Currents News Staff
Scores of U.S. bishops from across the country are in Baltimore right now kicking off their annual fall meeting in person for the first time in two years. Continuing with our team coverage, National Correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, John Lavenburg is in Baltimore right now with the U.S. bishops.
He joined Currents News to delve deeper into their talks.
Currents News Staff
Scores of U.S. bishops from across the country are in Baltimore right now kicking off their annual fall meeting in person for the first time in two years. The gathering is highly anticipated, as the bishops are set to discuss the much debated draft document on the Eucharist and the synod process currently happening both in Brooklyn and across the nation.
John Lavenburg, national correspondent for The Tablet and Crux is there. He joins currents news from the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel where the meeting is taking place.
As Currents News continues to celebrate Black Catholic History Month, we’ll take you to a Catholic Academy in Brooklyn where students collected works of art depicting the Holy Family representing multiple races.
U.S. Catholic bishops are gathering in Maryland for their annual fall meeting.
New York City’s most famous Christmas tree has arrived thanks to the NYPD’s highway unit.
By Jessica Easthope
We were all made in God’s image and likeness – but the reality is that these students have to look a little harder to find an image of Jesus that looks like them.
But one place they see their diversity reflected in faith is right here in the hallways of Salve Regina Catholic Academy in East New York.
“Usually they’re represented as white people or Caucasian and it feels nice to see different people of color,” said seventh-grader Michelle Ebesunun.
Classmate Brennan Elder thinks about diversity.
“In the time we live in, diversity is very important,” Brennan said, “so it’s good to see that.”
Brennan says here at school, he’s represented, but he doesn’t see many other images of Jesus as Black.
“If you search ‘Jesus Christ’ on Google, the first three pages are going to be white, straight hair,” Brennan said, “because that’s how He’s mostly represented and that needs to change.”
So we tested his theory – and sadly he’s right.
Salve Regina decided to change up the depictions of the Holy Family, Last Supper and other iconic images at a student’s request. That student has now graduated but pastor Father Brendan Buckley, O.F.M. Cap, says he did the school a tremendous favor.
“Thank you for asking the right question,” Father Buckley said. “That question prompted me to then think about how do we see the reflection of our true Catholic identity as universal through art.”
According to researchers at Georgetown University, of those who have entered religious life from 2005 on: white men and women make up an overwhelming majority; Asians account for 12 percent; Latinos 11 percent and African- Americans only four percent. All other ethnicities came in at five percent.
Father Alonzo Cox says these images have the power to transform hearts – and maybe even help these students one day, discern their call.
“That’s a major part of stirring a young person’s vocation to priesthood or religious life,” Father Cox said, “seeing an image of our Lord that looks like him and represents who he is as a Black Catholic.”
The school is adding new diverse religious images to its halls all the time in the hope of one day having the ethnicity of every student represented.
You can join in on the diocesan celebration of Black Catholic History Month this Sunday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. (EST). The Mass will be at Our Lady of Victory Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and is in collaboration with the Archdiocese of New York.
The Mass will salute historically Black sororities and fraternities from colleges across the country.
A new musical is out and the star…is a saint! “Happening Woman” is a show based on the life and times of Mother Cabrini.
Sunday is World Day of the Poor. Pope Francis visited Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis.
As National Vocations Awareness Week comes to a close, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is talking about the present state of clergy in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
By Jessica Easthope and Paula Katinas
Of the numerous stage productions being performed across New York City as the pandemic eases, perhaps only one will star … a saint.
“Happening Woman,” a musical based on the life and times of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, better known as Mother Cabrini, the beloved patron saint of immigrants, is being staged Nov. 13 and 14 in the auditorium of Our Lady of Mercy Church in Forest Hills.
Featuring 15 songs and a cast of 24, the play spotlights the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who spent much of her life tending to immigrants and the poor and started more than 100 hospitals and schools in the U.S.
It’s the brainchild of AnnaMarie Prono, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy, who recalls the point in time when she developed an interest in the Italian-born luminary. During a chat, she asked a friend, “What do you know about Mother Cabrini?”
