by Katie Vasquez

An artifact of faith is helping New Yorkers see a part of American history in a whole new light.

“When we talk about westward expansion we don’t often talk about religion or we talk about it in very limited terms,” said Lily Wong, associate curator at the New York Historical Society.

The New York Historical Society is focusing on that spirituality with a new exhibit titled, “Acts of Faith: Religion and the American West.”

Curators have gathered a vast collection of 60 objects, images, and documents, all designed to tell the story of how religion became a vital part of American life in the 1800s.

The exhibition shows the many faiths of the American melting pot and the experience of a vast number of ethnic communities.

One Catholic could enjoy looking to the Southwest. Mexico once controlled the area but after the Mexican-American war, many Franciscans left, leaving the people of faith in the area struggling for spiritual guidance.

“So there are priests that are still active and working but there aren’t as many as probably are needed but the villagers work among themselves, it’s really important to them to sustain their Catholicism,” said Wong.

The journey out West was grueling and some didn’t make it. The rosary belonged to one of the first Sisters of Loretto to settle in New Mexico. She was one of the lucky ones.” 

“Two of the sisters took ill, one of them actually died along the way, but I think it’s a testament to their commitment to the mission,” said Wong.

It’s just one of many stories outlined by the Historical Society that New Yorkers should know.

“I think all of these and many of the ones in our exhibit are ones that people aren’t familiar with,” said Wong. The exhibition runs through February of next year.

To see the exhibit “Acts of Faith: Religion and the American West” just go to nyhistory.org/visit.

Some sad news for Catholics on Staten Island: A statue outside the Sacred Heart Church has been desecrated. The statue of the Son of God was found on All Saints’ Day with its hands cut off.

Shortly after, a parishioner found a statue of St. Francis nearby had been decapitated.

The St. Francis statue has been repaired but the church is still trying to fix the more than 100-year-old Christ statue outside the Sacred Heart Church. 

The NYPD is investigating the incidents; however, surveillance cameras were not positioned near the statues. 

Police are still looking for the suspect who desecrated a statue of Mary in a similar way last week in Queens.

The more-than-a-century-old statue at St. Andrew Avellino Church in Flushing was found missing a right hand and a damaged left one.

Deacon James Cowan, of Sacred Heart Church, spoke to Currents News about his, and the church’s, reaction to the crime.

by Katie Vasquez

There were 200 people in Cobble Hill who were united on Monday evening, Nov. 6, to pray for peace.

The group from the Kane Street Synagogue has forgotten what life was like before the war began.

“I don’t think we have a map of how to walk through this together,” said Rabbi Michelle Dardashti of Kane Street Synagogue. “You know, and it’s totally surreal for us here, what’s going on there.”

Since the Oct. 7 attack, death has captured the Holy Land. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed and 240 taken hostage. In Gaza, officials there say more than 10,000 have been killed.

Dozens of New York City rabbis just returned from a solidarity mission to the region. Rabbi Dardashti is one of them.

“We need to be really vigilant against both Islamophobia and antisemitism, we need to refuse to be enemies, this is not a religious war, and both Islamophobia and antisemitism are real things that are heightened in a moment like this,” Rabbi Dardashti said.

Rabbi Dardashti and those at the Brooklyn synagogue may not know what the future holds.

“For me, it’s important to try to share these feelings, and get together, because it’s too tough for somebody, it’s a burden you cannot bear on your own, you need to share that,” said Cobble Hill resident, Michael Boumendil.

They will continue to lean on prayer and each other.

Sunday, Nov. 5, marked the 53rd annual New York City Marathon.

Tens of thousands took part in the annual pilgrimage across the five boroughs.

Runners hit the streets for a 26.2 mile trek through the Big Apple.

A marathoner from Ethiopia won the men’s race, crossing the finish line in less than two hours and five minutes.

On the women’s side, a runner from Kenya ran away with the title, finishing the race in just under two hours and 28 minutes.

While he didn’t win the race, one marathoner from Long Island still accomplished his goal.

