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Lenten Pilgrimage, Prayer Journey Goes to Saint Ephrem’s Parish

By Currents News

The Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage continued March 17 with pilgrims making their way to Saint Ephrem’s parish in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn for an evening prayer. 

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan led the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, marking the last service of the day at the church.

Earlier that day, the pilgrims gathered for a morning Mass with students of Saint Ephrem’s Catholic Academy, a spiritual rosary, and private prayer.

Bishop Brennan’s message to the pilgrims at the end of the day encouraged them to anchor themselves to Jesus Christ, calling him the only hope that wouldn’t disappoint.

The next stop of the Lenten Pilgrimage will be at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph on March 19. The Prospect Heights parish is one of six diocesan Jubilee shrine churches faithful can visit during the pilgrimage. 

Currents News will have full coverage of that stop on March 19. 

Choking Game Dangers: Parents Send Warning to Others About Deadly Online Challenge

By Jessica Easthope

The issue Currents News is reporting on is one that has been around for generations, and is making a comeback on social media.

It’s something that became a nightmare that Frank and Tina Kotnik wake up to every single day: their 15-year-old son Markus died accidentally while participating in a viral internet challenge. 

Ever since, the Kotniks have advocated for regulations and internet safety, but mostly for parents to be aware of what they weren’t.

Anyone would think Frank Kotnik’s 1976 Pontiac Firebird Formula was his pride and joy, but his real pride and joy sits in the front seat. It’s a photo of his son, Marckus. 

“Markus was as I would put it, an All-American boy, outgoing,” Frank Kotnik tells Currents News. “He loved sports, he loved going to car shows and was helping me rebuild my first car. He was in his glory when he was doing that, and it all came crashing down.”

Frank and Markus restored it together but recently Frank began to use the bright red muscle car to raise awareness: Markus accidentally strangled himself on May 11 2017 while playing “the choking game,”  a viral trend that encourages viewers to asphyxiate themselves until they lose consciousness.

“All these other parents bring their kids to the car shows. I said, ‘I’m going to reach out to them,’” he explains of his choice to bring the car to shows with the photo in the passenger seat. “You don’t want to live my nightmare. Markus is always with me. And people come over and I pass these pamphlets out to parents and grandparents alike, saying, ‘If this could happen to us, this could happen to you.’”

“I came home and I went upstairs, and I was calling his name. And then I went into the bathroom, and I found him,”  recalls Markus’ mother Tina. “And it was so hard, I screamed. I tried to get him down first, and I couldn’t and I opened the windows. I screamed, then my husband came in. It was just so hard.”

Searches on several social media platforms populate with videos depicting these dangerous challenges, waiting to be viewed by anyone with a device.

Judy Rogg, one of the nation’s most prominent choking game experts, spoke with Currents News about what the Kotnik family is going through. She runs Erik’s Cause, a non-profit dedicated to spreading awareness and providing education for adults and children about the dangers of viral social media challenges. 

“You know, even smart, strong kids can make dumb choices with deadly consequences,” she tells Current News over Zoom. “And why? Because their brains aren’t fully developed to think through all of the consequences.”

Fifteen years ago, she was a victim of the choking game. Rogg’s 12-year-old son Erik died playing it on April 20, 2010.

“What happened to Eric is just every parent’s worst nightmare,” she recalls. “And, at the end of the day, it turns out that he left me with an underserved mission. And his underserved mission is to get the word out there about pass-out games, eventually online challenges,and harms in general.”

Rogg is a strong supporter of KOSA, or the Kids Online Safety Act – legislation first introduced to congress in 2022 aiming to establish a series of guidelines and tools to protect minors from harmful material online through a “duty of care system.” 

“Challenges are really a stepchild of internet harms,” Roggs explains. “There are no public databases. There are no formal ways of registering a death or an injury.”

Over the years education has become her main focus, because the legislation can only go so far without it. 

“For me, my primary purpose is the education,” she says. “Because unfortunately, I don’t see legislation happening anytime soon. Only because of the multi-billion dollar efforts of Big Tech to remain unregulated.” 

Rogg and the Kotniks are living examples of what happens when the darkest parts of the internet grab hold.

“If somebody would have told me, maybe I would have had that conversation. Maybe that would have saved him,” wonders Frank Kotnik. “We don’t want to see any other family live the nightmare, what we are going through, over this nonsense. These online challenges, like the choking game.”

