Mayor Eric Adams announces a new plan to combat a wave of violence happening underground.
Firefighter Jesse Gerhard’s life and sacrifice lives on, even in death. Sources confirm Gerhard was an organ donor.
Saint Athanasius Catholic Academy spent Thursday honoring the NYPD.
Currents News Staff
It’s a matter of life and death.
It’s no surprise that Catholics are passionate about protecting the rights of the unborn. But misinformation around the issue can sometimes cloud the progress being made in converting more hearts.
Gloria Purvis is a pro-life Catholic consultant for the USCCB’s committee on Religious Liberty and the host of her own podcast, “The Gloria Purvis Podcast.” She believes the way we think about abortion in minority communities needs to change.
“I think there’s a misconception that black people are some abortion-loving seeking people and we’re not,” Gloria said. “We have people saying that abortion for people of color is their way to access greater economic stability and is often pushed on communities of color as this is a solution to all that ails us. But I reject that because I don’t believe that a way of solving poverty is to kill the poor.”
Even though abortions are trending down across the country from 857,000 in 2000 to 630,000 in 2019, low-income women and women of color have higher rates than affluent and white women, according to the National Institutes of Health.
But Gloria says that even those numbers could be inaccurate because women with more financial means seek abortions privately, where the actual totals may never be reported.
The Church’s teaching on abortion is definitive: killing an unborn child under any circumstances is not an option. Yet, many Catholics struggle with the topic, leading to misrepresentations that go beyond communities of color.
Dr. Tricia Bruce is a sociologist associated with the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Religion and Society. She studies the impact of abortion when it relates to Catholics.
“Many Americans feel a lot more conflicted about abortion than the kinds of labels that are immediately available,” Tricia said. “Labels like pro-choice and pro-life. Instead we had a lot of Americans who said, ‘well, I feel this way in certain circumstances and this way in others.’
Like most Americans, Catholics are divided by party, with those who identify as Republican opposed 63 percent of the time, while Democratic-leaning Catholics are in favor by 77 percent. Studies also found that church attendance matters.
“Catholics who attend Mass more often are more likely to hold a position more opposed to abortion then Catholics who attend Mass less often,” Tricia said.
Most Catholics agree that abortion is morally wrong, just as Americans as a whole are concerned about many issues related to abortion.
“When we asked them in depth, their thoughts on abortion, they brought up not just abortion but so many other issues,” Tricia said. “Inequality and access for support for pregnant women or support for families or support in the workplace so people can afford to provide a good life for children they may have.”
Gloria, who’s based in Washington, went on to say that if Roe vs. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court later this year, it will be more important than ever for pro-life movements at the state level to offer more robust assistance and outreach to women in communities of color.
“Yes, we know abortion as Catholics is a grave evil according to our understanding but it does not mean that the people who perhaps forced or coerced or desperate into having an abortion are themselves evil people,” Gloria said. “They’re just people in crisis that need our help, love and understanding.”
The Brooklyn Vicariate for Black Catholic Concerns hosts their annual Mass of Thanksgiving for Black History Month Mass live from the Immaculate Conception Monastery Church in Jamaica. This year’s principal celebrant and homilist is His Eminence Wilton Cardinal Gregory, Archbishop of Washington D.C.
The FDNY is in mourning after one of their own passed away.
We are about half way through the synod process here in the Diocese of Brooklyn and Bishop Robert Brennan has been traveling from parish to parish to listen in.
We’ll take a look at some misinformation when it comes to abortion and minority communities.
Currents News Staff
Find out exactly what every Catholic wants from their church – that’s the mission Pope Francis has given every diocese in the world.
Bishop Robert Brennan arrived in Brooklyn in the thick of the prep period for the so-called “Synod on Synodality.” In the past couple of months, he’s been on the forefront of that process, traveling around the diocese, listening to both Catholics who attend Mass and those who don’t.
Bishop Brennan joined Currents News with a status update on the synod process throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn.
By Jessica Easthope
New York City will be getting ready for a funeral for another first responder.
On Thursday Mayor Eric Adams and Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh announced the death of 33-year-old firefighter Jesse Gerhard, a seven-year veteran of the FDNY.
“The entire city mourns the loss of this firefighter, a young man who dreamed of being a firefighter all his life,” said Mayor Adams.
Late Wednesday night Gerhard suffered a medical episode at his firehouse Ladder Company 134 in Far Rockaway, Queens. He was transported to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“He is exactly what we would want an FDNY member to be, as the mayor mentioned, he dreamed his whole life of becoming a member of the FDNY and he achieved that dream responding everyday to help New Yorkers in need,” said Acting Commissioner Kavanaugh.
That’s exactly what Gerhard was doing the day before his death, responding to a two-alarm fire in Far Rockaway. Gerhard’s job is described as the most strenuous position in the FDNY. He was tasked with forcing entry to the home and searching for victims.
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, who was sworn in as an FDNY chaplain earlier this week, said Gerhard’s family is in shock and will be relying on their faith for comfort.
“He made that ultimate sacrifice and now we have to give him the sendoff he deserves putting his life on the line,” Msgr. Jamie said.
