Catholic Charities are helping some Ukrainian refugees who never met their sponsors.
The number of migrants crossing the border into California is on the rise.
President Joe Biden officially launched his re-election bid for 2024 this morning.
A Boston family got a long-lost heirloom back thanks to an Italian teen.
New York state lawmakers are trying to figure out what to do about an onslaught of illicit pot vendors.
The talks are part of the state budget, as lawmakers in Albany hope to figure out a final deal on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed $227 billion spending plan by Friday.
Some 1,500 black market shops are operating in New York City’s five boroughs.
Just last week, the state senate established a panel devoted to hashing out issues involving illegal weed.
David Gerber, founder of Sober at Home, an online counseling company that helps people suffering from addiction, joins Currents News to take a deep dive into the issue of these illegal weed shops across the city.
A teenager in Italy stumbled across a piece of history in his local forest when he found a bracelet belonging to a soldier during World War II.
Gabriel Pavolttoni, 19, was metal detecting in the woods near his home in Pisa, Italy, when he heard the noise every metal detector user waits for.
“So I pull it out from the ground. I put it in my hand, and I saw, okay, this is a bracelet,” Pavolttoni said. “I was, like, interested in seeing who was this person.”
Pavolttoni had found a silver bracelet with a world war two soldier’s name engraved on the front, the date, 1943, and another name on the back.
“I saw Lt. Ernest Holtzclaw,” Pavolttoni said. “I found his grave in Boston.”
Pavolttoni knew he wanted to return it to the family of Captain Ernest Holtzclaw, a member of the U.S. Army’s 34th Infantry Division.
The bracelet was probably left behind when the U.S. fought against Italy’s dictator Benito Mussolini during World War II, in 1943.
His determination led him to the owner of the jewelry and getting the long lost heirloom home.
In the years between 1942 and 1945, approximately 16 million Americans served in World War II, around the time the bracelet was lost.
AMITYVILLE — Sister Francis Dominici Piscatella says, “I’m nobody special. I’m no better than anybody else.”
While her modesty is becoming, she is incorrect.
Sister Francis, a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, is indeed special. At 110 years of age, she has the distinction of being the oldest nun in the U.S. She is also the second oldest ecclesiastical person in the world.
Woodrow Wilson was in the White House when Sister Francis was born on April 20, 1913. She has lived through 19 U.S. presidents, two world wars, 10 popes, and the Internet Age.
On April 20, 2023 — her 110th birthday — a party was held for her at the sisters’ motherhouse in Amityville. A large contingent of her family, more than 20 in number, came to the party to help her celebrate her big day.
Sister Peggy McVetty, the prioress sister of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, talked about the significance of Sister Francis’ milestone. “We have a supercentenarian with us today,” she said, explaining how rare a feat the elderly nun had accomplished. “Only 1 in 1,000 get to be a supercentenarian.”
Sister Francis was presented with a birthday cake and had to be helped out of her chair to blow out the candles. But she gamely took a big knife and cut the first piece.
Her day started off the way all of her days begin — with a Mass. Thursday’s Mass was celebrated by Msgr. Ned Ryan at the convent chapel.
Sister Francis appeared surprised at the attention she was getting. “I’m grateful to see everyone here. But I’m just a normal person. What can I say? I’m no better than anybody else,” she said.
Sister Francis, who was born Ursula Piscatella in Central Islip, Long Island, was one of seven children. Her family has always called her Lee.
She has not had an easy life. At the age of 2, she was seriously injured in an accident and had to have her left forearm amputated. “My mother made me completely independent. She never let anyone help me. Whatever a person with two hands could do, I could do. I’ve lived a normal life,” she said.
Despite tough times, she has dedicated her life to God and said it has made her happy. “I am at peace,” she added.
Sister Francis entered the convent at age 17. Even back then, she showed grit and determination. The religious community bestowed a name on her, but she didn’t like it and boldly requested a new one. So, she was given another one, Sister Francis Dominici. She liked it and it stuck.
Sister Francis earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. With her aptitude for numbers, she taught high school algebra and then taught math for 52 years at Molloy Catholic College (now Molloy University) in Rockville Centre. She retired at the age of 85.
Over the years, Sister Francis has encouraged numerous sisterly vocations and even served as a sponsor for nuns entering the convent.
These days, she lives in an apartment in East Williston, Long Island, with a close friend, Sister Francis Kammer, who was one of her students decades ago and who now looks after her. “She was the greatest teacher I ever had,” Sister Francis Kammer said.
“She’s an amazing person. We go to Mass every day. She’s slowed down a lot, of course. But when you have a heart filled with love, like she does, it gets you through the day,” she added.
By the way, the second oldest nun in the U.S. is Sister Evelyn Hurley, of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, who turned 108 on March 7.
Cynthia Grimley, Sister Francis’ great-niece, said her great-aunt is an inspiration to the entire family. “She’s someone we always looked up to. We all wanted to be like her because she was always so happy and content with life,” she said.
Sister Francis has also done something else important for her family — bringing them closer to their Catholic faith. “She’s always asking us if we went to church,” Grimley said.
