It’s been nearly two weeks since parishioners prayed with their beloved bishop. Now they just pray for him.
Bishop O’Connell’s body was found February 18, shot in the torso. Two days later police arrested his housekeeper’s husband, who confessed to murdering him. The world still doesn’t know why.
Currents News Jessica Easthope is in Los Angeles where a special memorial Mass is being held.
The final farewell begins today for Bishop David O’Connell, who is remembered as a peacemaker, a pastor, and a precious friend.
Some justices on the Supreme Court express skepticism over President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and whether it’s constitutional.
The Vatican also released new details about the Pope’s upcoming trip to Hungary next month.
The unexpected news of the shooting death of Bishop David O’Connell on February 18 in Los Angeles shook the community. Immediately after, people made memorials outside his house and began paying their respects.
For the Archdiocese of L.A., Bishop O’Connell was more than a spiritual father, he was a friend.
“Bishop Dave was a man for all people, sort of like St. Paul. We hear St. Paul being all things for all people and he had a way of receiving people who were in their most vulnerable and neediest moments. But simultaneously was a community leader. He worked with city council. He worked with the police department, with the sheriff’s department, was involved in a lot of civil movements as well,” said Father Jonathon Meyer.
Fr. Jonathon and Fr. Brian Humphrey both knew the Bishop when he was simply Fr. Dave. Before being ordained a bishop, he was the pastor in a violent gang neighborhood. He would find people on the streets and give them work.
But for these two young priests, he was also someone who helped them discern their vocation. During the year Fr. Jonathon spent serving at St. Michael’s, a local parish, Bishop O’Connell gave him the push he needed to fully commit to the priesthood.
“It was in that year at St. Michael’s, I think especially through his witness, through his love, through his faith and devotion to the Lord that kind of gave me that bit of impetus, that last sort of push to say fiat, yes, I will do Your will, Lord,” said Meyer.
Bishop O’Connell’s work with the various groups in the community earned him the name “The Peacemaker.”
“You know, I think that’s a great name for him. I think the Archbishop gave him that name in his statement and I think it’s perfect.
Not just because of all the social work and a lot of the things he did in the community—which he did a ton—but in that interpersonal way where he would love you, even in the midst of your acting out. He would look at you with love,” said Humphrey.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is holding three days of memorial services beginning on March 1 and ending on March 3. Bishop David O’Connell will be laid to rest in Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on March 4.
If you’re ever looking for a Mass in Vietnamese, Spanish, or even Czech, don’t look any further than Astoria, Queens.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a true representation of the Diocese of Brooklyn. It is one of the most diverse parishes in the diocese of immigrants.
Fortunately, the pastor, Monsignor Cuong Pham, is multilingual.
“When I came here, I said the whole world exists in my parish,” Pham said. “There are masses in five languages every Sunday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Astoria: English, Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese and Czech.”
It’s one of the reasons he admires his church.
“People speak all kinds of languages, people have different stories, people come with so much richness cultural and religious and societal and to have all of that in one single religious body my family, my spiritual family is a great feeling,” he said.
But the church’s diversity isn’t the only thing about it that stands out. There’s something else that’s rich about it.
It’s been around for a long time. In fact, Our Lady of Mount Carmel is considered the mother church of Queens County. It’s been around since the 1840s.
One way Neida Martinez hopes to bring the church’s past into the future is by digitizing all the sacramental registers at the church.
“That’s the history of the parish,” she said.
Martinez says the task isn’t as simple as it sounds.
“It’s not an easy process and on a volunteer basis it’s even more difficult,” she said. “There are some pages that have been damaged and that’s why the less handling the better.”
It’s a lot of work to scan and transcribe all the data when everything is handwritten. Some of the entries were filled with a pen that was dipped in ink.
But taking two centuries worth of church history on pages and making them accessible with just the click of a mouse has helped Martinez combine her two passions: technology, and faith.
Martinez wears many hats at the church, including Director of Communications an Eucharistic Minister, lector, faith formation teacher, and she helps coordinate the annual Catholic Appeal. All of it is volunteer work.
“Everything I do is for the greater good of the glory of God of course,” Martinez said. “But for the greater good of the parish anything that helps the parish I’ll be there.”
As the comms director, Martinez live streams every Mass and special event. She’s also in charge of the church’s social media pages.
“It’s a way to get young people,” Martinez said. “You know if we don’t bring young people in, we have no church.”
Martinez sees the virtual outreach as an extension of the church’s effort to reach people and connect them to God.
“That’s our way of evangelization. It’s not just going to mass but going to mass and then jumping off from that point to meeting your fellow parishioners.”
The highest court in the country is tackling the case of student loan forgiveness.
It’s a week of mourning in Los Angeles as Catholics continue to honor Bishop David O’Connell.
One parishioner is working hard to bring her parish’s rich history into the future.
Catholics in Los Angeles are preparing to say their final farewells to a beloved auxiliary bishop.
Bishop David O’Connell was murdered in his Hacienda Heights home more than a week ago.
