By Currents News
Students at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy in Brooklyn put their books down for a day to celebrate their end-of-year Field Day.
The school-wide event was held on May 30.
The fun in the sun activities included a tug of war between parents and staff. Kids also got the chance to feast on pizza and ices – a great way to usher in the summer season.
After an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, faith communities around the country are coming together in solidarity to condemn the violence.
Rome’s economy is seeing a major boost after the election of Pope Leo XIV.
Students at a Catholic school in Chicago held a second mock papal conclave – this time joined by the city’s Cardinal Blase Cupich.
In Brooklyn, Bay Ridge Catholic Academy students swapped studying for a day of fun during their annual field day.
A man in Boulder, Colorado has been charged with a hate crime after after he used a makeshift flamethrower to attack a pro-Israel demonstration.
Bishop Robert Brennan is urging New Yorkers to oppose the Medical Aid in Dying Act, warning that it puts vulnerable communities at risk.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Jubilee of Families with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
A beloved voice on the airwaves for more than 50 years, Sister Camille D’Arienzo has retired from her weekly 1010 WINS commentary.
By Currents News
The Diocese of Brooklyn is dedicated to fighting all forms of hate.
A few weeks ago, 10 schools across Brooklyn and Queens got a lesson about speaking up against injustice when they spoke to international bestselling and award-winning novelist, Liza Wiemer.
Her book, “The Assignment,” is based on a real-life event where students refused to take part in a debate about Hitler’s final solution.
Liza says she was impressed by her experience with the Catholic students.
Liza’s book, “The Assignment,” is available for purchase on Amazon.
By Currents News
What’s normally a space for community was roped off by crime scene tape on June 1.
Those who saw what happened at Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado were in a state of shock.
“It is clear that this is a targeted act of violence, and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism,” Mark Michalek, FBI Denver Special Agent, said during a press conference following the attack.
Just before 1:30 on Sunday afternoon, calls came in to Boulder Police saying there was a man with a weapon and people were being set on fire.
In total — there are eight victims. Two of them were taken to a burn unit in Aurora, Colorado. One of them sustained very serious injuries.
“Witnesses are reporting that the subject used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd,” Mark Michalek said.
The attack happened at a regularly scheduled weekly event called “Run for Their Lives.”
“I have done it, and so I understand what it is, and people have been saying it’s a protest or it’s this and that, and it’s really not. It’s a very peaceful walk to bring awareness to the hostages that are still not home,” Boulder local Judy Amabile told Currents News.
“The suspect was heard to yell ‘Free Palestine’ during the attack,” Michalek noted.
The suspect, who’s now in custody, is 45-year-old Mohammed Solomon.
“People want to know: Who got hurt? Who did this. Is there some other problem? Is there something else that might happen? And so everybody’s on edge,” Amabile explained.
Meanwhile, police across the country — including in New York — are increasing security at houses of worship.
Diocese of Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan issued a statement on June 2, saying, “The heinous anti-Semitic attack that injured eight people yesterday in Boulder, Colorado, showed a complete disregard for human life. Let us continue to pray that the days of senseless killings will soon be replaced by a time of peace.”
Boulder is still waiting on answers.
“Any attempt to divide us through fear or harm has no place in Boulder, Colorado, or anywhere in our nation,” Michalek said.
There’s no denying, the city is a place that knows how to come together.
“All I know is Boulder has recovered before from acts of violence, and we will again recover,” police officer Stephen Redfearn said.
By Currents News
Students at St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy lit up the stage for their “Disney Delight” Spring Concert.
The Brooklyn students performed classics including Mary Poppins’ “Let’s Go Fly A Kite,” The Jungle Book’s “The Bare Necessities,” and some newer favorites like “For the First Time in Forever” from the movie, Frozen.
By Currents News
The Diocese of Brooklyn celebrated the Jubilee of Families by honoring the elderly at a Queens Village nursing home.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated Mass at the Queen of Peace Residence on May 31. He praised seniors as the generation that continues to pass on the gift of faith and preserves family memories.
During his homily, he thanked the Little Sisters of the Poor — the religious order that runs the home — for seeing the value of the older generation and treating them with respect.
By Currents News and Alexandra Moyen
JAMAICA — Waiting Inside Terminal 7 at John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 28, Victor Mooney stood next to a box that held his bicycle. On top were two small rocks, each inscribed with a simple message: “2025, We Remember Now.”
Also with him were books, including St. John Paul II’s biography “A Celebration” and the memoir by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, “Night,” of which he plans to read on his upcoming journey.
For Mooney, a Catholic, they aren’t just momentos, but a promise to honor the legacy of Pope Francis by turning remembrance into a movement.
“The greatest tsunami now is antisemitism, and Pope Francis has been a chief proponent of trying to lower the temperature on that,” Mooney said. “I hope this bicycle pilgrimage can do that, and I feel the only remedy to combat hate is with love.”
Inspired by Pope Francis’ five-day pilgrimage to Poland in 2016 and the country’s historical ties to the Holocaust, Mooney boarded a flight to Warsaw. From there, he launched his 621-mile cycling pilgrimage across Poland as part of his We Remember Challenge — a personal tribute to the legacy of the late pope and a call to action against antisemitism.
