Archives

Diocese of Brooklyn Students Thank and Bid Farewell to Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio Ahead of Retirement

By Jessica Easthope and Bill Miller

Students of St. Athanasius Catholic Academy became ambassadors for all parochial school students in the Diocese of Brooklyn Thursday as they bid a special goodbye to Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, who retires on Nov. 30.

The students filled St. Athanasius Church across the street from their school for the “thank you and goodbye” prayer service on behalf of all schools in the diocese. The parish’s pastor, Msgr. David Cassato, presided. He is also vicar of Catholic Schools.

During his 18 years guiding the diocese, Bishop DiMarzio was a champion for quality and affordable Catholic education in Brooklyn and Queens.

To show appreciation, diocesan Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tom Chadzutko announced the creation of two Angel Scholarships in Bishop DiMarzio’s name. The awards will pay the annual $1,500 tuition for two students, one in Brooklyn and the other in Queens.

“Wonderful,” is how the bishop described the awarding of the two scholarships.

“We’re trying to make our schools affordable to everyone,” Bishop DiMarzio said after the service. “There has to be some ‘buy in’ from the parents, but for most of  them, they can’t afford the whole thing. So we subsidize it and that’s excellent.

“I always give a scholarship myself, but then to have one in my name is really very enlightening and really appreciated,” he said.

Diane Competello, principal of St. Athanasius Catholic Academy, led students in presenting several keepsake gifts to Bishop DiMarzio.

“I think it’s fitting that we had an opportunity to bring the children of St. Athanasius together and all the children of the diocese to give him an actual farewell for all he’s done,” the superintendent added.“When we put the event together, we really wanted to do something from the children,” Dr. Chadzutko said. “All of his 18 years here with the diocese, Catholic education was always (Bishop DiMarzio’s) priority. He always spoke about praying with the children, listening to the children, getting the children to laugh.

Bishop DiMarzio smiled broadly throughout the service and expressed profound gratitude for the students’ appreciation. He urged them to never forget what they’ve learned in Catholic schools.

“Catholic education is so important,” he told the students. “It’s important to me, it is important to you, to your parents, to our Church and to our world. Because here you really learn well; you have academics here, but also you have good values that we share.

“You understand your faith, because that faith is what gets us through this life,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “If we have no faith, life can be very hard, very difficult. By being good students and by working hard in school, we’ll make sure you have a great future as you’re growing up in this difficult world.”

Hope On the Open Ocean: How One Catholic Priest Rescues Fleeing Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean

Currents News Staff

This is what Father Luigi Usubelli saw: a wooden boat carrying 70 migrants including four children and six women floating in the Mediterranean sea.

“You can’t just stand by when you see that,” Father Usubelli said. “You can’t just watch. You have to act.”

Father Usubelli jumped into action helping to pull them onboard a boat used by the Spanish non-profit “Open Arms”.

“This was a very special experience,” Father Usubelli said. “Being in the middle of the sea and seeing firsthand the boldness of these people who hop on a boat, without resources, and wait in the middle of an agitated sea, is a powerful experience.”

The humanitarian agency helps to rescue those who are abandoned in international waters trying to flee wars, persecution and poverty. But it says thousands of them are dying trying to reach a safe shore.

That’s why Pope Francis visited Lampedusa in 2013 shortly after his election. The island off the coast of Sicily is a primary destination for migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia seeking entry into Europe.

The Holy Father’s concern for migrants has been at the center of his pontificate ever since. Every year, he celebrates a Mass to commemorate the visit and talk about the conditions refugees face once they make it to shore.

“You can’t imagine the hell they live there in those detention camps,” Pope Francis said. “These people came with only one hope of crossing the sea.”

Seven years after the pontiff’s visit to Lampedusa, a global coalition of non-profits has designated July 8 as “International Day of the Mediterranean Sea” in an effort to raise awareness about the plight of migrants and refugees.

Currents News Update for Wednesday, 11/3/21

After being sent back down by the Supreme Court, a New York court is reconsidering a mandate for insurance coverage for abortions by religious groups.

The Supreme Court is taking up another big, constitutional issue and this one looks directly at gun rights in the State of New York.

