March Madness Takes Over Diocese of Brooklyn School

by Katie Vasquez

Dozens of 8th graders hitting the hard wood at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Academy on March 14. Their schools cheered from the sidelines as the teams competed in their own version of March Madness.

Blessed Sacrament teacher Nicole Ramkissoon wanted to bring the college tournament to the middle schools so kids can have fun during a stressful time.

“State tests are coming up. Graduation is coming up, and I made it a senior event because I thought it would be nice for our eighth graders to have one last hurrah before they graduate. Something to remember,” said Ramkissoon.

Just like the official tournament, the players got their heads in the game.

Matthew Stalzer, an 8th grader at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy, told Currents News that he enjoyed playing in the tournament because of “just how fast paced it is. How intense it is.”

Eight schools battled it out besides Blessed Sacrament: St. Clare, St. Rose of Lima, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Bartholomew, Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Sorrows, and Our Lady of Mercy.

“I’m looking forward to it, you know playing with my teammates and giving us chemistry, making a better bond with my classmates,” Blake Dunbar, an 8th grader at St. Clare Catholic Academy, told Currents News before he hit the court.

Students are aiming for more than just a slam dunk, also forging friendships and fostering teamwork that goes beyond the tournament.

“It’s actually good because we all get to embrace how much fun we have in these sports, and that we get to spend time together with each and every other school,” Michael Camacho, an 8th grader at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Academy, explained.

By the end, Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy took home the gold.

One of the team’s star players, Antonio Menzis, said he was impressed by the sportsmanship shown by all: “There’s always a reward, it’s always hard work. Everybody did a good job.”

Blessed Sacrament is considering expanding their March Madness, inviting more schools and even spreading the tournament over multiple days in the future.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday 3/14/2025

In the Diocese of Brooklyn, two war veterans are learning how to maneuver through life with prosthetics after defending Ukraine.

The Great Diocesan Read-Aloud is underway, and Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan is sharing stories with Catholic academy students.

March Madness isn’t just for the St. John’s University men’s basketball team – students across Brooklyn and Queens are running the court, too.

Great Diocesan Read-Aloud: Bishop Brennan Shares Story With St. Saviour Catholic Academy

By Currents News

Catholic schools students across Brooklyn and Queens enjoyed the seventh annual Great Diocesan Read-Aloud.

Some lucky students at St. Saviour Catholic Academy in Park Slope, Brooklyn, had a very special guest reader during the read-aloud: Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan.

He read “St. John Bosco and His Big Gray Dog” to the school’s second grade class on March 14.

The book is about the saint’s thrilling life and a mysterious dog that protects him throughout his journeys.

The read-aloud is an initiative by DeSales Media Group’s “Catholic Telemedia Network,” and is meant to encourage children to learn to love reading.

Bishop Brennan Leads Benediction During Lenten Pilgrimage at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs

By Currents News

On March 13 Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan led a benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills, Queens.

It was the last service of the day at the parish, which included two Masses, stations of the cross, confessions and adoration.

The Brooklyn shepherd gave thanks to the parish for giving pilgrims space to spend time with the Lord, and was pleased to hear how parishioners were filing into the church all day long.

The Forest Hills stop is one of six parishes along the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage route that is designated a Jubilee shrine church.

If you visit Our Lady Queen of Martyrs or one of the other sites between now and the feast of the Immaculate Conception, as well as meet certain conditions like attending Mass, making the sacrament of reconciliation, and praying for the intentions of the pope, you can receive a plenary indulgence and be free from temporal punishment for your sins.

To see all the stops in the Diocese of Brooklyn, download the Lenten Pilgrimage app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. You can also learn more information by visiting lent.dioceseofbrooklyn.org.

TONIGHT AT 7: Ukrainian War Vets in the Diocese of Brooklyn Receive Prosthetics

By Currents News

It’s been over three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and while the two countries are still debating a possible 30 day ceasefire.

Tens of thousands are feeling the effects of the conflict, including in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Two men who were wounded after taking up arms for Ukraine are now starting their new life with prosthetics, thanks to a New York non-profit called “Kind Deeds.”

Inspired By Pope Francis: Student With Chronic Lyme Disease Becomes Advocate

By Jessica Easthope

Twenty-one-year-old Julia Bruzzese hasn’t taken a step in almost 10 years. But Julia would say she’s taken many to make sure no one else suffers the way she has.