Since his untimely death, memorials for the prelate have been pouring in – from in person vigils outside his home to a new digital memorial created by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
In just a few days, the archdiocese will be holding their final services for the auxiliary bishop.
Currents News will be live from Los Angeles with reports from Jessica Easthope and Michelle Powers.
Additionally, we will have exclusive coverage on how the late auxiliary bishop changed the streets of Los Angeles. That’ll be from Wednesday thru Friday, right here on Currents News.
By John Alexander and Jessica Easthope
Ten years ago, Sophie Nsougan had just immigrated to the United States from Togo in West Africa. While looking to find work, Nsougan took the opportunity to help introduce and integrate the unique sounds of her native country into the Mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Jamaica, Queens.
It was a traditional blending of African rhythms with the steel drum sounds of the Caribbean islands. The result was the church’s first African Heritage Mass in 2013. According to Nsougan, it was a way to share her culture and allow everyone to embrace the world and the rhythm they left behind.
“We would invite people from other Catholic churches to the Mass, and one year we had a priest come all the way from Togo, and another year we had a priest come from the West African country of Benin,” explained Nsougan. “We would also have kids dressed up in costumes from the motherland and they would bring different fruits like oranges and pineapples as offerings during the Mass,” she added.
Father Chris J. Piasta, who has served as St. Joseph’s pastor since 2010, and is also the Catholic chaplain at LaGuardia and JFK Airports, credited Nsougan with being a vital force behind the African Heritage Mass. “She was probably one of the most, if not the most, engaged in preparing that Mass and sending out the information and visiting with African parishioners in the diocese,” he said.
Father Piasta explained that St. Joseph’s is home to a significant number of African immigrants, predominantly from West Africa and places such as Senegal and from all along the coast, encompassing about 25 different countries. In addition, there is a notable Caribbean community within the parish.
“So years back we decided to celebrate their heritage simply because they all come to a standard Mass that is being said in English,” he said. “But I wanted them to have a feel for their culture at least once a year so they could feel more at home and manifest their heritage and background, which also includes their music and how they celebrate the liturgy. We know that certain cultures have their own way of celebrating the liturgy, and that’s why we did it.”
The African Heritage Mass proved so popular that worshippers would come from beyond the diocese and even from out of state.
Father Piasta, who was born in Poland and whose family is from Germany, admitted that he has always been fascinated by the different cultures that make up his parish community.
“It’s something I truly feel passionate about because the beginnings of the church and the future of the church has everything to do with Africa, and it is deeply rooted in that continent that is home to so many Catholics today,” he explained.
The African Heritage Mass also blends in a sampling of calypso and music from the islands. Father Piasta explained that he spent years working in radio broadcasting while in Europe and developed an affinity for music from around the world, including artists such as African singer-songwriter Miriam Makeba. “It’s the kind of music I would listen to at home,” said Father Piasta, who recently became a Knight of Peter Claver, a largely African American fraternal organization.
St. Joseph’s music director Kevin Robinson says that his goal is to have the culture present every Sunday and to make it a part of the Black Catholic experience. Robinson is an accomplished jazz musician in his own right and expresses a love for gospel music as well.
“My parents are from the Caribbean, and I’m from Panama and Jamaica so I have all of that blended together in a gumbo,” he said. “I have all those influences — reggae, calypso, jazz, rhythm and blues — and I try to mix all that together in my style of playing.
Robinson, who recently became music director at St. Joseph, credits Father Piasta with allowing him the freedom to perform the music for the African and Caribbean members of the congregation. He cites as an example taking a song like “Amazing Grace” and performing it in a calypso or reggae style, which he says the parishioners love hearing.
He adds that this method works with other popular hymns such as “How Great Thou Art,” which he likes to arrange in a Mahalia Jackson or Aretha Franklin gospel style. He also admits to putting a reggae or calypso spin on traditional favorites such as “Blessed Assurance” and “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” as a way to offer a variety of musical samplings to the congregation.
“Among the Black Catholics there is a hunger for not only the traditional hymns but also music that speaks to the Black Catholic experience,” Robinson explained. “And that includes the immigrant community, the Caribbean community, and the style of music that they use, including reggae and calypso, so we try to blend those together. And it largely depends on the pastor because some may not be so agreeable, but we’ve been blessed with Father Chris.”
And far as the music itself, Robinson said that the church will bring in additional instruments such as a steel drum for a calypso flavor, or African drums, in order to supplement the “praise and worship” ensemble of six vocalists and musicians in the band who play trumpet and keyboard.
Recently, Robinson spearheaded a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. that blended King’s “I Have a Dream” speech with an Aretha Franklin-inspired rendition of “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”
Parishioner Myles Petillo channeled the spirit of Dr. King by reciting his moving words, and was joined by the vocalist Fabienne Volcy for “Precious Lord,” and the congregation loved it.
Today parishioners at St. Joseph still look forward to the Mass, which had been halted briefly due to the pandemic, as a way to celebrate music that emerged from all parts of the African continent.
The Mass was originally encouraged by then-Diocese of Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, who viewed it as a means to promote cultural unity and social justice within the diocese, and to prove that through cultural music God’s love crosses continents.