Diocese of Brooklyn’d Bishop Robert Brennan put a call out on social media for prayers for Gerhard, his family and the FDNY. During his seven years with the department, Gerhard was honored for his bravery.
“This was everything he wanted, there was no other job for him. It was what he sought out to do and from the moment he got it there was nothing he loved more than doing that job,” Kavanaugh said.
Gerhard was the 1,156th member of the FDNY to die in the line of duty. Wake and funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. He is survived by his parents, brother and sister-in-law.
By Bill Miller
RIDGEWOOD — In early August 2020, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal church still sparkled from a $150,000 renovation completed in 2018.
But then Hurricane Isaias came ashore on Aug. 4 with high winds clocked at 78 mph. It was mid-afternoon, and Father Jaroslaw Szeraszewicz, the parochial vicar, was alone in the sanctuary celebrating Mass.
Father Anthony Sansone, the pastor, said his associate was consecrating the Eucharist when he heard a thunderous explosion, and watched a stained-glass window, with the footprint of a small car, burst from its frame and crashed onto the pews below.
Several pews were damaged and broken glass was everywhere, with many shards spiked into the wood.
Parishioners who live across the street called Father Sansone in the rectory from the outside of the church to report a window was missing at the center of the building. Father Sansone rushed outside, saw the gap, and then found Father Szeraszewicz.
“I said to him, ‘Did you finish what you were doing?’ ” Father Sansone recalled. “He said, ‘Yes, despite everything that has happened — the wind was blowing into the church and moving all the chandeliers — but I completed the Mass because I had started. Then I came running to you.’ ”
Then Father Sansone saw the damage and was horrified. Fortunately, he said, none of the fallen glass reached Father Szeraszewicz at the altar.
“The crashing of the window,” the pastor continued, “and the compromising of some of the paint on the walls and the benches in the church — that was one thing.
“But my real concern was, God forbid, had there been people there, they would have been killed.”
Father Sansone’s horror was replaced by joy 18 months later on Feb. 13. During that snowy Sunday morning, the parish dedicated a new window, with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan, making his first visit to the church.
Bishop Brennan blessed the window and also the children of the parish — preschoolers to high school students — who filled the sanctuary behind the communion rail.
But a lot of work and prayer were needed to reach that point.
Damage estimates reached $80,000. But Father Sansone wasn’t worried. He had faith in God and the parishioners.
“It took 18 months to restore the window and bring it back,” Father Sansone said before the 10:30 a.m. dedication Mass. “We were able to collect enough money, plus the insurance, to cover the window.”
The parish stepped up, as he had hoped, but donations also came from outside the diocese.
“Coast-to-coast,” Father Sansone described the reach of people wanting to help the parish. “Donations came from clear across to California. There were people who belonged here and moved out, but they heard about it and also donated.”
He noted that many of the donations were made anonymously. He thanked everyone, and also the owner of the company that created the new window — Henry Gargiulo of Artisan Restoration Co., in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Gargiulo described the process of creating a stained-glass window. First, his artists needed a theme. Father Sansone said the stained-glass windows were never cataloged, and he could not remember the images that had been on the lost window.
But Father Sansone came up with a new theme. He decided families ought to be the theme of the new window. It has two vertical panels, one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, plus a man, woman, and child to represent a traditional family.
The left panel shows the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Nearby is a woman and her children, representing the single-parent families of the parish.
“That’s the reality that composes our families in our parishes,” Father Sansone said. “We have the traditional families, but we also have the single-parent families, and we respect them equally.”
With a theme in hand, the team develops the images of the window, and a full-sized pattern to apply the specially cut glass needed to complete the design, Gargiulo said. The team takes special care to ensure the colors are consistent with the other windows in the church.
Father Sansone knew he could count on Gargiulo’s team, because it was contracted to complete the earlier renovation, restoring murals, filling cracks, and a paint job with special accents of blue to honor Mary.
Father Sansone praised Gargiulo for overseeing the window replacement and also fortifying the surviving windows to ensure a future storm can’t punch them as well.
During his homily, Bishop Brennan marveled at how the parish rallied to replace the window. The new window, specially dedicated to families, radiates the light of Jesus, “filling us with a certain warmth to inspire us,” he said.
Replacing the window was a historic accomplishment for the parish, according to two of its members.
“Because of the damage that was done, it allowed us to come together as a community, parishioners, and one big family,” said Diana Mohamed.
The window, added Janet Ramos, “is no longer something to look at and be sad about. Now we can rejoice and be happy.”
“And the icing on the cake,” Mohamed said, “was that the bishop came and blessed it for us. And blessed us at the same time.”
Said Ramos, “He cared enough to say, ‘I need to come and bless that window, and this community, and to let them know that I am here.’ ”
As the start of Lent draws near on Ash Wednesday (March 2), in the hope of assisting the faithful of the Diocese of Brooklyn to celebrate this season of preparation for Easter in a fruitful manner, Bishop Robert Brennan wishes to call attention to the following:
ABSTINENCE: All the faithful who have reached 14 years of age are required to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday (March 2) and on all the Fridays of the Lenten Season.
