Close to six dozen Diocese of Brooklyn schools are enhancing the learning experience of their students.
Catholic Telemedia Network, which serves the Diocese of Brooklyn’s spiritual and educational needs, and Discovery Education are teaming up to send 68 schools their award-winning k through 12 digital learning platform.
The online resource connects educators to a vast collection of ready to use digital lessons, intuitive quiz and activity creation tools, and professional learning resources.
Here to talk with us more about the effects of the NyQuil chicken challenge and other dangerous trends like it on children is Christina Sama, the school psychologist at The Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica Estates.
It seems like an obvious a joke, cooking chicken in NyQuil, but a video that went viral back in 2017 is now resurfacing and being duplicated across the internet.
Don’t try this at home. The FDA is warning against the NyQuil chicken challenge.
The agency says if you attempt it in your own kitchen, it could cause you to ingest a dangerous amount of the cough medicine and the fumes could make you sick.
President Biden, Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and the Governor of Puerto Rico met for a briefing today on the federal response to the storm.
We talk to a child psychologist about what parents need to know about the NyQuil chicken challenge.
The Holy See is taking new steps to make sure Catholics understand the annulment process and how it’s changed.
Most Reverend Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio’s homily from Thursday’s Mass on 9/22/22
A house that once housed religious women is now home to pregnant women who have nowhere else to go.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles partnered with the Christian nonprofit “Harvest Home” to make it happen.
Gina vides of the Archdiocese’s Office of Life, Justice and Peace joins us now to tell us more about it.
Currents News Staff
In 2015, Pope Francis modified the Church’s annulment process. He published two motu proprio in which he called for this process to be free of charge and last between 90 days and, at most, a year in the most complex cases.
In a meeting at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, specialists in Canon Law further explore this issue by explaining that an annulment is not Catholic divorce.
“Divorce means that a reality does exist and an act is performed by which it apparently ceases to exist. A marriage that existed ceases to exist. On the other hand, annulment is not that. An annulment is that such a marriage was never formed,” said Inés Llorens, Canon Law, University of Santa Croce.
Before 2015, for a marriage to be declared null and void, it needed to be judged twice. Now, with the latest changes, one trial is enough. Pope Francis also encouraged bishops to speed up the process for simpler cases and to strive to be closer to their parishioners. He also argued that the process should always be free of charge.
“On the one hand, the Pope wants to guarantee access. For example, that those faithful who have financial difficulties can still have access to it without major difficulties. But this also means that dioceses will have to find the funds to help them somehow. Sometimes the process could be lengthy. This definitely happened in the dioceses and it has made some faithful unwilling to go through the canonical processes because they don’t want to deal with something so lengthy,” said Llorens.
The Pope’s determination to speed up the process is not so that there will be more annulments. According to his motu proprio, Pope Francis wants “the hearts of the faithful who await clarification of their own status to not be long oppressed by the darkness of doubt.” His priority is not to reach that point, especially in the case of young people.
“On the one hand, the Pope wants to guarantee the faithful some resources offered by the Church, such as the possibility of requesting the annulment of one’s marriage. The Pope’s main interest is to get there faster,” said Llorens. Adding, “To be able to form young people earlier so that at the time of marriage they will want and see the beauty of forming a family and giving themselves completely to the other, which is what makes us happy.”
Earlier this year, Pope Francis met with the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. It is the Holy See’s main court of appeal and is also responsible for determining whether a marriage can be annulled. Faced with such a delicate process, the Pope asked the tribunal to promote forgiveness and reconciliation between couples.
“The declaration of annulment must not be presented as if it were the only goal to achieve in the face of a marital crisis or as if it were a right regardless of what happened,” said the Pope.
This is Pope Francis’ biggest goal for couples—that they can resolve their problems together with dialogue without the need for an annulment.
By Jessica Easthope
Sophia Faustino is proud of her dream of becoming a TV actress, she says her school backs her all the way. As a sophomore film student, Sophia tends to focus on the visual, and at St. Francis College’s new Livingston Street campus – she says it’s hard not to.
“Everything is beautiful, the decoration is amazing so I was really excited,” she said.
This year the semester began in a brand-new building. The 255,000 square foot space was announced in May of last year and now 2,700 students are learning in the real thing.
It’s making their college experiences all the more hands on. President Miguel Martinez Saenz says this is where students come to find their passion.
“Our faculty are saying the students are more engaged than they’ve ever been and I think it’s no coincidence, we create conditions for students to make a living and a fully human life and that’s what it means to be a Catholic college,” Martinez-Saenz said.
While Sophia says the state-of-the-art classrooms, labs and common areas are nice to look at – they’ve also made her and her classmates look inward and examine more than just their schoolwork.
“Now I feel that with the new building it brings a whole sense of a way to review and renew your faith what are the new things coming our way,” Sophia said.
“In the Catholic faith you’re meant to grow and progress further and so I’m seeing this as a growing period and that we can change overtime that’s what I’m taking away from this building,” said senior, Reginald Monteau.
Assistant vice president for enrollment management Robert Oliva is an alumni of the school, now he works to help the kids who are where he was 18 years ago. He’s old school – but says now in the new school using faith to uplift students is a lot easier.
“The energy, the excitement, the spirit across campus has been amazing and we are thrilled to celebrate with them today,” Oliva said.
St. Francis College officials say enrollment is up in part thanks to the new campus that welcomed 900 new students this year.
St. Francis College is showing off its new state-of-the-art campus in Downtown Brooklyn.
President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly this morning.
New research out now is looking into COVID’s effect on your brain.
Currents News Staff
During his General Audience, Pope Francis spoke of his trip to Kazakhstan where he participated in the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. He said that the gathering and its final document is “one more step forward on the path of inter-religious dialogue.”
The Pope also discussed his meeting with Kazakhstan’s Catholic community, which he said is a “small yet faithful flock, fortified by the example of its saints, especially during the years of persecution.”
SUMMARY OF THE POPE’S CATECHESIS IN ENGLISH:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Following my recent Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan, I once more express my gratitude to the President of the Republic, the civil authorities, Bishops and lay faithful, and the many volunteers for their warm welcome. The primary purpose of my visit was to attend the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, whose aim is to promote peace and human fraternity in our world. This gathering, together with its Final Declaration, is one more step forward on the path of inter-religious dialogue, and continues a journey that began with the historic meeting in Assisi in 1986.
This path also includes the Document on Human Fraternity signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019. When speaking of these noble efforts, we must also remember the many martyrs of diverse nationalities and backgrounds who have borne faithful witness in their daily lives to God’s desire for peace and fraternity among his children. In addition to encouraging the nation in its vocation as a Country of Encounter, I was able to meet members of the local Church. This small yet faithful flock, fortified by the example of its saints, especially during the years of persecution, is open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, it was fitting that we could celebrate Mass together on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, an instrument of suffering and death turned into the ultimate sign of hope and salvation. Let us pray that God will abundantly bless the people of Kazakhstan and the life of the pilgrim Church in that land.