Her friend answered, “She was a happening woman when women weren’t happening.”
That comment became the inspiration for “Happening Woman,” which Prono has co-written with composer Bob Kaufmann. Prono wrote the book for the musical and is co-producing the show with Malini Singh McDonald, founder of the group Theater Beyond Broadway. Kaufmann is responsible for the music and lyrics; the show is directed by Cathy Chimenti.
The show features a variety of musical genres — including a traditional Italian tarantella, marching band music inspired by John Philip Sousa, rock-and-roll numbers and music with a Mexican flavor.
Kaufmann, who said the score is “unapologetically spiritual,” added that his goal was to make the songs “as upbeat and catchy as possible.”
The plot of “Happening Woman” jumps back and forth in time between the past and the present. It depicts Mother Cabrini’s life, but also tells the parallel present-day story of a 13-year-old girl struggling with multiple sclerosis.
Prono has MS, as does McDonald. They’re both inspired by the legacy of Mother Cabrini, who was “sickly her entire life,” Prono said.
“And yet she just did so much. She never stopped. People told her no. She didn’t care. She just kept going. I have MS,” Prono said, “and I kind of felt like I could identify with her a little bit.”
The playwright’s interest in Mother Cabrini grew during the “She Built NYC” controversy in 2019, when the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio failed to include the saint on a list of statues to be erected in honor of influential females. The legendary Catholic had garnered the most votes out of 320 “She Built NYC” candidates in a 2018 survey of New Yorkers.
After researching Mother Cabrini’s life, she asked Kaufmann to write a song and then asked if he would co-write an entire musical.
“Every cell in my body said, ‘Don’t do it.’ I was scared. But for some reason, I said yes,” the composer described. “There was some sort of divine inspiration at work here.”
After the show was written, Prono approached McDonald and asked her to co-produce it. McDonald agreed, saying: “When I‘m asked, I’ll usually do it if it resonates with me.”
The musical comes at a time when New York City is starting to get back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, with the reopening of Broadway theaters and the return of large public gatherings.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Father Frank Schwarz, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy. “This is the first time that we’re really going to have something like this in a long time, and we’ll be able to do it safely.”
The church’s auditorium fits approximately 150 people. With the two scheduled performances, “Happening Woman” will likely be seen by 300 people.
Prono is hoping “Happening Woman ” inspires people, just as she was inspired by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. “Mother Cabrini overcame so many obstacles, and this young woman in the play also overcomes obstacles,” she said.
The creators want the show to bring Catholics closer to their faith. “I wanted to really give Catholics something they could feel good about,” Kaufmann said.
Mother Cabrini has lessons to teach even today, Father Schwarz said. “She trusted in God, and she went with a vision that she had and she made things work,” he said.
Prono, McDonald, and other friends have started a GoFundMe page to raise money to bring “Happening Woman” to other churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Supporters can search for “Happening Woman” at gofundme.com.
Currents News Staff
Pope Francis kicked off World Day of the Poor in Assisi, the home of the saint of the poor.
Before entering this basilica, known by the Franciscans as the “Portiuncula,” a group of participants gave the Holy Father a pilgrim’s cloak and walking stick.
He didn’t choose this place arbitrarily. The Portiuncula is where St. Francis of Assisi found his vocation and gave up his wealth to live in poverty, among the poor. He also started the Franciscan movement. There the Holy Father listened to the participants’ moving stories.
Some shared what they do to help others. Like this couple who moved to the peripheries in Paris in order to be with the poor. Others shared how they received help. Like this man from Spain who was left unemployed during the pandemic.
“In that moment, as with many other people around the world, the pandemic surprised me,” he said before he tears started to fall from his face. “I was left alone and without a job, on the street. For several weeks, I was sleeping in the streets. I asked a priest for help, and he welcomed me with a smile… He looked at me and said… I’m going to help you.”
Another homeless woman spoke about the help she received from Catholic organization, Caritas.
“The people from Caritas began helping me when they heard about my situation,” she said. “They gave me food and some financial support, which allowed me to move forward and keep my dignity.”