FASTING: All the faithful between the ages of 18 and 59 (inclusive) are bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday (April 15) by limiting oneself to one full meal and avoiding food between meals. Light sustenance may be taken on two other occasions during the day.
EASTER DUTY: After having been initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, the faithful are obligated to receive holy Communion at least once a year, this precept to be fulfilled during the Easter Season, unless it is fulfilled at some other time for a good reason. In the United States, the period for fulfilling this precept is extended from the First Sunday of Lent (March 6) until Pentecost Sunday (June 5).
THE SOLEMNITIES OF SAINT JOSEPH AND THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD: The liturgical solemnities of Saint Joseph (March 19) and the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25) are to be celebrated with due solemnity even though they fall within the Season of Lent.
RECONCILIATION MONDAY: Reconciliation Monday is observed in the Diocese on the Monday of Holy Week (April 11). Observance of this day allows the faithful to experience the grace of forgiveness and mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. Those conscious of grave (mortal) sin are obligated to confess before receiving holy Communion.
TIME OF CELEBRATION OF THE EASTER VIGIL: Sunset in Brooklyn on Holy Saturday, April 16, is at 7:36 pm. Therefore, the celebration of the Liturgy for the Easter Vigil should begin after that, realistically at 8 p.m. or later, and must end before dawn on Easter Sunday.
Please take note of the following, as well:
MUSIC: During Lent, the “Alleluia” is not sung or said. Musical instruments are to be used at liturgical celebrations only to give support to the singing.
CHURCH DECORATIONS: The church should not be decorated with flowers during Lent.
HOLY WATER: Holy Water is not removed from the fonts during Lent. It is only removed immediately before the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper and replaced at the Easter Vigil with water blessed at that celebration.
FUNERALS: Funeral masses are not permitted during the Paschal Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday). The rite to be used at funerals during those days is the rite for Funerals Outside Mass.
[Related: Diocese Returns to Traditional Distribution of Ashes]
The obligation to observe, as a whole or substantially, the penitential days specified by the Church, is a serious one.
The faithful, therefore, are encouraged to celebrate the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance frequently during the Lenten Season. Additionally, reading the Word of God, praying the Stations of the Cross, praying before the Blessed Sacrament, and showing generosity towards the poor are all means of intensifying our spiritual lives during the Lenten Season.
Pastors and parents are responsible to see that young people, who may not be bound to the above requirements, are educated in an authentic sense of penance.
All other Fridays of the year remain days of penance in remembrance of the Passion of the Lord. The Bishops of the United States have recommended abstinence from meat as a penance for all Fridays of the year, although each person may substitute that tradition for some other practice of personal penance. This may involve acts of self-denial, prayer or charity.
In prayerful pilgrimage with the catechumens and candidates for full initiation, let us accompany the Lord on His way to the cross and the empty tomb. May we use this Lent to be more closely united to Jesus in His death and resurrection.
Currents News Staff
For Monica Diaz, everyday is a struggle. She’s homeless and much of what she owns, she carries with her. But she says it’s the weight of her addiction that at times is too much to bear.
A place Monica credits with helping her cope is a supervised drug-consumption site – the first of two to open in the country.
“They’re open five days a week,” Monica said. “I’m here every day.”
Both locations are in New York City – East Harlem and Washington Heights. Here users take illegal drugs with clean supplies without risk of arrest. To be clear, they are not given illegal drugs here. It’s where they use drugs already in their possession.
“When somebody first comes through the door, we’re going to ask them what they’re using and how they’re using it,” said Director of Syringe Access & Program Innovation at OnPoint NYC, Pia Marcus.
In the East Harlem location, it’s all done under the supervision of these medical professionals.
“This is all of our injection and sniffing equipment,” said Pia, “as well as our smoking equipment up here so people can take anything that they need.”
In Washington Heights, the same protective protocols are in place, but here many of the trained staff are also recovering addicts, like Clara Cardelle.
Sam Rivera is the executive director of the program. He says they have averted more than 130 overdoses since the sites opened in november. So far – Sam says no one has died under the staff’s watch.
“The goal is we want to keep people alive. And if we want to recover and get a better life, if they’re dead, they can’t,” Sam said.
“We’re checking on people constantly,” Pia said. “If we start to see eyelids drooping or any kind of slouching, we’re going right over and we’re going to agitate them with a sternum grind. If we’re seeing more serious overdoses or the overdoses are starting to progress, we’re going to be going over the crash cart. Our crash cart has oral airways, ambu bags, two different kinds of Narcan.
But many may wonder what are these facilities doing to get people off drugs.
“We’re giving them every opportunity possible to stop,” Sam said. “Once someone says they’re interested, we get them picked up, right into detox.”
These centers are actually illegal because of federal law, but the Department of Justice is evaluating whether exceptions can be made so that sites like these could be opened nationwide.
When they opened in New York, the city’s former Mayor Bill de Blasio gave his blessing, sending them a letter of support.
We’re learning more about that New York City woman who was murdered in her Chinatown apartment.
We’ll hear from the Bronx priest who is about to become the youngest bishop in the U.S.
A new study says babies whose mothers were vaccinated against the coronavirus have a reduced risk of being hospitalized with the disease.