Currents News Staff
A former Planned Parenthood employee who was pro-abortion for 17 years had an awakening that led her to become a pro-life leader for the Hispanic community.
Mayra Rodriguez joined Currents Currents to discuss how she went from marching in the nation’s capital for a woman’s right to abortion to marching for life as a Planned Parenthood whistleblower.
One Catholic chaplain’s quest to open a religious chapel at Laguardia airport has fallen short.
The Ohio-based group, Christian Aid Ministries, held a day of fasting and prayer Thursday for its 17 members, kidnapped by a violent gang in Haiti.
After COVID got in the way, the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner returns in all its glory.
By Jessica Easthope
It’s a New York staple and after the pandemic forced it to go virtual last year, the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is back and will be hosted at the Jacob Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan Thursday.
The dinner named for former New York Governor Alfred Smith, the first Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party, has raised tens of millions of dollars over 76 years for vulnerable children and their families in the Archdiocese.
Though this year isn’t exactly a milestone – the dinner will commemorate its 75th diamond anniversary with Condoleezza Rice as the keynote speaker. Rice is the former Secretary of State and the first black woman to hold the title.
Last year the foundation made its mission COVID-19 relief. It awarded four million dollars to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund’s Emergency Tuition Assistance Program and the Archdiocese for its health services in the most hard-hit areas. Another four million dollars was given to 16 different nonprofits serving families with much needed health care.
“With that funding families were fed, mortgages were paid and children were able to participate in school,” said Condoleezza Rica.
This year both Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will attend the dinner. It will be Bishop DiMarzio’s last before his retirement.
“This is one of the events where people come together in a friendly, humorous way sometimes and just celebrate and raise some money for charity,” said Bishop DiMarzio.
In order to ensure safety during the pandemic everyone attending is required to be vaccinated and wear a mask at the dinner.
The recent kidnapping of 17 missionaries by a gang in Haiti is one of many similar incidents in the country. Father Michel Briand is a French priest who was previously kidnapped by the very same gang. He recounts his experience being held hostage for three weeks as well as the gang’s tactics.
Groups of people in 1,000 American cities are praying for life – it’s part of a national campaign to end abortion.
The Biden administration says it’s “relentlessly focused” on the 17 Christian missionaries kidnapped in Haiti.
Futures in Education held its biggest fundraiser of the year last night with a monumental goal of $2 million dollars.
By Jessica Easthope
The fight for life – as the national war wages on, the local battles haven’t been forgotten. Outside a Planned Parenthood in Downtown Brooklyn, echoes of Our Fathers blend with the shuffle of pedestrians and Hail Marys are said with the hope of transforming hearts.
“We really want women to know that there is an alternative and most of the women who walk into these buildings do not feel like they have a choice,” said Debbie Sucich, the North Brooklyn co-coordinator for the 40 Days for Life Campaign.
Sucich has been out there, rain or shine, for 12 hours every day praying to end abortion. But it’s not just prayers – this group comes armed with information, phone numbers, resources and help with hope and healing.
“It may seem a little abstract to them but when they see people out here concretely offering resources and praying, I think they know how much they’re cared for,” Debbie said.
40 Days for Life has two campaigns every year and 1,000 cities across the country pray in front of abortion clinics. Most days the group is met with support and protest but sometimes people like Isabel Cordova are compelled to stop and pray with them.
“I could not just walk by,” said Isabel, a parishioner at Queen of All Saints Church in Fort Greene. “There was something stirred in me to stop because I believe in what they’re doing and I believe in the right to life.”
The more people the better because this time their prayers are set against the backdrop of a major legislative decision. The Biden Administration is asking the Supreme Court to step in and suspend Texas’ six-week abortion law. The Department of Justice says the Lone Star State circumvented the Supreme Court’s rulings in Roe v. Wade. Last month, the high court declined to block the law in a five-to-four decision.
“We’re responsible for what happens locally so despite what happens nationally we’re encouraged that more people will become educated and resources available will be more known to women,” said Debbie.
The group says what they call “baby saves” are the goal but it’s a long fight and they’re not getting tired.
DEFENDING LIFE – HOW YOU CAN TAKE PART
To sign up and join Debbie’s group, you can go to 40daysforlife.com and join under Brooklyn North. This prayer campaign ends on Oct. 31. You can also contact your local representative about pro-life issues and repealing New York’s abortion law through the New York State Catholic Conference action center on nyscatholic.org.
By Currents News Staff and Paula Katinas
LOWER MANHATTAN — Manuel Hernandez, a graduate of Christ the King High School who currently attends New York City College of Technology and aspires to become a mechanical engineer, is convinced that he couldn’t have made it through Catholic school without help from Futures in Education.
The organization, which provides scholarships to help students pay Catholic school tuition, assisted Hernandez throughout his high school years.
“Futures in Education helped me to become the person I am today,” he said. “I’m very grateful.”
His association with the organization goes back to his days as a student at Salve Regina Catholic Academy when he received financial aid through the “Be an Angel” program. Under “Be an Angel,” each donor provides financial aid to help an individual student with tuition costs.
Hernandez was a guest speaker at the Futures in Education’s Annual Scholarship Dinner Monday night, an affair that drew more than 500 people and filled the grand ballroom of the Cipriani Wall Street event space.
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, vicar for development for the Diocese of Brooklyn, said the dinner raised $2.1 million. He estimated that amount will help as many as 3,000 students in schools across the diocese.
“The message is, without the support of our donors, children would never be able to receive a good Catholic education,” Msgr. Gigantiello said. “Many of our children come from families that don’t have the means to send their children to (Catholic) school. And unless we support them with these scholarships through the ‘Angel’ program, they would never be able to attend.”
However, he stressed, it’s about more than just money.
“And it’s not just a matter of attending a Catholic school and hearing our faith. It’s a matter of giving them a foundation for the rest of their lives,” Msgr. Gigantiello said.
Rosanna Scotto, co-host of “Good Day New York” on Fox5 NY, served as master of ceremonies at the gala. The honorees were Lidia Bastianich, the famous television chef and cookbook author, and Frank Carone, a lawyer who has been a supporter of Futures in Education over the years.
“I think tonight is an extremely important night,” Bastianich said, adding that after the COVID-19 pandemic, people feel the need to be closer to their families and to do something for their community.
“This is certainly an event for our children. The future is our children,” she added.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, who delivered the invocation, noted that the pandemic forced last year’s dinner to be a virtual event. This year, the dinner was in-person once again. “We’re back at full strength working for our children,” he said.
Currents News Staff
Bishop Pierre-Andre’ Dumas from the Diocese of Anse-a’-Veau is a friend to the Diocese of Brooklyn. That diocese is just over 60 miles from Port-au-Prince.
Bishop Dumas is on the ground in Haiti as the FBI’s rescue efforts continue to unfold.
He joins Currents News to give an update on the situation and shares what the church in Haiti is doing to bring these missionaries home.
Currents News Staff
In the middle of the Pope’s weekly General Audience a child walked on stage to ask Pope Francis for his zuchetto, the white cap worn by popes.
The Vatican staff gave him one and the young boy left the stage with the precious gift.
The Pope later reflected on the event and said, “I think about what Jesus said about the spontaneity and freedom of children, when this child had the freedom to come up to me and move around as if he were at home. Jesus tells all of us, if you are not like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Currents News speaks to a Catholic priest serving in the heart of Haiti’s gang activity about the dangers everyone faces there.
The Department of Justice’s latest move in the back-and-forth over Texas’ six week abortion law.
New York City’s Board of Health is joining other local and state governments in labeling racism a public health crisis.