Why a 79-Year-Old Rhode Island Priest Went on a Bike Pilgrimage Praying For Peace in Ukraine

Currents News Staff and Rick Snizek

WARREN, R.I. (CNS) — As Ukraine faces a fierce challenge to its young democracy from more than 120,000 Russian forces stacked on its borders, poised to invade at any time, a Rhode Island priest is showing solidarity with the plight of the people of the overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian nation.

“Russia is surrounding the Ukraine with troops. What else can I do but pray?” said Father Thomas O’Neill, 79, a senior priest of the Diocese of Providence.

Father O’Neill embarked on a pilgrimage of prayer on a morning where the mercury hovered at 15 degrees as he rode his bicycle from his home in Middletown to St. Patrick Church in Providence in late January.

He stopped at churches along the way to offer prayers for peace in the region.

A well-read student of history, who spent 20 years of his ministry serving outside the United States, Father O’Neill fears what will happen to the Ukrainian people if Russian President Vladimir Putin directs the vast array of forces he has amassed on three sides of Europe’s second largest nation by area to invade Ukraine.

During a stop at St. Mary of the Bay Church in Warren, Father O’Neill recounted how, during the era of Soviet leader Josef Stalin, millions of Ukrainians starved to death.

The brutal dictator caused a famine by ordering Ukraine’s small farms to operate as a collective, usurping their harvests to feed those living in Russia. Stalin’s goal was also to punish Ukrainians whose dreams for independence would threaten his total authority.

“During the Stalin era, they were starved to death because they took all the food out of the Ukraine that was grown on the collective farms and the peasants all starved, millions and millions of them. Why would Ukraine want to have anything to do with Russia now?” the priest asked.

“They’ve got a lot of reasons not to want to be hinged to Russia,” he added in an interview with the Rhode Island Catholic, Providence’s diocesan newspaper.

Ukraine gained its independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the ensuing dissolution of the former Soviet Union. It has been operating as a democracy since then.

In recent weeks, Putin has been deploying tens of thousands of well-armed troops to Ukraine’s borders, threatening the East European nation of 41 million as he publicly lamented its desire to join the West’s NATO security alliance.

“Putin cut his teeth on the KBG. All he knows how to do is smile, be friendly, lie, murder and torture,” Father O’Neill said of the Russian leader who has his sights set on continuing to regain lost ground in Ukraine.

In February 2014, during the Winter Olympics, which were held in Sochi, in southern Russia, Putin invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula after the nation’s Parliament ousted its pro-Russian leader, Viktor Yanukovych. They have held that piece of Ukraine ever since.

Father O’Neill said he has been astounded to see some American television hosts actually make the case that the U.S. should be supporting Russia over Ukraine on this issue given that Russia has more to offer this country, given its resources, than Ukraine does.

He expresses his solidarity with the Ukrainian people, noting it is not just geopolitics at work but Catholic social teaching as well.

“It’s an issue of democracy, it’s an issue of citizenship,” he said.

“If you read ‘The Church in the Modern World,’ or any of the documents the Catholic Church has produced on social justice you’ll see that what Putin is doing is not just the opposite — it’s the extreme opposite,” the priest said.

The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (“Gaudium et Spes”), issued in 1965, is one of the four constitutions resulting from the Second Vatican Council.

As the morning sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows of St. Mary of the Bay Church, Father O’Neill offered prayers for the people of Ukraine before heading back out into the biting cold to climb aboard the old Raleigh mountain bike that would take him the remaining 14 miles or so to St. Patrick Church in Providence.

The bicycle was given to him by a former parishioner when he served as pastor of St. Mary Church in West Warwick, until he retired nine years ago.

Father O’Neill didn’t have a tire repair kit or any other tools with him should the bike break down, so he was embarking on this pilgrimage with the faith that God would help him see it through.

“A pilgrimage is supposed to help the person making the pilgrimage — it’s supposed to transform me,” he said as he rode off.

“But on the other hand, I think the situation is such that I would be appreciative if people took a little more interest in it,” he added. “If the Russians invade it’s just going to be horrible and ugly. But I know the Ukrainians will put up a tough fight.”

Snizek is executive editor of Rhode Island Catholic, the newspaper of the Diocese of Providence.

Praying For Peace: Ukrainian Catholics Turn to Church For Solace

Currents News Staff

The “Old Crimea” cemetery stretches across the rolling hills outside Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine. In section 21, Ukrainian flags whipping in the wind mark the graves of Ukrainian troops.

Those buried are mostly young men who have died fighting Russia-backed forces in the past eight years, an often-ignored conflict that has killed as many as 14,000 people, including more than 3,000 civilians.

Ruslan Pustovoit was a soldier. Now he fights with a right-wing nationalist group called Right Sector.