Other homeless people shared how being helped by others led them to discover the faith. This homeless man from France was an Atheist, but he decided to get baptized. A Polish man rediscovered his relationship with God.
“I hated myself at first,” he said. “Now I accept who I am and, thank God, I want to turn my life around. Today I feel like a free man.”
A young Afghan woman told the Holy Father that she is very worried about her family and friends who are still stuck in Afghanistan. And this man who taught sociology in Afghanistan, asked for help getting his children out of the country.
“I have four children: two boys and two girls,” he said before he started to cry. “They are between 20 and 24 years old, and have been abandoned in Afghanistan.”
The Holy Father was moved by the testimonies and listened very attentively.
“The Day of the Poor… I thank the poor, who open their hearts to give us their richness and heal our wounded hearts,” Pope Francis said. “Thank you for this courage.”
The Holy Father also thanked those who help people in need. But he urged more people to join the cause.
“It is time to open our eyes to see the state of inequality in which many families live,” Pope Francis said. “It is time to roll back our sleeves so dignity can be restored by creating jobs. It is time to be scandalized once more by the reality of children who are starving, reduced to slavery, tossed about in the water in the aftermath of a shipwreck, innocent victims of every sort of violence.”
The Holy Father listed a number situations of poverty that affect all kinds of people.
“It is time for violence against women to stop, and for them to be respected and not treated like bargaining chips,” Pope Francis said. “It is time to break the circle of indifference and return to discovering beauty in encounter and dialogue. It is time to encounter one another. If we do not learn to encounter one another, we will move toward a very sad end.”
It was not a formal event. The Holy Father listened to participants, prayed with them and blessed them. Pope Francis encourages Catholics to organize events like this one in every city in the world.
Veteran’s Day is tomorrow — so tonight we’ll tell you how a Queens Catholic high school is saluting its graduates who have served our country.
A retired Marine Corps officer is still working on the front lines in Afghanistan to get every American to safety.
Food prices are surging and that’s creating problems for food banks across the country.
Currents News Staff
Once a Marine, always a Marine. One veteran is proving he’s still committed to serving the American people even in retirement.
As Currents News continues Veteran’s Day coverage, Jonathon Myers, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, joined Currents News. He discusses how he is helping evacuate people from Afghanistan.
By Jessica Easthope
Graduates of St. Francis Prep have gone on to serve in the military since the Civil War. More than 150 years and more than 400 veterans later, the school is celebrating a dozen of its brave alumni.
Air Force Major Jophiel Philips spoke to students ahead of Veterans Day and said his time at the school shaped his military career.
“It prepared me for a life of service,” said Major Philips. “St Francis Prep, their ethos is ‘how can you serve’ and I carry that with me throughout my life and now I’m in the Air Force and I put my nation’s uniform on every day.”
Back in 1999, Major Philips was a football player who admits he didn’t have the best grades, now he works under the Secretary of the Air Force, helping to protect our nation’s freedom at Andrews Air Force Base.
But Major Philips has a very clear message to send to students. He realized what America was all about the day he almost died when an IED exploded at the gate of his camp in Afghanistan in 2015.
A fellow service member put his life on the line to save his and despite being unarmed and severely injured, Major Philips shielded another service members from attackers wearing suicide vests.
“I was down range and somebody helped me and I hope to impart that on them. We work together. We uplift each other and that’s what makes our nation so great,” he said.
Among the students listening to his story, Raejin Jeong, a senior waiting for his acceptance letter to West Point.
“I found what they do very inspiring and what they do for this country, the sacrifices, the hard work. Those are just values I found very attractive and it’s something I want to pursue,” said Raejin.
Diane Haussermann, the chair of the social studies department, says having these vets share their experiences shows students what real sacrifice looks like.
“We’re hoping this will inspire not only some patriotism but also that sense of community. It’s nice for them to come back and for us to honor them,” she said.
This Veterans Day, St. Francis Prep is starting a year-long fundraiser for America’s VetDogs to sponsor a service dog for a veteran suffering with PTSD or a physical disability.
To help St. Francis Prep sponsor a service dog for a veteran in need you can donate at the school’s website, sfponline.org