Archbishop Borys Gudziak, of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, is sounding the alarm about mental health.

“There is a veritable mental health crisis in the United States,” Archbishop Gudziak said.

So U.S. bishops want to do something about it.

With this public service announcement, the USCCB launched the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign.

We spoke with Archbishop Gudziak, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, about what inspired them to act.

“We have a lot of issues, teenage suicide, but also suicide in the advanced age group, over-80, a lot of distress among clergy, religious and of course among the population at large,” Archbishop Gudziak said.

The campaign comes at a time when depression and suicidal tendencies are on the rise.

In 2021, 22.8% of American adults, or nearly 58 million people, were classified as having a mental illness, according to the National Institute for Mental Health.

For more than 14 million people, that illness was considered severe and yet, there’s still a stigma surrounding it.

“We need to get over that stigma and we need to minister — we in the Church, we’re not medical professionals we’re ministers, so we’re looking at a mental health ministry,” Archbishop Gudziak said.

The bishops are hoping through prayer, discussion, and advocacy, “we can remove the stigma, spread awareness, and make sure everyone who needs help, gets help. 

“You’re not alone. The Church is with you,” Archbishop Gudziak said. “We want people to know that the problem that you have, the cross that you carry is important.”The bishops held a novena in the month of October. You can still find the daily prayers on their website usccb.org and search mental health novena.

Analia Santana is a Catholic and a member of the LGBTQ community, two identities she didn’t think could co-exist.

But now she has a place where she can feel welcome at Manhattan College’s new Pride Center for LGBTQ students and staff.  

“I was not expecting a pride center,” Santana said. “So I was like, Oh my gosh, we’re like, having a place and like, it’s going to be sponsored by the school, and like the school approves of it, I was very excited and very happy.”

“I want to say like in a way of healing kind of.”

About 200 students identify as LGBTQ along with 50 faculty members of the 3,200 students at the LaSallian Catholic institution.

It took roughly a year for the school to get the center off the ground, but it’s part of a growing movement happening in Catholic campuses around the country. 

“St. John’s has a pride center, Fordham is on the campus pride list, Georgetown has a pride center,” said Tiffany French, co-director of Manhattan College’s Pride Center. 

The discussion of inclusion for LGBTQ Catholics has long been debated in the Catholic Church.

Over the last month that topic was discussed by hundreds of delegates from all over the world at the Vatican’s global synod meetings. 

In the past, while Pope Francis has said any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin, he has also said homosexuality is not a crime and the Church is open to everyone.

Staff at Manhattan College believe this center promotes that openness. 

“A center like this communicates the broader sort of eye-opening that’s going on in the Church that these are issues that are important to the people who are the future of the church,” said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, chair of religious studies at Manhattan College.

The center has expanded their hours as more students and staff seek a safe space that makes them feel welcome.

Outreach to LGBTQ Catholics wasn’t the only thing discussed during the monthlong meeting. 

Some other hot-button topics were discerned, like the possibility of women deacons and priestly celibacy. 

So what comes next? 

The bishops take the report back to their dioceses and they’ll meet again for Part Two next year.

By Katie Vasquez

Miguel Lopez of the Sunset Park bakery Don Paco Lopez Panaderia fondly remembers his lost loved ones.

The photos set up on this altar or “ofrenda” are part of his Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos celebrations, a tradition that traces back to the Aztecs and Mayans in Mexico.

“They used to celebrate in July, August, but when the Spanish came to Mexico, they joined Día de los Muertos with the All Saints’ Day,” Lopez said.

But the bakery owner says this isn’t a day of mourning, rather it’s a celebration.

“It’s nothing scary, it’s joy,” Lopez said. “Why? Because we feel that the loved ones that are not with us anymore, they come back and they stay with us.”

Each part of the store decorations helps the souls in their journey from the afterlife.

Brightly colored paper represents the wind, marigold flowers for smell, white candles as a guiding light, and water to quench their thirst. 

“We want to offer them the best that we can,” Lopez said.

Even the bread honors the dead. 

The third-generation baker spent weeks cranking out hundreds of orders of the popular bread pan de muerto.

“This small circle is the circle of life,” Lopez said.

