By Currents News
Compass Care, a new pro-life medical center, has opened in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
March 5 was the ribbon cutting ceremony for the facility in Flatlands, Brooklyn.
Now the center can offer life-saving services to expectant mothers in New York, the abortion capital of the country.
By Katie Vasquez
For Catholics, a cross of ashes made from Palm Sunday palms placed on the forehead mark the beginning of Lent.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated Ash Wednesday at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn, distributing ashes to the faithful in the church while reminding them to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel. The Brooklyn shepherd says that’s the point of this Lenten season leading up to Christ’s death and resurrection.
“There’s always the invitation to turn to the Lord and sing. God never gives up on us,” he told Currents News.
Ash Wednesday also marks the beginning of a Lenten pilgrimage in the Diocese of Brooklyn: for the next 40 days faithful will travel to multiple churches throughout Brooklyn and Queens to join together in Mass, prayer, and reflection.
This year, in honor of the 2025 Holy Year, six of those stops will be Jubilee shrine churches. They are special places of pilgrimage where, if you meet certain conditions, you can receive a plenary indulgence and be free from temporal punishment for your sins.
“They’ll continue to be of significance not only on the day of their Lenten visit, but through the year,” said Bishop Brennan.
Bishop Brennan will be leading the way, and many are excited to join him throughout the journey.
” It’s amazing. It’s the best. It’s the best time.,” Madeline Flood, a parishioner at St. Mary, Mother of Jesus Parish in Brooklyn, told Currents News. “The pilgrimage is just, it’s so spiritually renewing.”
And as many consider their own personal Lenten sacrifice, Bishop Brennan suggests maybe Catholics consider adding a habit that leads to finding ways to connect with Christ.
“God gives us the ability to turn once again to Him. And so this is a chance for us to deepen our relationship with the Lord,” said Bishop Brennan.
It’s a call those in the pews of St. James are happy to answer.
“So I’m going to go back to what I know was familiar, you know? God is love,” Margaret Ames, who attended the Ash Wednesday Mass, told Currents News.
“It’s why I love Lent so much, it is a perfect way to get closer to God,” added Gervin Charles, who also attended the Ash Wednesday Mass.
The next stop in the Lenten pilgrimage will be at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, Queens, and pilgrims are also welcome to log their progress through the Lenten Pilgrimage app.
Even if you are not able to participate in person, you can still join the community online through the app to see all of the pilgrimage stops and even make prayer requests. To do so, download the Lenten Pilgrimage app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
You can also get more information by visiting lent.dioceseofbrooklyn.org/.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, a time of renewal as the Church journeys towards Easter. Bishop Robert Brennan is asking the faithful of the Diocese of Brooklyn to turn their attention to the following regulations.
Click the image below to view the full PDF in the March 1 print edition of The Tablet.
Bishop Robert Brennan is marking the beginning of the Lenten season on Ash Wednesday and preparing parishioners for a local pilgrimage throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Following Pope Francis’ continued prayers for peace in the world, Catholics are coming together to call for an end to the use of nuclear weapons.
As the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage draws near, Currents News introduces you to the eight pilgrims who – out of hundreds – have been chosen to participate in the journey.
By Katie Vasquez
The pews at Church of Our Saviour in Manhattan were filled with people advocating for the same cause: an end to the use of nuclear weapons.
Their prayers hoping to guide world leaders who are at the United Nations the week of March 3 to discuss a new treaty that would prohibit them..
Archbishop John Wester of the Diocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico celebrated the Tuesday evening Mass on March 4. He is one of the leading voices in the nation calling for the abolition of these weapons. Archbishop Wester discussed the dangers and morality of these devices, along with how the church is engaging with the meetings at the United Nations this week.
This will be the third gathering of states parties on the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. World leaders will discuss how to eliminate the weapons, provide victim assistance and environmental remediation.
So far 94 states have signed the treaty and 73 have ratified or acceded it. Several Catholic groups including the Dorothy Day Guild, Pax Christi New York, and the New York Catholic Worker helped to organize this Mass to coincide with the discussions.
Members say hearing the guidance of Archbishop Wester brings motivation to their work.
“I think Archbishop Wester is drawing our attention to both levels, both the high, high level work at the Church and diplomatic work, but also the importance of the local level in organizing Catholics to see the dangers of these types of weapons,” said Kevin Ahern, the director of the Dorothy Day Center.
