The legal status of abortion is still uncertain nearly a month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.
Pope Francis is making history yet again. This time he chose women to help him pick future bishops.
Time to lift once again as the Giglio celebrations continue in Brooklyn. It’s almost over but you can still catch a couple more.
Scientists are astounded at the new images of God’s creation — courtesy of NASA’s latest technology.
By Currents News Staff and Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Ten days after saying he would name two women to the group that helps him choose bishops, Pope Francis appointed three women to the office.
The Vatican announced July 13 that the pope had named 14 new members of the Dicastery for Bishops.
For the first time ever, the members include women: Sister Raffaella Petrini, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, who is secretary-general of the office governing Vatican City State; French Salesian Sister Yvonne Reungoat, former superior general of the order; and Maria Lia Zervino, an Argentine who is president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations.
The dicastery is led by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet and is responsible for helping the pope choose bishops for Latin-rite dioceses outside of the church’s mission territories. Members meet twice a month to review dossiers submitted by Vatican nuncios about potential candidates and to vote on the names they recommend to the pope.
Before Pope Francis’ reform of the Roman Curia took effect in June, members of the dicastery were only cardinals and a few bishops.
The other new members of the dicastery include: Cardinals Anders Arborelius of Stockholm; Jose F. Advincula of Manila, Philippines; José Tolentino de Mendonca, Vatican archivist; and Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.
Pope Francis also named as members several bishops who will become cardinals in August: Cardinals-designate Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy; Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France; and Oscar Cantoni of Como, Italy.
The other new members are: Archbishop Drazen Kutlesa of Split-Makarska, Croatia; Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the former Pontifical Council for Culture; and Benedictine Abbot Donato Ogliari, abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome and apostolic administrator of the Abbey of Montecassino, Italy.
The new members join existing members, including U.S. Cardinals Blase J. Cupich of Chicago and Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey.
Currents News Staff
More state courts are weighing in on abortion access and the federal government is too. In Louisiana, abortions just became legal again and in Minnesota, a judge declared restrictions on them unconstitutional.
The rest of the country in this post-Roe era – bans and restrictions are likely in certain states and some are in limbo. People can travel across state lines for the procedures, but some worry about stronger pro-life measures.
“As an African American,” said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, “what I hear when I hear that is fugitive slave laws.”
In a Senate committee hearing yesterday, a witness pushed back when asked why she doesn’t call all people who can get pregnant “women.”
“Your line of questioning is transphobic,” said Khiara Bridges, a Professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, “and it opens up trans people to violence.”
Senator Josh Hawley bristled at the characterization. House and Senate committees are discussing abortion access again today. That comes as the Justice Department announces a Reproductive Rights Task Force.
It was created to safeguard things like patient privacy and access to medication abortion. That idea has some pro-life advocates worried. Some Republicans would rather see the ban on protests at the homes of Supreme Court Justices enforced.
“I’ve called on the Justice Department to protect the justices and their families,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Other lawmakers say they’re concerned about other rights the High Court might strip away.
The barrage of court filings means that for roughly half of the country – the legal status of abortion is still uncertain nearly a month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.
Reverend Christopher Heanue’s Homily from Wednesday’s Mass on 7/13/22
Currents News Staff
Servant of God Msgr. Bernard Quinn was an Irish-American known for his fight against racial injustice. He’s already considered a saint by many and his legacy carries on today – not only around the Diocese of Brooklyn but also at St. Peter Claver Church, the parish he founded for African-American Catholics.
The Brooklyn priest who has been spearheading Msgr. Quinn’s cause for canonization, Msgr. Paul Jervis, joined Currents News to discuss the new documentary film premiering about the life of Msgr. Quinn.
Where to Watch
It’s not too late to see the documentary, “Monsignor Quinn: Servant of God” – just tune into NET-TV on Monday, July 18 right after Currents News at 7:30 p.m. or on Saturday, July 23 at 4 p.m.
Bodega workers are meeting with New York’s District Attorney Alvin Bragg today — asking him to drop the murder charges in that deli death.
Abortions are now states rights — but the Biden Administration is saying hospitals must be able to provide them.
