Brooklyn or people who will be baptized at the Easter vigil.
At this particular mass, he received the first scrutiny, when a priest lays their hands over someone to be baptized and the parish prays they may reject anything that is contrary to a christian life.
“The father removed the exorcism, the bad spirit from the body, that’s the reason we are there. I feel blessed,” said Giri.
Shekhar’s journey to this point has been filled with twists and turns.
He was born into a Hindu family in Nepal and for years, would help climbers trying to scale Mount Everest.
“I went up to the base camp because of, you know, a group of people and they need some time for medical help and they had frostbite,” said Giri.
It was while teaching in a business school that he met his wife Arlene, who was raised Catholic in the Philippines.
On their first date she insisted on showing him her faith.
“It happened to be Christmas, and we attended the midnight mass at St. Patrick’s cathedral. And if I’m not mistaken, that was his first introduction to the church,” said Shekhar’s wife, Arlene Allam Assi.
26 years later the pair are still going to mass together every Sunday.
But it wasn’t until recently that Shekhar felt called to become part of the church.
“I started to read the bible and some kind of power spirit, you know, tells me to baptize. all the time, you know. So that’s why I chose baptism,” said Giri.
The pastor of Saint Sebastian Church, Father Patrick West says Shekhar’s story is a great lesson.
“Almost like the blind man who comes to a healing, you know, step by step. Some people, you know, say this is the time now. others take, you know, longer in their journey,” said Father West.
And the couple is looking forward to a fresh start with his baptism.
“Reborn. New life. and you, all your sins will be removed and that’s the way to live your life,” said Giri.
“He will be the same Shekhar. but I think he will be a happier person, a more generous individual, and more open to people,” said Allam Assi.
New York’s bishops are warning lawmakers about the dangers of an assisted suicide bill.
The prelates recently released a statement arguing against the “Medical Aid in Dying Act,” a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to end their life.
The bishops say assisted suicide is wrong and this measure does not contain adequate safeguards.
National correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, John Lavenburg, joins Currents News to talk more about the New York bishops’ fight against assisted suicide.
Pope Francis will travel to Rebibbia Women’s Prison in Rome to celebrate Holy Thursday with the inmates on March 28. The event, which begins at 4pm, will be a private celebration with no access for the public.
The Pope also visited this prison in 2015.
“Everyone can say, ‘Jesus gave up His life for me,'” Pope Francis said. “He gave his life for you, you, and you, for me, for them … For everyone, first and last name included. His love is personal.”
There, Pope Francis followed the Holy Thursday tradition of washing the feet of 12 people. All were inmates and some were women.
Francis is the third pope to visit this prison after Benedict XVI and John Paul II.
by Bill Miller
BAYSIDE — “Slick” and “polished” is how Father Peter Rayder described the “fake priest” suspected of stealing $900 on March 3 from American Martyrs Parish in Queens.
The man matches the description of a perpetrator seen on surveillance video at other church burglary sites throughout the nation. Included is a botched burglary last October at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Brooklyn.
Each time, witnesses described a bald, bearded, middle-aged man wearing dark priestly attire. He has no clerical collar, but he always says he is a priest.
On Friday, March 3, a man matching the description tried unsuccessfully to enter doorways at the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville on Long Island, said Suffolk County Police.
Bayside
Father Rayder, pastor of American Martyrs, said the man appeared moments before the 12:30 p.m. Sunday Mass on March 3. The church is at 79-43 Bell Blvd. in Bayside.
Msgr. Edward Doran, a retired priest who helps on Sunday, was preparing to celebrate Mass when the man entered and identified himself as a visiting priest.
The monsignor told Father Rayder details of his brief conversation with the man.
“He said, ‘I spoke to Father Peter — I’m staying in the rectory — but I need access to get my alb to concelebrate Mass,’” Father Rayder said.
Msgr. Doran opened the door for the man, and continued preparing for Mass, the pastor said.
Meanwhile, Father Rayder was having coffee with Deacon Stanley Galazin in the rectory kitchen, but the man snuck in without them noticing.
“He went right upstairs,” Father Rayder said. “And he was in the rectory for quite a lot (of time).”