“He’s really articulated how the Church has evolved from accepting deterrence to releasing nuclear weapons are immoral and how we can shift away from that,” explained Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, a member of the Catholic Worker movement.
“I would think that Catholics can work hard by educating. All of us need to educate ourselves on the issue,” said Archbishop Wester. “We really are in this false sense of security right now, in my opinion. Our young people, really, don’t remember the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and they don’t have any real memory of the first arms race at all. And so it’s important for us to especially to educate our youth, but also educate all of us on the dangers of nuclear weapons,”
The Catholic groups there planned to hold other events throughout the week including a peaceful protest outside the United Nations on Wednesday, March 5.
They hope their voices will make a difference in ending the use of nuclear weapons.
By Currents News
A cross with ash from Palm Sunday palms is a sign of faith on the foreheads of Catholics around the Diocese of Brooklyn this Ash Wednesday.
Bishop Robert Brennan is marking the beginning of the Lenten season at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Brooklyn and preparing his people for the death and resurrection of Christ.
Across the Diocese of Brooklyn Catholics are preparing for Easter and getting ready to begin a Lenten pilgrimage.
NET-TV will be airing 4 Masses on Ash Wednesday – Currents News has the schedule.
The Vatican says Pope Francis’ prognosis remains reserved as faithful continue to pray for him outside of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, in Washington D.C., and around the world.
Starting a new life in a new country and learning a new language isn’t easy, but Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens is helping newcomers ease into the transition.
The Vatican is continuing to monitor Pope Francis’ health, saying that on Monday the Holy Father had two episodes of acute respiratory failure.
Bishop Robert Brennan is sharing an important Gospel message with parishioners in the Diocese of Brooklyn as they prepare for the Lenten season.
The St. John’s University’s men’s basketball team has won its first Big East regular season title since 1985, and the school’s athletics chaplain is sharing his courtside view of the big moment with Currents News.
By Katie Vasquez
The lesson for the March 3, 2025, English as a Second Language class Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, Queens is “days of the week,” where students are learning basic phrases and a new language from scratch.
“I need talking, the English, very important,” Eva Mireles, a student in the class, tells Currents News.
The courses at the churchare offered by Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens free of charge thanks to federal and state funding, as well as private donations. Laura Dotterer, who is the project director for Queens, says they do so to give the new arrivals a chance at a better life.
“They’re here to first survive. They don’t have money to spend on going to private English, a second language school program,” she explains.
This class’s instructor, Charito Tubera, understands personally how the adults in these seats feel. In 1975 she came to the U.S. from the Philippines.
“I had no clue because I wasn’t given any orientation on what the weather is like, what the people looked like, the culture,” she recalls.
Charito says one of her biggest struggles back then was learning English.
“I was eager to learn because I’m in a foreign country where I have to relearn everything,” she says of how she became a fluent English speaker.
Now, she’s paying it forward, Charito has been teaching English as a second language for nearly 16 years and recently she joined with Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens in their efforts to help new arrivals,. She says combining her professional experience with her faith has brought new power to her calling.
“What’s most important is that I know that these people can actually receive something that they’ve never received before,” she says.
Our Lady of Sorrows offers the courses twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays, for adults 18 and older. Catholic Charities say the door is open for anyone to learn. All they have to do is apply online.
For more information on the English classes and the other services Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens has to offer, just go to ccbq.org
By Currents News
Father Emmanuel Conduah is the hospital chaplain at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Brooklyn, and he’s also a staunch advocate for women’s leadership.
Born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, Father Conduah was nurtured in a patriarchal society that profoundly influenced his early views on leadership.
However, through his extensive education and experiences, he has challenged these traditional beliefs and become interested in understanding women’s leadership, particularly in the context of Catholic education.
His advocacy led him to write a book on the topic. As we approach International Women’s Day on March 8, Father Conduah joins Currents News to discuss his book. “Untapped: Harnessing the Maximum Potential of Women in Leadership.”
You can purchase the book on Amazon.
By Currents News
Almost two dozen boys and girls joined the spiritual team at St. Joseph Church in Astoria, Queens: the parish installed 23 new altar servers on March 1.
The new altar servers are from the church’s religious education program and Catholic academy.
St Joseph’s pastor Father Vincent Chirichella and the parish’s parochial vicar Father Pedro Angucho blessed the altar servers’ white vestments and told the students how proud they are of them for putting their faith into action.