A funeral was held in Brooklyn for Jonathan Campos, one of the pilots of the American Airlines jet involved in the mid-air collision that occurred in Washington, D.C. last month.
After more than 120 years of providing Catholic education in Sunset Park, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy will be closing at the end of this school year.
Pope Francis has written a letter to U.S. bishops on immigration, expressing support for their efforts to uphold the dignity of every human person.
By Katie Vasquez
Family and friends feel Jonathan Jay Campos was taken too soon. The pilot from Brooklyn died in a mid-air collision over the Potomac River in late January.
At his funeral mass at the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette in Dyker Heights his loved ones prayed for his soul and grieved the young life lost.
Those who knew and loved Captain Jonathan Jay Campos looked on as his casket was brought into the church on Feb. 11.
It was a fond farewell for a man who family, friends, and Deacon Edwin Rivera called a hero.
“God will see the good nature in him and reward him for it,” said Deacon Rivera, from St. Mary Star of the Sea parish in Brooklyn, told Currents News.
American Airlines flight 5342 plunged into the Potomac river on January 29 with 60 passengers and four crew members, including Jonathan. It was traveling from Wichita, Kansas to Washington D.C.
The plane and a military helicopter collided in mid air as the flight was approaching the runway. Everyone on board died.
His girlfriend of 10 years, Ashley Childress, spoke at his funeral.
“I will hold firmly to the memories of what it’s like to have and love that person,” she told those present in the church.
The airline says the Brooklyn-born pilot left a lasting impression on everyone.
“We are better for the experiences he gave us and for the way he made us feel,” said the president and CEO of PSA Airlines, Dion Flannery.
The 34-year-old captain enjoyed traveling and had a passion for aviation.
His family says he made others smile with his mischievous grin and goofy sense of humor.
Now, those close to him have to learn how to live without him.
“I always knew I would love you forever,” said Childress. “I’m not sure how to face the days ahead without my soul mate.”
Jonathan was buried at St John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, alongside his late father who was a New York City police officer.
By Currents News
A funeral is being held in Brooklyn for Jonathan Campos, one of the pilots of the American Airlines jet involved in the mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. last month.
Mourners at the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette in Dyker Heights are remembering Campos, who died living out his dream of being a pilot.
A Catholic high school student is using his science smarts to work towards a cure for Alzheimer’s.
Members of the NYPD’s Holy Name Society traveled to the Vatican to celebrate the Jubilee with Pope Francis.
Young Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans came together for an inter-religious meeting to encourage dialogue and understanding.
In honor of Black History Month come with us to take a tour of Seneca Village, an African American community that was once located in what is now New York City’s Central Park.
By Currents News
During Black History Month we are showing you an unknown part of American and New York history that is hidden inside the City of New York’s most iconic landmarks.
The Central Park Conservatory is hosting a tour teaching visitors about Seneca Village, which existed before the landmark from 1825 to 1857. It was home to the largest community of free African American property owners in pre-civil war New York.
The tour highlights the lives of its residents and the contributions they made to the abolition movement. However, the exhibit is only temporary for the moment, at the park until October of 2025.
To get your tickets, go to centralparknyc.org “Seneca Village tour.”
A new study shows that Mass attendance at Catholic churches around the U.S. is back to pre-pandemic levels.
Hundreds gathered for the Cathedral Club of Brooklyn’s annual dinner to raise money for a scholarship program benefitting high schoolers in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City has a lot riding on this weekend’s Super Bowl: he’s placed a friendly bet against Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia.
By Jessica Easthope
When you step foot into the halls of The Mary Louis Academy (TMLA) as a ninth grader, you’re made a promise that you too could one day make history. Now young women have the opportunity to blaze their trails a bit earlier in life since The Mary Louis Academy Middle School is set to open in September.
“How are we best preparing young women at the age of ten and bringing them all the way through college, into their professional lives and careers,” the school’s president, Livia Angiolillo, told Currents News.
Angiolillo says all are welcome and all will be given a head start on preparing for college and a chance to thrive.
“I was fully prepared for college ,graduate school, law school, and now leading the Mary Louis Academy. That is entirely because I went to an all-girls Catholic school. I was fully empowered,” she said.
The school offers an array of athletic, extra-curricular and academic opportunities, early access to Regents exams, college credits, and a pass on the Test for Admission into Catholic High Schools or TACHS. Girls who attend the middle school will be able to stay at TMLA.
Freshman Liz Frandy says her first few months at the school have already exceeded her expectations.
“There’s a really strong sense of sisterhood, everyone’s just so lovely and everyone’s just so eager to make friends,” she told Currents News.
Next year her sister, Charlotte, will join in on that bond as a seventh grader.
“She definitely is going to have a leg up over the competition,” said Frandy. “If I already knew the grounds and I knew the people, the school from middle school, I think I would have excelled even more.”
Acting director of advancement Liz McGlinchey describes her 13-year-old self as quiet and shy, but upon graduation from The Mary Louis Academy in 2003, her confidence took the lead.
“I found my voice, found my personality in an all-girls environment that is really supportive of that growth and development,” McGlinchey said.
She is thrilled to give her 10-year-old daughter, Amber, the same opportunity to blossom. Next school year Amber will be one of the projected 75 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to walk the halls.
“With the curriculum we’re going to have in place for the middle school, I think that she is going to be leaps and bounds ahead of some of her peers,” she said.