“Putin is a pathetic, small man,” said Ruslan. “Everyone is ready to tear Russians with their own hands.”

He says he knows around 200 people who have been killed. He shows us the grave of one of them, a fallen friend now etched in stone, as well as his memory.

“Too many comrades have died,” said Ruslan, “too many civilians, too many children.”

In the bitterly cold, driving rain, Roman Peretyatko – a priest – prays at the towering grave of his friend, one of the first from here to die in the fighting. But Father Peretyatko, quiet and understated, has two sides, dividing his duties as an Army chaplain – in his olive green frock – which he says is his calling, and tending to a civilian congregation in this small Mariupol chapel.

“We are losing our best people,” said Father Peretyatko. “The Church gives people comfort. If they ask what’s going to happen next, we say it’s God’s will. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

People who can’t go to church ask Father Peretyatko to pray for them. He says their names at the altar. Among the handful who came one morning is a man who had one thing on his mind.

“We pray for peace, above all,” said one parishioner. “Thank God it’s peaceful right now. We are taking it one day at a time. We’ll see what happens next.”

The people of Ukraine have shown extraordinary calm in the face of this Russian threat. But it is clearly taking a toll.

“They tell us to remain calm,” the parishioner said. “We would love to live peacefully, to go to work, to raise children and grandchildren. We’re worried. How could we not be?”

Some military observers believe Putin will use Russian troops to connect Russia with Crimea, which he seized in a 2014 invasion.

Saint Athanasius Catholic Academy Offers Prayers for New York’s Finest

Currents News Staff

Saint Athanasius Catholic Academy honored the NYPD.

It was an opportunity for the students to get up close and personal with the men and women in blue.

They even made signs and posters with prayers for the officers.

And to top it off, the celebrations ended with a balloon release honoring all of the officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

Students Around the Diocese of Brooklyn Mark School Year Milestone in Fun and Creative Ways

Currents News Staff

Children in the Diocese of Brooklyn marked their 100th day in class by dressing up as grandparents.

In Dyker Heights, the students at Saint Ephrem Catholic Academy were encouraged to dress up as if they were 100 years old, complete with wigs and all!

Some even went out of their way to dye their hair grey.

The fun didn’t stop there.

For their 101st day of school, the students at Midwood Catholic Academy celebrated Dalmatian style.

Just check out some of these adorable pups and their creative costumes.

And while it looks like all fun and games, the 101st day also marks a major milestone and teachers used the opportunity to celebrate their students’ academic achievements.

Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Academy Raises Funds for Leukemia Awareness

Currents News Staff

The students of Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Academy in Far Rockaway are raising awareness for leukemia.

Dressing in all orange, the color of leukemia awareness, the students raised over two-thousand dollars for the Leukemia Society.

It’s an organization they decided to support because they were inspired by a former student, Rocco Pisani, who bravely fought and survived leukemia throughout the pandemic.

Jewish Delegation from United Kingdom Thanks Pope Francis for Denouncing Antisemitism

Currents News Staff

Marie van der Zyl is president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, representing the entire British Jewish community.

She is the second woman to hold the position and was elected by more than 300 representatives of 180 synagogues and 40 other Jewish organizations throughout the country

Van der Zyl traveled to Rome with the institution’s chief executive, Michael Wegier, to greet the Pope.

“We were very, very privileged for His Holiness to offer to see us and we gave him a beautiful antique book of one of our oldest synagogues. And we wanted to thank him of the warmth of the relationship between the Jewish and Christian communities,” said Van der Zyl.

“And it´s so wonderful that after so many centuries of difficult times, we now are in a situation where we have a pope who is so warm towards the Jewish people and Israel and our community. And we wanted to express how supported and our gratitude for that,” said Wegier.

Together they were able to exchange some warm words with Pope Francis.

They say they are concerned about the recent rise in antisemitism in the United Kingdom. After the latest instances of tension between Israel and Palestine in 2021, incidents of anti-Jewish hate in the country skyrocketed by 500%, according to the non-profit Community Security Trust.

That’s why they thanked the Pope for the messages like this one, which he shared on one of his most recent trips:

“I repeat: let us unite in condemning all violence and every form of antisemitism, and in working to ensure that God’s image, present in the humanity He created, will never be profaned.”

Wegier said, “We discussed the importance of Jewish-Christian relations, he said that he will pray for us and that we should pray for him”.

Rome is a city especially sensitive to antisemitism. In October 1943, the Nazis brutally took Jews from their homes to send them to concentration camps. Many were able to save themselves by hiding in the houses of friends or in churches, but others weren’t as fortunate, and were taken away.

To remember them, gold pavement stones are placed in front of the houses where they lived, to honor the lives of those Jews who never came home.

Pope’s Sunday Angelus Included Ukrainian Pilgrims, Round of Applause for Healthcare Workers

Currents News Staff

The flags at Pope Francis’ Sunday Angelus are becoming increasingly diverse as pilgrims return to Rome. This week they included several from Ukraine.