He raised more than $50,000 for a cause close to his heart.

Pat Kellachan sits down with Currents News to talk more about his cause.

For more info on how to donate to Pat’s cause, just go to Fundraisers.hakuapp.com/patrick-kellachan

By Jessica Easthope

Holy water used in the reconsecration of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Williamsburg. 

The house of worship was used as a location for a provocative music video by Sabrina Carpenter.

The video, released online last week, shows Carpenter scantily clad dancing around the altar which had sacrilegious props on it such as fake coffins, crosses and vessels with fake blood. 

Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated a Mass of Reparation at the church in order to restore sanctity and repair the harm done on Saturday. 

As a result, Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, the pastor of our lady of mt carmel annunciation parish has been removed as the diocese of brooklyn’s vicar for development, a role in which he oversaw fundraising efforts for the Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens. 

Msgr. Gigantiello will remain as the parish’s pastor, but Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski has taken over duties as administrator. at another mass at the parish on saturday monsignor Gigantiello read a letter to his parishioners saying in part:

“While I take full responsibility for the erroneous decision to allow the filming, I want to assure you that I had no knowledge that such a scene would be filmed in our church which we worked so hard to restore to its present sacred beauty. i further affirm that a lapse in judgment such as this will never take place again as i fully devote my every action to preserve the sanctity of the parish and faith community with which I am entrusted as I have done over my 7 years as pastor here at our lady of mount carmel-annunciation.”

Bishop Robert Brennan strongly condemned the filming of the music video and says a review of the documents presented to the parish prior to filming clearly portrays inappropriate behavior for a church. 

The diocese is also conducting a further administrative review into the matter.

In light of the events, Msgr. Gigantiello said money the church received for the filming of the music video is being donated to the Bridge Women’s Support Center.

You can read more about this story online at THETABLET.Org.

By Katie Vasquez

One of Brian Browne’s favorite pastimes is going for a jog.

He does it casually, getting in his steps whenever he can.

However, one day almost two years ago, Browne noticed something strange about a mile into his normal jog.

“I get chest pains like I never felt before, like literally someone reaching in and squeezing my chest,” Browne said. “I tried walking it off, I tried shaking it off.”

It wasn’t until he developed shingles that Brian went to the doctor.  He mentioned the chest pain, and what happened next saved his life.

“I got the angiogram the very next day,” Browne said. “It demonstrated that there was major blockage in at least 3 of my arteries, and the day after I had quintuple bypass heart surgery.”

Doctor Robert Tiballi of the St. Roch Center in Chicago said Browne was lucky that the doctors caught the blockage in time. 

“It’s a silent killer, and the first heart attack is the worst,” Dr. Tiballi said. “There’s like 40% of people [who] don’t survive their first heart attack.”

After that scare, the St. John’s University professor decided to make a change — to eat better and exercise more. 

Running a full marathon was always on Browne’s bucket list, and after months of training, he made his dream come true on Oct 22, completing the Catholic Health Suffolk County Marathon in more than four hours.

“There’s nothing like it, crossing the finish line and the support from the crowd but also that inner personal satisfaction is something that long after the crowd goes away, that hey I ran a marathon, that’s pretty cool,” Browne said.

It is an achievement Brian doesn’t take for granted. 

“I consider myself blessed that I had this event but you know it could have had a much different ending than it did,” Browne said.

A new flock has arrived at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Lower Manhattan.

Meet the SoHo sheep. 

These three fleece-covered guests are visiting old St. Pat’s from a farm in upstate New York, but for them, this is a working vacation.

The sheep will be tending the grounds of the church’s cemetery.

It was a tradition started almost ten years ago by a former pastor of the basilica.

Tommy Wilkinson, the president of Tommy’s New York, which offers tours of the grounds, feeds and tends to the flock. 

He said you can visit the SoHo Sheep for the next month or so, but there’s one catch.

This year’s flock are named Patrick for St. Patrick, Faustina for St. Faustina, and get this – “Fleece” Witherspoon.