“If I can share a glimpse of Pope Francis’ legacy in fighting antisemitism, increasing tolerance, and strengthening interfaith dialogue, I think I’ve done something for humanity,” Mooney said.
Beginning on June 2, Mooney plans to travel 80-100 miles a day, beginning each of his rides at 2 a.m. He said his first stop would be Piłsudski Square, formerly Victory Square in Warsaw, the same site where St. John Paul II made his historic visit back in 1979. From there, he’s going to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa — a venerated icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery — where he said he plans to pray for “help, guidance, and protection.”
Mooney will then continue on to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, where he plans to leave one of the inscribed rocks at the concentration camp as an act of remembrance of the atrocities committed. There, he will also read from “Night,” a moment he knows he “will never forget.”
Along his route, Mooney said he also plans to visit other spiritually and historically significant sites, including the family home of St. John Paul II and the Bazylika Wadowice in Wadowice, the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Kraków, the Lord’s Ark Church in Nowa Huta, and the Majdanek State Museum in Lublin, which is Mooney’s final destination and the resting place of his second rock.
“It’ll be a tearful experience, but the only antidote to fight hate is with love,” Mooney said, “So, I’m going to Poland as a pilgrim on two wheels.
“And it’s not a race, but I do have a flight back to Rome for the Jubilee of Sport on June 13.”
Mooney’s advocacy against antisemitism goes back to the height of the Israeli-Hamas war, when he began seeing posters showing a picture of the different hostages held captive by Hamas, with the word “kidnapped” across the top.
Soon after, he said, they began appearing around his predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens. That’s when Mooney said he noticed the “times were changing” around him and there was a spike in antisemitism.
“We are just in tough times right now, and the tsunami of hate is at unprecedented levels,” Mooney said. “I am just hoping to bring attention and solidarity as a black person.”
Mooney, who is a parishioner at St. Brigid Church in Westbury, New York, noted the “long traditional tie” between African Americans and Jewish people.
“We were both people who were oppressed,” Mooney said.
“When the slave master was trying to snatch us when we escaped the plantations, we diverted into the marshes to hide, and for our Jewish brothers [and sisters], they ran in the forest trying to avoid the Gestapo and the Nazis,” he added. “We have a shared history, and particularly in the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, Jewish people stood side-by-side with African Americans.”
Mooney’s decision to undertake a bicycle journey was also inspired by something Pope Francis said in an April 24, 2018, homily: “Someone once said that the equilibrium of the Church is like balancing a bicycle: it’s stable and goes well when it is moving. When you stop it, it falls.”
His trip will conclude in Rome, where he plans to visit the tomb of Pope Francis in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major and express his gratitude to the former Holy Father.
Mooney called the Jubilee Year a “great opportunity” for Catholics to “share their faith.”
“I hope others will follow. Particularly for young people, don’t be afraid to express your faith,” Mooney said. “You can say the Father is with you, helps you. Don’t be afraid.”
Pope Leo XIV is reiterating his appeal to end the war in Ukraine and begin a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Jubilee of Grandparents will soon be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, and in the Diocese of Brooklyn one grandmother is sharing how her bond with her grandkids is one rooted in faith.
Although she’s retired, St. Bernard of Clairvaux parishioner Teresa Sorrentino is still working. She’s bringing her Brooklyn church together by running its gift shop, making her tonight’s “Pulse of the Parish.”
By Katie Vasquez
For Diane Reynolds, spending time with any of her 11 grandchildren is special.
That’s especially when the conversation turns to Jesus. The devoted grandmother wants to nurture their spiritual lives.
“We learn by example, and that’s something I hope to pass on to my grandchildren that they live what they learn,” said Reynolds, a parishioner at Good Shepherd Church in Marine Park, Brooklyn.
Every Tuesday afternoon the pews are filled with prayer as Reynolds and her grandchildren gather to do the rosary together with the grandparents club at Good Shepherd Catholic Academy. It’s a tradition that deepens their connection not just to each other but to their faith.
“Praying the rosary with them gives me a great sense of peace,” said Reynolds.
It helped guide her granddaughter Nora Brown in her own spirituality.
“I learn a lot from her, especially during Mass with the prayers,” Brown told Currents News. “I like the Hail Mary and, I pray a lot to Saint Anthony.”
Pew research shows that 79 % of former catholics left the church before the age of 23, a statistic that motivates Reynolds to be a steady source of faith for her family.
“You have to start them young because they do live what they learn, and even if they stray for a while, they always have that firm foundation to know that Jesus is always here and always ready to forgive,” said Reynolds.
The message is not lost on her grandchildren.
“I’m glad to know that if I need help or I’m struggling, that I have grandma who can help me and I can pray and get things solved,” said Brown.
Reynolds hopes her efforts will inspire other grandparents to take an active role in their grandchildren’s spiritual growth.
“We do want to be role models for our grandchildren. We want to instill good citizenship. And I think part of that is believing in something bigger than yourself,” said Reynolds.
From a pew in Brooklyn, one grandmother’s legacy of faith is taking root, one prayer at a time.