On Italy’s National Day for Healthcare Professionals, the Pope shared an instance of the small yet heroic gestures healthcare workers perform to show their closeness to their patients.

“A doctor told me this morning that in the time of COVID, a person was dying and said to him, ‘Hold my hand. I am dying, and I need your hand.’ The heroic healthcare professionals showed this heroism in the time of COVID, but the heroism remains there every day. A round of applause and a big “thank you” to our doctors, nurses, and volunteers,” said the Holy Father.

The Pope also prayed for those affected by the deadly mudslides and flooding near Rio de Janiero, Brazil, and for Madagascar where a cyclone is expected to touch down in the coming days.

“May the Lord receive the victims in his peace, console their relatives and support those who come to their aid,” said Pope Francis.

The Pope then greeted pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square from around the world, including a large group from cities across Spain.

This Newly Inaugurated Wood and Concrete Church is Among Italy’s Most Unique

Currents News Staff

This inauguration of the church of St. James the Apostle in Ferrara, Italy, was ten years in the making.

That’s how long it took architects to design and construct the extraordinary church, which is being celebrated for its out-of-the-box design which began with its striking roof.

“In the sky of Ferrara there were many hot air balloons and we thought it was beautiful to imagine a church almost like a balloon that touches the floor and creates a space for concentration,” said lead architect, Benedetta Tagliabue.

The church’s interior is marked by its simplicity. Wood and concrete are blended elegantly to create an imposing yet comforting environment of open spaces and filled with natural light.

“At the same time with very primitive materials, because this idea of giving oneself to the earth and having something very essential is very important,” said Tagliabue.

The team of architects decided to highlight that principle in the altar, which is a rough stone symbolizing the rock upon which Jesus founded the Church.

“A raw stone, let’s call it, an unworked stone, a stone almost as if straight from a quarry, and it was almost just like that,” said Tagliabue.

While Italy is known worldwide for its breathtaking churches, this small town of 130,000 now boasts one of the most unique ones in the country.

Archbishops’ Friendly Super Bowl Wager Raises $22,000 for Catholic Schools

By Catholic News Service

CINCINNATI (CNS) — The Los Angeles Rams may have won Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals, but students in Catholic schools in both archdioceses are winners as well.

Donors contributed more than $22,000 — and counting as of Feb. 17 — for tuition assistance scholarships as part of a friendly wager between Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati over the game’s outcome.

The donations to each archdiocese’s Catholic Education Foundation came as the archbishops invited supporters to become involved in their good-gesture wager through the Bishops Big Game challenge.

In the Feb. 13 game, the Rams were behind in the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter, before scoring the winning touchdown with 1:25 left, beating the Bengals 23-20.

With the Rams’ victory, the Los Angeles foundation will receive 60% of the funds raised, while the Cincinnati foundation will received 40% of the money donated.

The game’s result also means Archbishop Schnurr is sending a case of Cincinnati’s well-known Graeter’s ice cream cross country to Archbishop Gomez.

The Los Angeles Archdiocese said that “out of gratitude” Archbishop Gomez would send his wager of baked treats from the popular Porto’s Bakery to Archbishop Schnurr.

Both archbishops said they will share their winnings with a school in their respective archdioceses.

“As we said before, our bet was with our Catholic school kids all the way,” Archbishop Gomez said in a news release issued by both archdioceses. “They are always winners in our book! We want the kids to get in on the fun to celebrate great sportsmanship of both the Rams and the Bengals who gave us such an exciting game, and the generous support of all those who donated to the Bishops Big Game challenge.”

Archbishop Schnurr commended the teams for a closely played game and thanked the fans of both teams for “their generous donations in support of Catholic education.”

“Archbishop Gomez and I are grateful for the generosity of the people of our respective archdioceses and thank everyone who joined us in our friendly wager,” he said in the news release. “We are delighted to celebrate this moment with at least some of our wonderful Catholic school students, teachers and staff members. … A win for all around!”

Plans call for Archbishop Gomez to celebrate the Rams’ victory with an ice cream party March 1 at St. John Chrysostom School in Inglewood, California, located near SoFi Stadium, where the Super Bowl was played.

Archbishop Schnurr will bring the baked goods from Los Angeles to Our Lady of Rosary School in Dayton, Ohio, also March 1, the day before Ash Wednesday.

President Biden Could Announce Supreme Court Nominee in the Upcoming Days

Currents News Staff

President Biden’s search for a new Supreme Court justice is underway.

Interviews have started, with at least one person having a sit-down with the president last week. That’s according to a source familiar with the process.

No word yet on how many candidates will be questioned, but an announcement of the nominee could be made within the next few days.

A separate White House official says Biden would like to decide by the end of the month.