Kids ages five to 11 are already rolling up their sleeves for the COVID vaccine.

Supreme Court Orders N.Y. Court to Reconsider Ruling That Forces Catholic Dioceses to Cover Abortions

By Jessica Easthope

Another victory for religious freedom in the fight for life. This week the United States Supreme Court sent a case back down to the New York appellate division asking it to reconsider a ruling.

“The First Amendment rights of individuals and organizations are getting a greater hearing these days from the Supreme Court so that is very encouraging,” said Director of Pro-Life Activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, Kathleen Gallagher.

The case brought against New York State by the Diocese of Albany and other religious groups challenged a mandate that would require employers to provide abortion coverage in their employee health insurance plans. The decision comes based on a Supreme Court decision earlier this year over religious liberties in another case – Fulton vs Philadelphia. 

“To have the court say so definitively,‘take another look here because we just ruled in the Fulton case and you should reread that case,” said Kathleen.

The mandated abortion coverage was placed on insurers in 2017 by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It did, at the time, make room for a religious exemption – however it was only for those primarily serving people of their own faith and not institutions with any kind of outreach ministry. 

“Under their very narrow definition of religion, Jesus Christ wouldn’t even qualify because he served people of all faiths and no faith at all,” added Kathleen. 

The appellate division will now have to rehear the case and decide if the Diocese of Albany and other groups will be exempt. 

Sending the case back down showed promise for religious leaders like Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger who said in a statement:

“We are gratified and grateful that the Supreme Court has recognized the serious constitutional concerns over New York State’s heavy-handed abortion mandate on religious employers.”

If the appellate division rehears the case and still rules against the plaintiffs, it’s possible the case could go to the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Weighs In on Texas Abortion Law

Currents News Staff and Carol Zimmermann

WASHINGTON (CNS) — During oral arguments just shy of three hours Nov. 1, the Supreme Court closely examined — and seemed to have concerns about — how the new abortion law in Texas was framed and is enforced.

The justices were specifically considering if the Justice Department and if abortion providers in Texas can challenge the Texas abortion law in federal court. The law, in effect since Sept. 1, bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and allows individuals to sue anyone involved in helping a woman obtain an abortion.

Pro-life advocates pray near the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Nov. 1, 2021. (Photos: CNS/Tyler Orsburn)

Among the justices who expressed some unease with the law’s framing were Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, which could lead to a narrow ruling to enable the lawsuits against the abortion law to proceed.

Such a ruling would not address the broad scope of the law’s constitutionality but would return the cases to lower courts.

Many of the justices’ comments during two back-to-back cases acknowledged this is a new challenge to face court but they drew on one case in particular for some guidance. Many brought up Ex Parte Young, a 1908 Supreme Court case that said state officials could be sued in federal court to prevent them from trying to enforce unconstitutional laws.

Kavanaugh said Texas had exploited a “loophole” in the abortion law preventing it from being challenged in federal court. And Barrett pointed out that the way the law’s enforcement mechanism was designed — preventing defendants from arguing about the undue burden placed on them — seemed in conflict with the court’s previous abortion rulings.

When Kavanaugh asked if states could enact similar laws limiting other constitutional rights, like gun rights under the Second Amendment and free speech rights under the First Amendment, Judd Stone II, solicitor general of Texas, said such laws could not be challenged in federal court either.

Abortion demonstrators are seen near the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Nov. 1, 2021.

Stone emphasized that neither the federal government nor the abortion providers had legal grounds to sue the state in federal court.

In the first set of arguments, Marc Hearron, a lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, argued that the Supreme Court should issue an injunction against Texas state court clerks, preventing them from accepting lawsuits against abortion providers and those who assist women seeking abortions.

He also said the way the state’s law is enforced will have a “chilling effect” by encouraging repetitive lawsuits that would put defendants at risk of $10,000 judgments plus attorney fees.

In the second set of arguments, Elizabeth Prelogar, solicitor general of the United States, emphasized that Texas should not be allowed to evade previous Supreme Court rulings on abortion through its law that evades judicial review.

“I recognize that this is a novel case,” she said, adding: “That’s because it’s a novel law.”