A look at a new documentary on a man the Ku Klux Klan wanted dead — and his lasting legacy in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Currents News Staff
A heat wave continues to crash over much of the U.S. But mixing those soaring temperatures with some medications could cause major problems.
Dr. Riza Conroy with the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center says some medications that don’t go well with the sun include: some antibiotics; antidepressants; antihistamines; anti inflammatories and medications for blood pressure and diabetes.
“Sometimes the reaction can take weeks or months for it to fade,” said Conroy.
She says bring a cooler when you’re out as the heat can degrade insulin and other medicines.
“Put the medication, especially insulin, in the cooler and keep it nice, cool and dark,” Conroy added.
She says sun-related side effects of medications usually develop about 24 to 72 hours after sun exposure and may appear to be an exaggerated sunburn.
“It looks red,” she said. “Sometimes scaly. Sometimes itchy and sometimes when it’s really bad blisters and spots that resemble hives.”
Conroy says to take the medicine before bed instead of the morning and follow these sun-smart steps:
SLIP: on clothing that covers the body.
SLOP: on SPF 15 to 30 or higher broad spectrum, water resistant sunscreen.
SLAP: on a hat
SEEK: shade and avoid the sun between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
AND SLIDE: on sunglasses with UV protection and side panels.
Currents News Staff
A deadly stabbing captured on surveillance video. Jose Alba was working at an upper Manhattan bodega on July 1 when police say he got into a fight with another man.
According to a criminal complaint, a woman tried to buy a snack for her daughter. Her payment card was declined. She told police Alba reached over the counter and grabbed her daughter’s hand to get the item back.
The unidentified woman then left, but later returned to the store with her boyfriend, Austin Simon. A criminal complaint says Simon went behind the counter and pushed the bodega clerk.
Alba told an investigator Simon wanted him to apologize to the girl. Surveillance video shows Simon attempting to steer the clerk out of the area behind the counter.
The complaint states Alba “picked up a kitchen knife that was stashed behind the counter and stabbed Mr. Simon in the neck and chest at least five times.”
It goes on to say Simon’s girlfriend took a knife from her purse and stabbed Alba, who suffered a wound to his arm. Police say Simon died later that evening “of stab wounds to his neck and torso.”
Officers arrested Alba on July 2 and he is charged with one count of second-degree murder and has been released on $50,000 bond, partially secured by the owners of the bodega.
The case is reigniting the debate over self-defense laws in New York. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he supports Alba.
“My heart goes out for that hard-working honest New Yorker that was doing his job in his place of business,” said Mayor Adams, “where a person came in and went behind the counter and attacked him. My heart goes out to that employee who was in the store doing his job. And so I am hoping that we take all of that into consideration as this hardworking New Yorker was doing his job and someone aggressively went behind the counter to attack him. So the DA has his job.”
In a meeting with bodega workers on Tuesday, the Manhattan DA said he wouldn’t drop the charges just yet and that they are still investigating.
Alvin Bragg has been criticized for his controversial, progressive policies. Bodega workers say that bail reform is a big problem and they need more protection saying they feel more unsafe than they did in the 1980s.
Reverend Alonzo Cox’s Homily from Tuesday’s Mass on 7/12/22
Currents News Staff
This changes everything – sort of.
“We expect it to change our understanding of the universe,” said Neil deGrasse Tyson, an Astrophysicist.
He’s talking about the James Webb Space Telescope and what it can reveal. NASA says the telescope captures the deepest images of the universe humans have ever seen.
“You’re seeing galaxies that are shining around other galaxies,” said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator. “And you’re seeing just a small little portion of the universe.”
This galaxy cluster is shown as it appeared about 4.6 billion years ago!
“Frankly, got emotional,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, a NASA Associate Administrator.
The telescope doesn’t just peek into “a galaxy far, far away” but it also looks back in time.
“This telescope is exquisitely tuned to see galaxies forming at the origin of the universe,” said Tyson.
That’s because it shows stars so distant, they might not even exist by the time their light reaches the telescope. In fact, by then, much of that light has stretched into infrared waves – invisible to us, but not to Webb.
“Over the thirteen-and-a-half billion years that the light has been traveling,” said Tyson. “The universe has been expanding.”
That’s why the telescope is launching a whole new way to gaze at the stars.