“Countless doctors that I went to at the beginning of this,” she tells Currents News. “Because of that misdiagnosis, I’m in a wheelchair today, and this is happening to so many people.”

Before Julia was diagnosed with lyme disease in 2015 her father and main caregiver Enrico saw his healthy, active daughter fade away. Doctors told him Julia was faking it.

“I was tired, I was always falling asleep in class. I wasn’t able to see the board anymore,” she explains. “You know, I’d be getting recurring fevers for no reason. And I’d be going to my pediatrician for these really concerning symptoms. My hair was coming out like falling out in clumps. My hair. And she would be like, ‘It’s growing pains, you know, it’s just puberty.’”

“She’s blue in color. She has a high fever. And the doctor tells me she may be embellishing a bit,” recalls Enrico

The last decade of Julia’s life has been spent in a wheelchair, lobbying before Congress, advocating for funding, research, and for doctors to take symptoms of chronic lyme disease seriously.

“There’s a tremendous lack of awareness and lack of resources. And people need help,” Enrico tells Currents News. “And we’re trying to get more research, more funding for research, and just more awareness in medical schools and just in the public, about the disease and how serious it could be.”

The inaccuracy of testing is why I’m here today,” says Julia. “So if they would have caught it sooner, if my pediatrician had said, ‘That’s a bull’s eye rash, let me treat you for Lyme disease,’ I wouldn’t be here right now. Probably, I wouldn’t be in a wheelchair. It’s become my mission to raise awareness about lyme disease and advocate for people, because there are millions of people right now suffering with chronic lyme disease.”

Julia feels her platform was given to her early on in her disease by Pope Francis. She met him – fresh off the papal plane on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City the summer of her diagnosis. She thought if anyone could help her walk again it was him.

“I felt so much hope that day. I didn’t get up and walk, but he brought me so many different miracles and so much love,” she says. “And so that’s what I want to give back. And I think the pope brought me that.”

“It all started with the pope. He touched Julia. That’s what he did. He touched her, and he opened up Julia’s life to all these blessings that continue to this day,” adds. Enrico. “It’s just amazing.”

Now a junior at Long Island University, Julia is on track to becoming a doctor.

She still hopes to walk again – she has yet to get the miracle she asked Pope Francis for.

“So many people are suffering in silence and I’m grateful to be able to be their voice in a way,” she tells Currents News.”

“May this only happen to us,” says Enrico. “And that’s what I always ask God when I pray to him. Nobody else.”

But she says today, with confidence, she’s gotten more.

Pope Francis Marks 12 Year Anniversary With Resolve to Continue

By Currents News

Twelve years ago reporters stood in St. Peter’s Square and heard that Jorge Bergoglio had been elected as the next pope.

Then Pope Francis appeared on the balcony. People have been asking who he is since – and over the past 12 years, Francis has proven to be a pope full of surprises.

This year, Pope Francis is marking the anniversary of his election from hospital.

As such, Currents News is taking it as a moment to look at how much of a huge impact the pope has had on the papacy and the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis has embraced simplicity, wearing simple black shoes rather than the red papal slippers.

He uses a modest car and lives in a Vatican guest house rather than the papal palace.

The Holy Father has also been an advocate for migrants, even bringing refugee families to Rome on his papal plane.

Before his hospitalization, he sent a strong rebuke to the Trump administration over its immigration deportation policy.

Pope Francis has also appointed the first female leaders of Vatican departments, appointed the first women voting members of a global Vatican assembly, and washed the feet of female prisoners during his papacy.

The pontiff has made repeated efforts for peace, working with other religious leaders and making bold appeals to end conflicts in Africa, Ukraine, and the Middle East.

Finally, the pope has insisted that the Church is open to everyone, including LGBT Catholics.

“If a person is gay and accepts the Lord and has goodwill, well, who am I to judge” he said.

He authorized blessings for same-sex couples and called for the decriminalization of homosexuality.

Lamb has been speaking to those who know Pope Francis very well, and they say that he is a determined character driven by a deep sense of mission.

Despite a serious health crisis, Pope Francis is determined to continue.

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 3/13/2025

Young people from the Diocese of Brooklyn have been busy fundraising to travel to Rome this summer. But thanks to a generous parishioner, the financial stress of getting there has been alleviated for one church in Williamsburg.

On March 13, 2013, Pope Francis marked the beginning of his papacy. Currents News takes a look at his pontificate over the years.