The years pass so quickly that it seems like just yesterday the family gathered for Sister Francis’ 100th birthday 10 years ago. “I remember thinking at that time, ‘She’s getting older. How many more of these will we get to celebrate with her?’ ” Grimley said. “And look where we are today. She’s amazing.”
Tags: Molloy University, oldest nun in America, Sister Francis Dominici Piscatella, Sister Francis Kammer, Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville
The battle over abortion continues in the United States.
The widely-used abortion drug, Mifepristone, remains available to women in the U.S., following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.
The White House responded to the high court’s ruling with President Joe Biden praising justices for keeping Mifepristone available to women as the fight over the drug continues.
Not everyone was happy with the high court’s decision.
“The interim order by the Supreme Court is a tremendous disappointment, both for the loss of innocent pre-born life from chemical abortion, and for the danger that chemical abortion poses to women. It is wrong to allow the FDA’s greatly diminished health and safety standards for mifepristone to remain in place,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement.
As the next chapter in Mifepristone begins many are hoping the high court will step up to remove the abortion drug once and for all.
“I also hope the Supreme Court would make the FDA do its job, the job it did not do 20 years ago and actually seriously examine this medicine,” Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said.
The drug could ultimately be taken away again.
The case is expected to go back to the fifth circuit federal appeals court.
A three-judge-panel will hold a hearing on May 17th and then issue a decision sometime later.
An appeal to the Supreme Court would need to happen within three months of the ruling.
There’s no deadline for the justices to review the case.
The widely used abortion drug, Mifepristone, remains available to women in the U.S. after a ruling by the Supreme Court on Friday.
U.S. government embassy employees are out of Sudan according to the Biden administration.
Some Students at St. Saviour Catholic High School just got back from Japan.
She is the oldest nun in America and she lives on Long Island.
Pope Francis welcomed the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas.
The meeting took place three months before the start of World Youth Day in Portugal. It will be the Catholic Church’s first international, large-scale event since the pandemic, bringing together people from 120 countries.
The last World Youth Day was on January 27, 2019 in Panama. Since then, it has not been possible to organize the event due to pandemic restrictions.
World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, from August 1 to 6. The motto chosen for the occasion is “Mary arose and departed without delay,” a quote referring to Mary’s visit to her cousin St. Elizabeth.
We are once again awaiting a Supreme Court decision related to abortion.
It’s been four years since the Sri Lanka Easter Church bombings took place and the Catholic Church there is fighting to uncover the truth.
Thousands of objects that couldn’t fit in a new museum at the Colosseum Archaeological Park in Rome are now on display elsewhere.
Pope Francis’ Twitter account—that holds over 18 million followers—no longer has a blue checkmark next to his name. Now, it is grey.
The grey checkmark means the account represents an official government organization or active government leader.
The new checkmark is one of many changes made to Twitter since it was purchased by Elon Musk in 2022.
Twitter CEO, billionaire and tech mogul Elon Musk met with Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta in 2022 with four of his seven children.
On April 21, 2019, a terrorist attack in Sri Lanka destroyed two Catholic churches and killed 250 people. Four years later, the local community is still searching for the truth.
Fr. Julian Perera, from the Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka, has spoken with the United Nations Human Rights Council. He claims the investigation into the attacks stalled after details of the terrorist group began to emerge. The 23 people investigating were also transferred to another case.
“Because what happened was it happened in 2019 in April. But in the month of November of 2019, the entire set of investigators, as far as I remember 23 of them, who were leading the investigation, who were going into the details of who was behind that,” Fr. Perera said. “What was the reason, what was happening within this group… All of them were transferred and removed.”
The Sri Lankan priest claims that the government is trying to make the case too complicated to solve. They arrested 25 people, but charged them with 23,000 crimes. He says that with so many charges, it will be difficult for the case to be solved.
“Can you imagine having a case with 23,000 charges against 25 people?” Fr. Perera said. “So you can see that it’s just a eyewash because it will take more than a lifetime to read these charges against them. So you can see that there is an attempt, a deliberate attempt to somehow cover the truth being exposed.”
Fr. Perera suggests that there are links between political groups and the terrorist attack four years ago. A climate of instability could electorally benefit the political parties with a reputation for being tough on the country’s enemies. But this has not stopped him and many others from trying to uncover the truth.
“We will somehow fight for justice and somehow also ultimately reveal the truth because our faith tells us as Jesus said: truth shall set you free,'” Fr. Perera said. “This country will be set free of all this political gameplay only when the truth of the Easter Sunday attack is revealed.”
While there is religious freedom in Sri Lanka, Fr. Perera argues that not all religions have freedom of speech. The Catholic Church has developed a good reputation in the country by fighting against injustice.
For example, the Church helped defend Jeevantha Peiris, who protested against the corruption of the government and Cardinal Ranjith, Bishop of Colombo, who called for a more democratic society.
“We have gained some credibility because we have been standing up and saying what is wrong is wrong,” Fr. Perera said. “For example, recently, there was a postponement of elections in Sri Lanka. So the religious leaders were not vocal enough. But the cardinal was out there, saying it out right, saying it straight out, saying that this is unacceptable. If you have the time for elections, have it. Why do you want to delay elections? Because you are going to lose it.”
Fr. Perera says the Church in Sri Lanka will continue to fight for answers and support justice for all.