2022

It was Bishop Robert Brennan’s first Palm Sunday as the Shepherd of Brooklyn.

The Holy Father spent his Palm Sunday focused on the people suffering from the war in Ukraine.

Fatal Shooting Took Place Across Several States During a Deadly April Weekend

Currents News Staff

Two days after a 16-year-old girl was shot and killed while walking home from school in the Bronx, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York is calling on the federal government to deal with what he calls an “explosion” in unregulated weapons.

Police say the 17-year-old who was arrested Saturday for the shooting may have been using a ghost gun.

“A child that has zero police contact, at all, and he goes from smoking marijuana to killing somebody,” said NYPD Assistant Chief Timothy McCormack.

In Grantville, Georgia — the state Bureau of Investigation – is still working to find out who brutally murdered the owner of a gun range, his wife, and their teenage grandson this weekend.

“The store’s been here for a long time,” said Grantville Police Chief Steve Whitlock. “The range has been here for a long time, and there’s people from all around that come shoot here. I mean it’s just not people from Grantville.”

Investigators say as many as 40 guns and the range’s surveillance camera and recorder were taken from the scene. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, two people are dead and at least 10 others injured, after an early Sunday morning shooting at a nightclub.

In Indianapolis, police say a fight at a birthday party led to another deadly shooting. One person is dead and five others were wounded.

Pope Francis Calls for Easter Truce in Ukraine, Condemns Civilian Massacres

By Currents News Staff and Elise Ann Allen

ROME (Crux) — At the start of Holy Week, Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an immediate ceasefire to the war in Ukraine, saying Easter is a time to choose life over death.

Speaking to roughly 65,000 believers gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Palm Sunday Mass, which marked his first outdoor Mass since the coronavirus pandemic began, the pope noted that during the Annunciation passage of the Gospel, the Angel Gabriel tells Mary that “nothing is impossible for God.”

“Nothing is impossible for God, not even to put an end to a war whose end is not in sight. A war that every day puts before our eyes brutal massacres and cruelty committed against unarmed civilians,” he said.

Though he did not specifically mention Ukraine or Russia, the war between the two nations is something the pope has often condemned in the nearly 50 days that have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Some 4.4 million refugees have already fled Ukraine while an estimated 6.5 million others have been internally displaced since the fighting began.

Rumors of war crimes committed against civilians have also emerged in cities recently liberated from Russian occupation, prompting Russia’s suspension from the United Nations’ Commission for Human Rights.

In his remarks Sunday, Pope Francis noted that the Catholic Church is observing the days leading up to Easter, saying, “we are preparing to celebrate the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death.”

“Over sin and death, and not against someone and against someone else, but today there is war because you want to win like this in the way of the world,” he said, insisting that with war, there are “only losses.”

“Why not let Him win? Christ was brought to the Cross to free us from the dominion of evil; he died so that life, love, and peace may reign,” he said, and urged all those involved in the war to “put away your weapons.”

“Start an Easter truce, but do not reload your weapons and start fighting again, no!” he said, saying any agreement made must be “a truce to achieve peace, through real negotiations, also willing to make some sacrifices for the good of the people.”

“What victory will be the one who plants a flag on a pile of rubble?” he asked, and urged believers to pray for this truce, saying, “Nothing is impossible for God.”

Brooklyn Faithful Celebrate Palm Sunday With Bishop Brennan During a Triumphant Street Procession

By Currents News Staff and Paula Katinas

‘It Is Such An Honor To Be Here. I Feel Closer to Jesus!’

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — For Jessica Figueroa, there was only one way to get into the spirit of Holy Week: being among the scores of Catholics from the Diocese of Brooklyn’s large and vibrant Hispanic community who celebrated Palm Sunday in a procession led by Bishop Robert Brennan.

The procession, which drew a large crowd — from children in baby strollers to senior citizens walking with canes — was meant to commemorate Jesus Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, where citizens greeted him by waving palms and setting them on the ground along his path. Palms are recognized as a symbol of victory and peace.

“It’s definitely helping me get ready for Holy Week,” Figueroa, who attends Mass every Sunday at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, said as she stood in Grand Army Plaza Sunday morning waiting for the event to start. “We feel very honored and humbled to be here. I’m here with my family. It’s just a nice moment for us to share.”

Beginning at Grand Army Plaza, the procession wound its way about half a mile along Vanderbilt Avenue to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph on Pacific Street, where Bishop Brennan celebrated Mass in Spanish.

Before setting out for the co-cathedral, Bishop Brennan blessed the palms that were distributed to the participants with holy water. He was joined in the procession by Co-Cathedral Rector Father Christopher Heanue.

The march was a significant event for the faithful, Bishop Brennan said, because it helped to bring them closer to Jesus at the start of Holy Week.

“We’re walking with Jesus on this road to Calvary where He can walk with us and share our burdens to help us along the way and guide us to the Resurrection,” he explained.

This year’s event marked the first time since the COVID pandemic began in 2020 that the Diocese of Brooklyn was able to hold a large-scale Palm Sunday procession. There were no such marches the past two years, although some parishes held smaller processions.

“Today is a very special day,” said Co-Cathedral parishioner Yolanda Rodriguez. “We feel so proud of our Catholic faith. It is such an honor to be here. I feel closer to Jesus! He died for us. We can never forget that. He died so we can live.”

Despite chilly temperatures, the participants were undaunted as they marched along Vanderbilt Avenue. Many joyfully waved their palms in the air and danced to the beat of Latin music blaring from a sound truck.

Bishop Brennan noted that Palm Sunday processions are common in many Spanish-speaking countries, so it’s likely that the local participants felt right at home.

“For many of these folks walking with us today, this is reminiscent of what they would have been doing in their towns and villages,” he said.

Once the marchers completed their journey and entered the co-cathedral to await the start of the Mass, they rejoiced in their accomplishment, even if some felt a little tired.

“It feels nice. It’s enlightening and inspiring to walk the way Jesus walked,” said parishioner Alondra Cruz, who came with her family. “It felt nice to be with everyone.”

Ukrainians Begin Cleanup Effort at Train Station Hit by Russian Missile Attack

Currents News Staff

The air-raid siren rings out over a scene of carnage past. In Kramatorsk’s railway station exists a ripped shoe, a discarded hat and a cane left behind.

They came to the station with only what they could carry hoping to reach safer ground, but nearly 60 civilians never left. Lives were cut short by a missile. On it, someone scrawled in Russian: “for the children.”

As many as 4,000 people were here waiting for a train west when the strike happened. The massacre accelerated the exodus.

“Most of the residents of Kramatorsk have left the city,” said Ben Wedeman, “having been urged to do so by local authorities, as this part of the country, the entirety of eastern Ukraine, braces for what could be a massive Russian offensive.”

At the city’s bus station, Nicolay, a volunteer, has been helping with the evacuation. For him, news of the pullback of Russian forces around the capital Kyiv was bittersweet.

“When I heard about Kyiv, that they were leaving Kyiv, I was happy, you know,” Nicolay said. “But then I ealized a couple seconds later that they’re moving to Donbas with their forces. I can’t say that I’m scared but I’m worried about my people, about people, about mothers, about grandparents.

Some are heading west, others north to the town of Slovyansk, where the trains still run. Oksana and a friend and their children are bound for Lviv in the far west.

“There is a lot of bombing here,” says Oksana. “I’m afraid for the children.”

A handful of adult relatives stay behind – far more aware of the danger ahead.