Rolling admission for The Mary Louis Academy Middle School is now open. To apply, visit tmla.org/admissions/tmla-middle-school
By Currents News
For the last 125 years the Cathedral Club of Brooklyn has been giving back to the community, and the evening of Feb. 6 was no different as the Catholic lay organization held its 125th anniversary dinner at El Caribe in Mill Basin, Brooklyn.
The night’s celebrations marked the highlight of the Cathedral Club’s social calendar: nearly 400 people gathered for the club’s annual dinner to raise money for a scholarship program benefitting high school students in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Bishop Robert Brennan, the spiritual director of the club, said this year’s event is even more special because the club is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
“On a day like this I think back to those days at the threshold into the 20th century when a growing population of immigrants in Brooklyn banded together and came together as Catholics and said, ‘How do we support one another in the living out of our faith in the rough and rugged land of Brooklyn at those times?’ And, you know something? They pulled it off,” he told Currents News.
Bishop Brennan had the anniversary in mind when he chose the dinner’s principal speaker, Father Michael Bruno. As dean of seminarians at St. Joseph Seminary and College he teaches church history, which means that attendees were fortunate to get a history lesson during dinner.
Father Bruno said that while other Catholic organizations already existed at the turn of the century, the Cathedral Club filled a particular need.
“The recently ordained chancellor of the diocese and secretary to Bishop Charles McDonnell, Fr. George Mundelein, recognized a particular need to engage Catholic young adults, these now children of those Civil War veterans,” he told attendees during his speech. “They were entering society and public life in a century now fraught with political and social controversy and often finding their doors closed to opportunities in their professions of choice.”
The New York City Police Department’s chief of department John Chell and attorney Joseph Rosato were the night’s honorees.
All in all, the night raised $150,000, making for great news: starting in June the scholarships the club provides will increase from $4,000 to $7,000 per student.
By Currents News
Voices at Holy Family-St. Laurence parish in Brooklyn carried their culture throughout the Flatlands neighborhood church as parishioners gathered together to celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
Faithful in attendance sported shirts that read “bring your torch” in Haitian Creole.
In honor of the day, parish held their own nativity performance wherein parishioners dressed as Mary and Joseph reenacted the moment the couple brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem after his birth, filling the church with song and Haitian pride.
By Currents News and Alexandra Moyen
AUBURNDALE — Drawing from personal experience with her father, Ana Tagle said she understands the challenges of being a caregiver for a loved one with dementia.
With that understanding, she said she knows the importance of places like the Ozanam Hall of Queens Nursing Home’s newly dedicated area specifically designed for individuals with signs of dementia.
“As a family member, you really feel the loss because your parents have changed, but it is so important that no matter the stage of the disease, they feel safe and loved because they have these moments of uneasiness,” said Tagle, an assistant administrator at Ozanam. “This would have been beautiful for him.”
On Feb. 6, Ozanam celebrated the grand opening of its Carmel Hall with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. According to Carmelite Sister Philip Ann Bowden, an administrator at the nursing home, the new space was inspired by Montessori principles, which focus on encouraging participation, offering choices, and focusing on demonstration rather than instruction.
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond Chappetto began the evening with a prayer, and after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he blessed the hall. He said he anticipates the Carmelite nuns, who serve as caregivers at Ozanam, will have a positive impact on the new facility’s residents.
“I see a great similarity between what the Montessori program is all about and what the Carmelites are trying to do, and that’s why I think this project works so well,” Bishop Chappetto said. “They dovetail together because they’re both coming from the same background to treat people with dignity, care, and love.”
Those principles will be used to highlight each individual’s abilities, promote meaningful engagement, encourage independence, and provide cognitive stimulation for residents.
With more than 30 years of dementia care, Sister Philip Ann said she has witnessed how this method provides a more gentle approach and level of engagement.
“They can’t just sit for hours without being engaged,” she said. “That’s why we got the Montessori-trained people involved to help the staff interact with the residents in a meaningful way.”
Sister Philip Ann added that the new facility promotes cognitive stimulation through “way-finding.” The space, which features different wall art throughout the hall, is designed to help residents identify rooms and the part of the floor they are on. Each piece of art is era-specific, like a picture of Coney Island’s famous Wonder Wheel from the 1970s, which helps transport residents to a time they once knew.
For its efforts, Ozanam received a citation of merit from New York Assemblywoman Rebecca A. Seawright on behalf of the Standing Committee on Aging and another from Assemblyman Edward Braunstein.
Robert Parmach, a volunteer at Ozanam, said he is looking forward to his mother, who is a resident at the nursing home, moving to Carmel Hall.
“What surprised me is how lively it is. It looks like a home. It doesn’t look like any type of institution,” Parmach said. “The dimensions of the place, the use of color — when I walked in here, it looked like a neighborhood, and that’s the visual imagery.
“I think it picks up the spirit.”
Outside each resident’s room are cards designed to teach caregivers a little about the occupant to help spark conversations and recall memories.
The new hall will also offer music-based activities, including singing and dancing to era-specific tunes, and activities to stimulate their minds.
Vincent Antenucci, co-founder of the Center for Applied Research and Dementia, said the work at Carmel Hall is part of an “international change” aimed at improving dementia care. He explained that the Montessori method of education is designed to help children learn at their own pace and has shown similar benefits for individuals with declining cognitive function.
“A big part of this is all of the training we’ve been doing leading up to this and all the training that will follow in order to maximize the benefits of this beautiful space,” Antenucci said. “There are 12 principles that we follow, things like always inviting them instead of telling them what to do.”
He added that often, when someone moves into residential care, they feel like they are losing that sense of control: “And, so, how do we give it back? Choice.”