The U.S. Department of Energy now says the COVID-19 pandemic most likely came from a laboratory leak in China.
Dozens of migrants, including children, were killed when their boat broke apart on rocks off the coast of Calabria, Italy.
The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday on President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program.
The music director at St. Joseph’s church in Jamaica incorporates Black history and culture into the music at Mass.
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The U.S. Department of Energy now believes the COVID-19 global pandemic most likely came from a laboratory leak in China, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The White House and members of both the House and Senate Select Intelligence Committees were briefed on the classified report by agency officials.
U.S. government officials have been divided over whether the pandemic was caused by a Chinese lab-leak or emerged naturally from the wild.
White House officials have yet to comment on the report’s findings.
“There are a variety of views in the intelligence community,” Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor, told CNN on Sunday. “Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other. A number of them have said they just don’t have enough information to be sure.”
Sullivan said the White House is continuing with efforts to investigate the spread of the virus.
“If we gain any further insight or information, we will share it with Congress, and we will share it with the American people,” Sullivan added. “But right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question.”
The Department of Energy’s investigation draws on its expertise of running eight national laboratories, some conducting similar biological research as the lab in Wuhan, China.
The assessment comes as Republicans on Capitol Hill have been pushing for further investigation into the lab leak theory.
Members of the GOP spoke out on the department’s findings, with some calling for more investigations.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, would like for the U.S. intelligence community to take part in “extensive public hearings” to determine whether a Chinese laboratory is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked the international community three years ago.
“Think about what just happened over the last three years, one of the biggest pandemics in a century,” Rep. Sullivan said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “A lot of evidence that it’s coming from the Chinese and when other countries even raise it, like Australia, the Chinese use their course of economic activity to shut people up.”
China imposed trade restrictions with Australia in 2020 after, among other things, the latter accused the former of being responsible for the spread of COVID-19.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley tweeted out intentions to make the findings public through legislation.
“The American people deserve the full truth about #covid origins. No more whitewash. I will again introduce legislation to make the US government’s intelligence reports on covid open to the people,” the Republican lawmaker said.
Some members of the party are already prepared to punish the Chinese government.
“Re. China’s lab leak, being proven right doesn’t matter. What matters is holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable, so this doesn’t happen again,” Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton tweeted on Sunday.
A senior U.S. intelligence official told the Wall Street Journal that new information caused the department to make the updated assessment.
The intelligence community has noted repeatedly that a lack of cooperation from Beijing has made it difficult to get to the bottom of the question of where the virus originated.
President Joe Biden has put resources into getting to the bottom of where and how the pandemic started.
China has denied the allegations that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory leak, calling it a conspiracy theory.
WASHINGTON — At least 63 migrants died Feb. 26 when the wooden boat carrying them — in a storm with high waves and strong winds — broke apart after crashing against rocks along the coast of Calabria in southern Italy.
The death toll was expected to rise as rescue crews continued to recover bodies the day after the wreckage.
In his Sunday Angelus, hours after the ill-fated ship was torn apart, Pope Francis prayed “for those who are lost, and for those who have survived.”
He also expressed his gratitude for all those working in the rescue efforts and for those “who offer welcome to those seeking refuge.”
“May the Virgin Mary sustain you,” he said, according to a Vatican News report.
The boat left Turkey the previous week with about 200 passengers. At least 80 survivors were initially found.
On the shore, rescue crews also found remnants of the splintered boat and migrants’ belongings, including toys and a few lifejackets.
Firefighter Inspector Giuseppe Larosa told reporters on the beach the next day that initial rescue crews had been devastated by the number of children who had drowned. He also said the bodies of the dead had scratches all over them that might have come from hanging onto the boat to save themselves.
“It was a spine-chilling scene,” he said, not only to find victims but to see the reaction of the survivors.
“That thing that struck me the most was their silence. The terror in their eyes and the fact that they were mute. Silent,” he said, according to The Associated Press.
The U.N. and Doctors Without Borders also had crews on the scene and reported that many of the boat’s victims were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Boats from Turkey carrying refugees have been taking the longer and more dangerous route to Italy in recent months, instead of Greece, where there has been an increased crackdown on migrant smuggling.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed human traffickers for the deaths, saying it was criminal to launch a small boat with so many people in adverse weather.
“It is inhumane to exchange the lives of men, women, and children for the price of a ticket under the false perspective of a safe journey,” she said in a statement.
Matteo Piantedosi, Italy’s interior minister, similarly said in a statement that new measures need to be taken to reduce the number of dangerous journeys like this one.
“It is essential to continue with every possible initiative to stop departures and discourage crossings in any way which takes advantage of the illusory mirage of a better life,” he said.
The Missing Migrants Project, an international group documenting the deaths and disappearances of migrants, said the Central Mediterranean route is “the deadliest known migration route in the world.” The group has recorded more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances there since it started this work in 2014.
With better weather coming in the region, a Vatican News report warned that more migrant boats are expected to set sail in upcoming weeks.