All they can do is hope their efforts save one life. 

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)  Bill passed in the Senate with unprecedented bipartisan support, but was met with criticism in the House over censorship and free speech. It is set to be reintroduced in the House in 2025.

For more information about the dangers of the choking game – and for training programs for adults – go to erikscause.org. 

TONIGHT AT 7: Parents Warn Others About the Return of Dangerous Online Trend

By Currents News

Social media trends appearing on popular online platforms have turned deadly.

What began as a way to get clicks and “likes” online has taken lives, and one couple from St. Prancras parish in Glendale, Queens, is sending out a warning to other parents about the potential dangers of viral trends.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 3/17/2025

Following in the prayerful example of Saint Patrick, hundreds gathered in the iconic New York City cathedral that bears his name for Mass.

The Vatican has released the first photo of Pope Francis since he was admitted to the hospital more than a month ago.

In the Diocese of Brooklyn one parishioner is handing down his bagpipe expertise to young people year-round – not just on March 17.

Parishioners Rally Outside of St. Jerome Church To Support Haitian Community Amid Immigration Concerns

By Currents News

Parishioners in the Diocese of Immigrants showed their support for the Haitian community on the evening of March 14. 

The pastor of St. Jerome Church, Father Hilaire Belizaire spoke at a rally outside his East Flatbush church, defending Temporary Protected Status (TPS). 

‘Because of the program, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have been allowed to live in the U.S. through TPS after a devastating earthquake in 2010.

Recently, their stay in the country has been cut down: the deadline for their return to Haiti moved from February 2026 to August 3, 2025.

Father Belizaire told his Haitian parishioners that they are not alone, saying that God and the Brooklyn community are standing behind them.

Mass, Parade Kick Off St. Patrick’s Day in Brooklyn

By Currents News

Before the March 17 Mass in midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated St. Patrick’s Day early.

The March 16 Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Windsor Terrace kicked off the 50th annual Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Bishop Brennan celebrated the liturgy and encouraged parishioners to use their festivities as a show of faith. 

During the Mass, Bishop Brennan also blessed and dedicated a wreath to those who lost their lives on 9/11.

Catholics Remember Patron Saint of Ireland With Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

By Currents News

The Catholics who filled the pews of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan the morning of March 17 were welcomed by the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Other bishops were in attendance, including Bishop of Brooklyn Robert Brennan.

Archbishop Eamon Martin came from Ireland to New York City and delivered the homily, calling St. Patrick a pilgrim of hope.

Later in life, as a priest and bishop, Patrick returned to the land of his captivity as a missionary to spread the good news. Archbishop Martin said we can learn from the patron saint of Ireland.

“Sadly we live in a world where too many people feel overwhelmed by the pressures and worries of everyday and are tempted to despair,” he said. “but as people of god we can never allow ourselves to stop daring to hope.”

Celtic Beats at Brooklyn Church: Parishioner Starts Bagpipe Lessons for Youth

By Katie Vasquez and Bill Miller

BAY RIDGE — On March 6, the lower church at St. Patrick Parish hummed with a cacophony of reed instruments called “practice chanters” and a staccato of drum-sticks hitting practice pads, all to Celtic melodies and beats.

Sixteen parish youth — most attending St. Patrick Catholic Academy, also in Bay Ridge — ranged from second grade to a high school sophomore, yet, despite the age gap, their intensity showed signs of a cohesive pipe-and-drum corps in the making.

One might surmise they were rehearsing for the 30th Annual Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 25. However, while future parades are the goal, the kids at these early-evening lessons did not have bags attached to their chanters to form complete sets of bagpipes. Those will come later, said their teacher, parishioner Cornelius McCarthy.

The group began learning on pads and practice chanters only a few months ago, according to McCarthy, an experienced piper. Still, he added proudly that this group is making tremendous progress. “They’re phenomenal,” he said. “They’re getting into the circle now, and they’re starting to sync up with each other.”

McCarthy, the son of Irish immigrants, played the bagpipes competitively at Manhattan University and for the Knights of Columbus. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children, and two of them — Mac, a fourth grader, and Maeve, who is in third grade — are learning the bagpipes themselves. They’ve been around their dad’s bagpipes all of their lives, so they wanted to learn how to play, he said.

That process began on Thursday nights last summer, but soon, other kids from the neighborhood and the parish also wanted to learn the instrument. As a result, McCarthy had a class too big for the family’s dining room, so he approached Father Brian Dowd, the pastor of St. Patrick Church, and Romeo Petric, the parish’s athletic representative for the CYO program.