Later, Msgr. Doran called to say he had assisted the visiting priest, but Father Rayder knew nothing of this “house guest.”
He deplored how the fake priest took advantage of Msgr. Doran, whose contributions on Sundays are vital for the parish.
“He somehow knew that 10 minutes before Mass starts is when priests are kind of vulnerable,” Father Rayder said. “They’re preparing their minds for Mass.”
The pastor said he spotted the man and spoke with him briefly.
“I walk out with Deacon Stan, and there he is, getting ready to leave,” he said.
Father Rayder said he reminded the “priest” that he needed a “letter of suitability” from his parish or diocese to concelebrate Mass — which all priests know.
“That was very unusual,” Father Rayder noted. “He said, ‘Oh, I have one in my car; I’ll go get it.’ Of course, he went and never came back.”
At about 3 p.m., Father Rayder noticed $900 cash missing from his room.
New York City Police Department investigators said the man was last seen driving away, south on Bell Boulevard, in a dark-colored sedan.
“He was very slick,” Father Rayder said. “And he was polished. He knew my name. He knew the Mass schedule.
“He obviously did his homework.”
Flatlands
A similar incident happened Oct. 1, 2023, at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in the Flatlands area of Brooklyn.
But this time, the burglar didn’t get past a teenage sacristan.
Father Dwayne Davis, the pastor, said a man matching the same description came to the sacristy between Masses and claimed he was a visiting priest.
He said he left his keys in the rectory, so he needed access. But the sacristan felt uneasy, so he texted Father Davis. “He didn’t sense that he was a priest,” the pastor said.
Knowing he had no visiting priests, Father Davis rushed back to the church, but the man was gone.
Father Davis immediately checked footage from security cameras which showed the man moving about the parish.
“He went to the backdoor rectory and pulled on it,” Father Davis said. “He wasn’t going to get in, and that’s when he went to the sacristy.”
The sacristan’s response impressed Father Davis, who declined to give his name because he is a minor.
“My sacristan was prudent, and he responded really well,” Father Davis said. “I’m very grateful for him because if not, things could’ve gone really bad.”
Amityville
A man — same appearance, clothing, and claims of being a priest — arrived at about 5 p.m. March 1 at the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville’s Motherhouse at 555 Albany Ave., Amityville.
Spokespersons for the police and the sisters said the man said he wanted to go into the chapel and pray while waiting for a friend.
He got past the reception desk and went to an apartment building and knocked on the door. Police said a sister answered but didn’t recognize the man so she slammed the door.
The sister then alerted reception, said Lena Pennino-Smith, spokeswoman for the sisters.
The man was on the property for about an hour, but no one was hurt and nothing was missing, police said.
That incident produced another set of surveillance photos, prompting people on Long Island, Queens, and Brooklyn to compare notes.
Father Rayder said the response is always the same — “That’s the guy!”
“There’s nothing else I can do,” he added. “We just hope he gets caught and does his penance. And then, I forgive him. No big deal.
“But everything’s got to match — you can’t give any forgiveness if the person doesn’t do their penance.”
Houston, Other Points West
A few weeks after the encounter at his parish, Father Davis saw reports in the Catholic media about a priest imposter trying to steal from church property across the U.S.
Security camera images resembled the man the sacristan faced on Oct. 1.
“I texted them to the sacristan, and he said, ‘That’s the guy!’” Father Davis recalled. “I couldn’t imagine somebody coming to rob me, and it was gonna be a serial robber working across the country.”
He told people at the Houston church that his name was “Father Martin, a visiting priest from Chicago.”
The man claimed he’d left his keys in the priests’ residence to sneak past a church staffer.
Once inside, Houston police said, he stole cash from the rooms of the rectory.
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston issued a security alert for the man who was also “on the radar of Dallas police and has warrants out in California and Pennsylvania.”
NYPD investigators said the man seen at American Martyrs on March 3 had a light complexion, appeared to be about 45-55 years old, 190 pounds, and 5-feet-9-inches tall. He was last seen wearing a blue suit with black shoes.
Investigators urged anyone with information to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
People can also share their information on the CrimeStoppers website: crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X @NYPDTips.