Every part of the shop is authentic to their culture.

“This is very traditional Mexican bread, right?,” said Gabriela Miranda, a customer at the bakery. “So it’s not the same in every place that you go.”

But for some customers it’s worth it to give their relatives some piece of heaven on earth. 

“It’s kind of their day on earth with us,” said Anahi Saavedra, a customer at the bakery. As part of the Day of the Dead tradition, on Thursday, the souls will head back to their final resting place.

The Radio City Rockettes are kicking off the Christmas season with a new member of their iconic line you might recognize.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan was on hand Thursday, Nov. 2, for the blessing of the animals used in the Christmas spectacular’s live Nativity.

A camel named Humphrey, some sheep, and a donkey came strutting down Fifth Avenue, ready to make their on-stage debut.

Cardinal Dolan sprinkled them all with holy water and reminded everyone of Christ’s presence in the Christmas show.

You can see the Rockettes and the animals in a live Nativity at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which runs from Nov. 17 to Jan. 1.

By Jessica Easthope

It started as a normal day at school for 11-year-old Shaheen Johnson.

He never suspected that while sitting in his sixth grade ELA class at St. Clare Catholic Academy in Rosedale, he’d have the shock of a lifetime.

“I was so shocked, words cannot describe how I’m feeling right now,” Johnson said. “I am so happy. This is a great accomplishment.” 

Johnson sold the most Tablet newspaper subscriptions of any student in the Diocese of Brooklyn during the newspaper’s fundraiser for Catholic schools. 

John Alexander, the paper’s marketing and circulation manager presented him with the grand prize, a check for $3,000, on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

“I want to be a business owner when I grow up so it was great practice,” Johnson said. “I told them the prices. I persuaded some of them because you have to use certain tactics to get them to do something, but still I got them.”

For every $25 subscription sold the student gets $10 and their school gets $10. Shaheen’s classmate Catleya Carnakie-Brown was the fundraiser’s third place winner.

“I was ecstatic, I didn’t know what to say,” Carnakie-Brown said. “I was just … that was a great moment for me and I’m going to treasure that for the longest time.”

Alexander said having the job of presenting the checks year after year never gets old and the fundraiser’s mission continues to take on new meaning for students.

“I really can’t tell you how rewarding and how heartening it is to see the look on these kids’ faces when you present them with a check for something they earned, something they put a lot of work into,” Alexander said. “This isn’t being done by any stretch for money, this is being done for evangelization and for trying to spread the word of Catholic journalism and a paper that we’re very proud of and that’s why I want to give back. That’s what it’s all about.”

Bishop Robert Brennan prayed for the dearly departed during a Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush.

It’s part of an annual tradition for All Souls’ Day, where the shepherd of Brooklyn, along with the auxiliary bishops, hold services at Catholic cemeteries in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island.

Bishop Brennan said the prayers to those who have passed are just another important part of our faith. 

After Mass, Bishop Brennan also honored those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, blessing a monument to 18 Medal of Honor recipients.

The Diocese of Brooklyn’s story of immigration is built into Sacred Heart and St. Stephen’s statues in Carroll Gardens.

Those same statues still greet newcomers, many who now come from different states, people like Christian Kauffmann.  

Kauffmann moved to Brooklyn from Kentucky in 1986 and has made himself at home at Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen’s, whether it’s in the pews during Sunday Mass or in his workshop in the church basement.

Kauffman isn’t a carpenter by trade, he’s just handy, something church leaders noticed.

“He’s downstairs, whatever we need he can do right there,” said Msgr. Guy Massie pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Stephen’s. “He has hands of gold really.”

Kauffman said he’s happy to share his talents with the church.

“I do believe in God very strongly,” Kauffman said. “This is a way to, I guess, it’s a way to say thank you to express gratitude.”

“I don’t generally build from scratch. I just take what I can find and create something for the church,” Kauffman said.

He’s now working on a backdrop for a saint shrine and when this project is done, he will take on another project.

“There will be something else,” Kauffman said. “I noticed that one of these kneelers is broken as I’m sitting here so I’ll fix it.”

Christian Kauffmann, of Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church is The Pulse Of The Parish.