McCarthy then got permission to teach the lessons at 5 p.m. each Thursday in the lower church. The fee is $300, which covers practice instruments and sheet music. McCarthy said parents will have to buy complete instruments once their kids are ready to move beyond practice charters. A good set of pipes starts at about $1,200, he added.

“I figured not everybody’s going to dunk a basketball or hit a homerun,” McCarthy said. “And the CYO has so many other things to offer. But, if I could catch the kids that want to be a part of something, to do music, I was, like, ‘let me give them a chance.’ ”

Joining McCarthy, who said the group is open to kids from other parishes, are experienced assistants from the parish — Joseph Marciano and Billy Woods on the pipes and Dennis Scanlon on drums. The growing group inspires McCarthy’s daughter, Maeve.

“I felt like I would really enjoy the bagpipes,” she said. “It looked fun, but when I actually first tried it, it was not just fun it was fun-tastic! I liked being in the group and playing as a band. This is the first instrument I learned, so it’s really fun.”

Shea McQuade, a fifth grader at the academy, said she always enjoyed watching professional drummers perform, and now she aims to be as good as any of them. Learning teamwork also excites her.

“I like meeting new kids my age or even younger,” Shea said.

Uniforms will be made from the Irish National Tartan, which has shades of green similar to those of the Catholic academy uniforms. McCarthy said with a laugh that the darker green conceals a “multitude” of stains when kids spill food or drink.

Shea said she looks forward to actually being in a parade with the big drum but noted she might “have to get some muscle to carry it.” McCarthy said he isn’t too worried about that.

“Fourteen pounds — that’s the weight of a snare drum,” he said. “But they’re definitely working up to it.”

Still, he noted, it is important not to overdo the lessons.

“I’m not going to go too crazy because they’re young,” said McCarthy. “Next year, obviously, we’ll do the Bay Ridge parade, and maybe something else close to the area. “I don’t want them traveling too much yet, until everybody’s confident.”

Kind Deeds Brings Ukrainian War Veterans to New York City for Prosthetics and Rehab

By Jessica Easthope

Life goes on inside of a two-family home on Staten Island for Hennadiy Degtyar and Vitalii Fomenko.  Even though the men, both Ukrainian war veterans, find themselves in a situation that’s anything but normal.

“There was so much negativity around me but finally the silver lining of my life appeared, but I know there was a lot of hard work behind this,” Hennadiy tells Currents News from their home.

The two recount the darkest days of their lives with little emotion. Both soldiers were on the front lines of the Ukraine war when they suffered devastating injuries that left them missing parts of their legs.

“We were in the forest at night and couldn’t use lights or the enemy drones would detect us. I put a tourniquet on my right leg to stop the bleeding. My foot was still there, but it was hanging off,” Hennadiy recalls of a September 2023 attack.

“It was two days before my birthday, there was a drone attack,” Vitalii who was injured in May of 2024, tells Currents News. “I was actually taking a video of my leg, narrating what was going on.”

Instead of dwelling in the past, they joke about saving money on shoes because they only need one pair between the two of them.

Hennadiy and Vitalii are now roommates at a home run by Kind Deeds, a New York-based non-profit that fits Ukrainian soldiers for prosthetics and provides physical therapy. The quality of U.S.-manufactured prosthetics offers a comfort and relief unavailable to them in war-torn Ukraine.

“After only 10 minutes of using it, I already got a blister on my leg and it set me back two weeks until I could even try it again. With this one I almost feel like I’m fully recovered,” Hennadiy says about his first prosthetic, compared to the one Kind Deeds gave him.

The clinical director for Kind Deeds, Dmitryo Shevchenko, says the organization has helped two civilians and 52 veterans. 30% return to the front lines with their prosthetics.

“These are the bravest most dedicated people I’ve met,” Shevchenko tells Currents News. “It’s an honor to be able to help guys like that.”

Hennadiy and Vitalii say they never lost hope or a sense of humor,. It’s what has kept them pushing through all this time. Their faith on the other hand, has been strengthened.

“Church for me is like emotional relief and calmness,” says Hennadiy. “These days, we’re more and more involved.”

The two soldiers are fighting every day for freedom and independence. For Hennadiy ,and Vitalii, and for all of Ukraine – there’s no time to focus on anything else.