Tipsters may be eligible for a reward up to $3,500. All information shared is confidential, the NYPD said.
A wanted imposter priest strikes in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
New York bishops are speaking out against the latest version of an assisted suicide bill in the New York State Senate.
Leading up to Easter, we are profiling some of the people who will be joining the Catholic faith.
The Lenten Pilgrimage continues in the Diocese of Brooklyn at St. Clare Church in Rosedale, Queens.
by Katie Vasquez
In the basement of Flophina Modeste Morris’ Jamaica, Queens home, she often refurbishes sacred images, including the Saint Joseph statue outside the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ozone Park.
It’s a hobby that takes time. Flophina says it can take her anywhere from a week to a year to finish the pieces, but she’s had years of practice.
“I will clean it. I will see what I have to do. And after the strip, I will start to fix the little things—the little scratches—and then paint and paint,” said Modeste Morris.
Her restoration began about five years ago, when her pastor at St. Pius V, Father Felix Sanchez, asked her to fix this sacred heart of Jesus statue.
“It lost most of its fingers,” said Father Sanchez, “The sacred heart. You couldn’t see the sacred heart.”
Father Felix knew Flophina had a background in art when she lived in Venezuela and trusted she could do it. While Flophina had never done the work before, she relied on her faith to get her through.
“Let me try. With God, all things are possible,” said Modeste Morris.
Since then, Flophina has worked on so many statues that she has lost count. But she’ll never forget the look on the faces of the parishioners who see her work for the first time.
“They say, ‘Oh, oh his eyes, oh this statue,’ or ‘Oh my god, I feel something,’ and I say, ‘Oh my goodness.’ That means that I did it,” said Modeste Morris.
Flophina understands these statues are more than art.
“The art is the only thing that can tell us our history, you know, our history,” said Modeste Morris. “The story of the churches, the story of the parishioners.”
“It’s not only about an image; an image is always a sacred thing, but even the artistic value, I think, is important for any small church like us,” said Father Sanchez.
By Jessica Easthope
St. Francis Secondary School students in Laare, Kenya, dance and sing ahead of Mass, 7,000 miles from St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, Queens. The schools call themselves twins, but on the surface, they don’t have much in common.
“It’s incredible what they achieve in that school,” said Pat McLaughlin, principal at St. Francis Prep. “They have students who walk eight miles a day to get to school and then back to get home.”
Every Wednesday during Lent, Prep students wear a specific T-shirt. On the back of the T-shirt is a school bus, and on the front, it says ‘Lent, an Acceptable Time.’
“Our Lenten theme this year is an acceptable time, an acceptable time to reflect, an acceptable time to pray, an acceptable time to sacrifice and this is the way we do it at school,” said McLaughlin.
They were founded in the same order as the Franciscan Brothers in Ireland. Every year, St. Francis Prep’s Lenten service project benefits St. Francis Laare. This year, money raised from the T-shirts will go toward buying the school a bus.
“What the bus is going to allow them to do is go and pick up children from a bigger geographical area,” said Christian Sullivan, Director of Campus Ministry. “Many of the students at St. Francis walk two and three hours to get to school.”
Sullivan is spearheading the project. He said the two schools are bonded by a Franciscan education that can be life-changing whether you live in Kenya or Queens.
“For us as a Franciscan school to be connected globally with other Franciscans across the globe through a T-shirt is really powerful,” Sullivan said.
The T-shirts are $20, a small price for sophomore Maddie Mauceri, but that can make a big difference.
“A lot of my time in prayer and in faith is in reflection of the life I have as compared to our twin school in Laare, Kenya,” Mauceri said. “But also taking it a step further and saying what can we do to make their lives better.”
Carner Mendoza Prep’s Lenten mission has allowed him to look beyond his community.
“I do think that Prep has given me that mindset to think about others that may be right next to you or others that may be on the other side of the world,” Mendoza said.
Prep fully expects to meet its $25,000 goal. After Easter, the money will be sent to St. Francis Laare in Kenya. St. Francis Prep is close to their goal, but they could use your help to reach and exceed it.
If you want to donate to the Lenten Service Project, send it via Venmo to @StFrancisPrep and use ‘Campus Ministry Donation’ as the memo.