The Nov. 1 argument was the third time the court considered the Texas abortion law agreeing to emergency requests filed by the Department of Justice and the abortion providers’ challenge to the state’s abortion law.

On Sept. 1, the court ruled against blocking the Texas abortion law and on Oct. 22 it said the law would remain in effect before it would get its expedited review Nov. 1.

Just prior to November’s oral arguments, John Seago, legislative director of Texas Right to Life said his organization was “optimistic” about the outcome of the case.

“Not only have the justices continued to show judicial restraint by allowing the law to continue to save lives, but they are committed to taking these procedural and standing questions seriously, unlike the federal district court. We are hopeful the justices will clarify that these current legal attacks on this life-saving law are invalid,” he said in a statement.

On Dec. 1, the court will take up a broader abortion case, examining Mississippi’s  ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Pro-life advocates pray near the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Nov. 1, 2021.

The Texas abortion law, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May, became effective at midnight central time Sept. 1. It is one of the strictest abortion measures in the country, banning abortions in the state after a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which the law says is six weeks. The law has an exception for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.

Currently, at least 12 other states have legislation banning abortions early in pregnancy, but these bans have been blocked by courts.

When the Supreme Court first ruled against blocking the Texas abortion law, the Texas Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, said this action marked the first time since Roe v. Wade that the nation’s high court “has allowed a pro-life law to remain while litigation proceeds in lower courts.”

Voters Consider Crime, COVID-19 and Crippling Traffic in Mayoral Race at Election Day Polls

By Jessica Easthope

The fate of New York City is in the hands of these voters – and it’s a responsibility they don’t take lightly.

“I grew up my life in this parish and it’s so bad, it’s important to get out and vote,” said Patricia McLaughlin.

“I’m just trying to find a mayor that’s going to care about New York, not themselves,” Sabine Fuentes said.

The race for the city’s new mayor has been hotly contested as voters decide between two very different frontrunners: Republican and Guardian Angels founder, Curtis Sliwa and Democrat former NYPD officer and Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams. The men hold opposing views on almost every issue. Both, however, have vowed to crack down on crime.

There has been a nearly 21 percent increase in gun arrests in 2021 and in September overall crime was up 2.6 percent compared to 2020. Felony assaults were up 18.5 percent.

For those who say crime is their number-one issue, Sliwa has their vote.

“I thought Adams would be a continuation of the de Blasio administration,” said Edward McGarrity.

“He knows what the city has gone through, he was around at the time when it was very bad,” said Patricia McLaughlin.

“If I’m going to vote for someone who’s really strong on it, it’s Sliwa,” Richard Nieves said.

And what’s also indirectly affected by crime – New York City traffic. More than 70 billion dollars has been allocated for infrastructure repairs but delays have commuters bumper-to-bumper.

“Where did all that money go for infrastructure? Now with the BQE, it’s down to two lanes. It takes you three hours to get home,” McLaughlin said.

And some say who would want to feel unsafe taking mass transit?

“We’ve liked stepped back in time 40 years ago,” said McGarrity referring to crime numbers from the 1980s.

“People are scared to take the subway, people are scared of everything, you need to take care of the homeless problem this is New York City,” said Fuentes.

But voters said during campaign season they’ve been paying close attention to the energy the candidates have and what they’re willing to fight for.

“I like the passion and you can tell Sliwa loves New York City so much,” Nieves said.

But those voting for Eric Adams says it’s his calm and reserve that won them over.

“It just seems hectic right now and we just need calm and someone who can bring assurance to the citizens,” said Lupita DeLeon.

And others just don’t know yet.

“Only time will tell,” said Fuentes. “People thought de Blasio was going to be a great mayor too.”

For voters, it might come down to pure attitude and how each candidate approached their campaign and it doesn’t get any more New York than that. Polls across the city close Tuesday at 9 p.m.

Currents News Update for Tuesday, 11/2/21

Today is Election Day in New York City and across the country.

The Supreme Court is now deciding what action, if any, it will take in response to Texas’ six-week “heartbeat” abortion law.

This All Souls Day, Pope Francis walked among the tombs of French soldiers killed during World War II.