One woman who met Pope Francis at the time of her lyme disease diagnosis says the encounter felt miraculous. Now she’s using that inspiration to help others.

Parishioner’s Generous Donation Offsets Costs for Youth Ministry to Travel to Jubilee in Rome

By Katie Vasquez

A group of six young people from Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation parish in Williamsburg are eager to head to Rome this summer, where they will take part in the 2025 Jubilee of Young People in July.

“We get to meet a lot of people our age from all over the world, not just in New York. And we get to hear about different perspectives and different stories of people’s lives, and maybe we can all connect to them,” Angelique Alonso, a member of the youth ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation, tells Currents News.

During a recent youth ministry meeting, they each wrote a note of gratitude to the many donors who have been making their future pilgrimage possible.

The church has been fundraising since last July, and had collected about $50,000 dollars through their efforts and events like a radio bingo fundraiser in late February.

“We had a great night. I think we’re going to be short $10 or $12,000,” is what Deacon Michael Chirichella, the director of the youth ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish, anticipated at the time of the fundraiser.

That’s when parishioner John Bardi stepped in.

“I said, ‘How much?’ and he told me, and I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll give you the check this week.'” the parishioner tells Currents News.

The church has always been the center of John’s life, and he knew this experience would be empowering.

“I could have covered the entire cost of the trip, but I wanted them to believe in this and put their time and effort in,” he explains.

Two brothers in the youth ministry, Ariel and Leonardo Mantilla, say that without John’s support this pilgrimage wouldn’t be possible.

“I told my parents that if we didn’t have enough money or had enough only to send my brother, I would let him go instead of me,” Leonard says.

“They’re very hard working parents, I would say, but I don’t think they would be able to pay for two people,” adds Ariel.

But Bardi says he isn’t looking for a thank you for his $12,000 donation.

” It’s about what this means, and what this means to these young adults in the parish that really want to experience this and experience Rome and go on this journey of faith,” he tells Currents News. “And, it’s exciting… looking forward to hearing how they feel afterwards.”

Now, these young people are focused on being pilgrims of hope.

12 Years Later: Marking the Anniversary of Pope Francis’ Papacy

By Currents News

It’s been 12 years of Pope Francis’ pontificate and 12 years of reform.

On one hand, economic concerns forced Pope Francis to make more internal controls in the Vatican accounts.

The objective was to avoid scenes like the arrest of a monsignor accused of alleged money smuggling.

“The auditors pointed out to the Pope the situation that can be summarized in this sentence: there is almost no transparency in the Holy See’s balance sheets,” journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi tells Currents News.

On the other hand, there was the reform against sexual abuse in the Church.

In 2019 the Holy Father summoned the presidents of all the bishops’ conferences of the world. The aim was to sensitize them to the need for action. Pope Francis made reforms to better prevent and prosecute alleged abusers, although there are Vatican officials who point out that the processes are still not transparent.

“The permanent, constant complaint is the lack of communication. A canonical process begins and then many of these victims know absolutely nothing about this process,” Monsignor Luis Manuel Alí Herrera of the Pontifical Commission for the Guardianship of Minors, explains. “This same situation, this same complaint, is not only said of the organisms of the Roman Curia, but also of the particular churches, the dioceses, of those in charge of their canonical processes.”

Perhaps the pope’s least understood position within the Church, or the one that has raised the most controversy among Catholics, has been the question of the relationship with homosexuality and the LGBTQ field, especially when he decided to explore if a type of blessing could be performed for same-sex couples.

“There has been a masterful innovation, an innovation in the way we understand blessings. The pope wanted to broaden the understanding of blessings to develop its pastoral richness,”

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect, Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, notes. “In other words, it helps us understand that there are blessings that do not confirm, do not sanction, do not consecrate, do not justify anything. They are just a prayer of the minister to express God’s help to continue living.”

Controversies aside, what cannot be left out is Pope Francis’ travel history: 47 trips and almost 70 countries. He took the longest trip of all at the age of 87 in 2024, Among the places he visited: the country with the most Muslims in the world, Indonesia. While there, he sent a message against religious fundamentalism.

If the pontiff has stood out for anything it is for his kind gestures towards others, especially towards the poor, with the sick, and with the marginalized.

One of the most endearing took place in a simple Roman parish when a child asked him if his father, who had recently died and was an atheist, was in heaven.