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ACCEPT
Thousands of anti-communist protesters in Cuba chanted, “Patria y Vida,” which translates to “homeland and life.” For those who take the risk of saying those words during protests, could end up being arrested by the government.
Those words were a stark response to a similar government phrase from when Fidel Castro was in power, “Patria O Muerte,” which means, “homeland or death.”
Across Cuba, Puerto Rico, Florida, Las Vegas and more, demonstrators took to the streets in a show of support, demanding access to COVID vaccines, food, and freedom. Thousands are calling for an end to the 62-year-old communist regime.
It started back in 1959 when Fidel Castro overthrew the military dictatorship that was in place. He quickly converted Cuba into a one-party communist system, ruling for almost fifty years. His brother Raul took over and recently handed the reigns to current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Under Castro, Cuba’s highly contentious relationship with the United States led to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, which brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Cuba’s economy and political freedoms have suffered ever since. Castro still holds a tight grip on the Cuban people.
That’s what makes these protests so shocking and unprecedented. Anti-government activity usually leads to immediate arrest. But in this police state, people are so hungry, and so angry that they’re speaking out against a government that for so long they’ve feared.
Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in years, with tensions building for months over increased sanctions first imposed by the Trump administration. The pandemic only delivered an additional blow to the already ailing economy.
Unprecedented protests all over Cuba on Sunday, July 11, have elected U.S. officials speaking out. President Joe Biden called the unrest “a clarion call for freedom.”
“The United States stands firmly with the people of Cuba,” President Biden said.
The White House showed solidarity with those who are protesting government failures like ongoing food shortages, the cost of living and the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
People shouted “unite” and “freedom” as many clashed with police during the rare and historic protests. The country is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in decades. The pandemic brought Cuba’s tourism industry to a standstill. Now a quality of life crisis has driven protesters to call for Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down.
Some lawmakers are hoping President Biden overturns Trump administration policies that tightened trade embargoes with Cuba. Others like New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the daughter of a Cuban immigrant, disagree. She said President Obama’s plan to normalize relationships with Cuba would do more harm.
Malliotakis is one of 10 Cuban Americans serving in Congress.
“I hope this is the beginning of real change toward freedom and democracy on the island. President Biden, as leader of the free world, must do all he can to influence this change,” Nicole said in a statement, Monday, July 12.
Cuban Senator Marco Rubio took to Twitter and joined those calls for freedom.
“Socialism promises guaranteed food, medicine and income,” Marco said. “If you give up your freedom, when, as always, it fails to deliver, you don’t get your freedom back.”
Here in the Diocese of Brooklyn, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros, a native Cuban who came to the U.S. as a teenage refugee in the early 1960s without his parents, said people are fed up.
“The people are scared, the people are hungry, the people are fed up with the situation,” said Bishop Cisneros.
He said the oppression taking place in his home country is very much tied to the lack of freedoms faced by Cuban Catholics.
“Together with our prayers, we have to do something to make aware to the world community that this is going on,” he said. “That the vacation they experienced in Cuba was not reality and the reality can be seen now in what’s going on in the streets. They’ve been cut up by the socialist government.”
A beloved Brooklyn tradition is back and towering high above skies. The Giglio dances through the streets of Williamsburg to the delight of onlookers and the faithful!
Pope Francis made his first public appearance, post-surgery, looking healthy and happy as he prayed the Angelus from his hospital window.
The fight for freedom in Cuba as the country’s biggest protests in decades break out. The unprecedented crisis facing the Communist-run island nation.
As the U.S.-Mexico border continues to struggle with a massive influx of migrants, two people are hoping to make the journey easier for the youngest to bear – one bear at a time.
WILLIAMSBURG — Dominic and Michael Franco had certainly been out of their comfort zone, and they had the marks to prove it.
On Sunday, July 11, the brothers tugged at the collars of their sweat-drenched yellow t-shirts to proudly show how their necks and shoulders radiated the fiery color of sunburn. But this redness wasn’t from harmful rays.
The teenagers had just joined dozens of men of all ages parading two massive floats on their shoulders, including the multi-story-high “Giglio” tower. The meeting of the ornately decorated tower and the replica boat comprise the “Dance of the Giglio” — the centerpiece ritual of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & San Paolino Di Nola (St. Paulinus of Nola).
Italian immigrants and their descendants at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Williamsburg have celebrated this Italian-American classic since the late 1880s. That is, except for 1945 because of World War II and 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But on Sunday, thousands of people packed North 8th Street outside the church for the feast’s return to the Brooklyn neighborhood. Traditional Italian music, the aroma of grilled festival foods, and the rumbling of carnival rides filled the air.
It was the first time Dominic and Michael were among the “lifters,” following in the steps of their father, Philip Franco, a deacon for the parish and a lifelong resident of the neighborhood. They started the day lifting the boat and expected to switch over to the tower later in the day.
“It was like I thought it would be,” said 13-year-old Michael. “I was anticipating it was going to be a little easier in the beginning and then harder as you go on because everyone’s getting tired. Most of the lifters are, like, coming in and out. They’re taking breaks.”
Brothers Dominic (left) and Michael Franco show off the redness they gained as lifters who “danced” the Giglio, Sunday, July 11. The marks weren’t big enough to be considered “Giglio humps,” but the teens were proud of them, nonetheless.
Worth the Pain
In the dancing of the Giglio, the replica boat symbolizes the return of 5th-century bishop, St. Paulinus, to his beloved Nola, Italy, following his release from slavery.
Nearby, another crew was lifting the “Giglio” — a massive, ornately decorated tower symbolizing the affection citizens Nola felt for their bishop. St. Paulinus had exchanged his freedom for the release of women and children kidnapped by Vandal raiders and sold into slavery in Africa.
“Giglio” is the Italian word for lilies which, according to legend, is the flower that the people of Nola waved at St. Paulinus as the boat, commanded by a “Turk,” neared their shore.
Dominic Franco, 14, said he “definitely” wanted to sign up for another afternoon of sweat, grime, and muscle strain next year.
“It hurts, but it’s fun,” he said. “And it’s worth it — worth the pain — probably because we’ve been watching it our whole lives, and now we finally get to do it.”
A “lieutenant” directs some of the 125 “lifters” as they maneuver the replica boat during the “dancing” of the Giglio, Sunday, July 11. The dance is a cornerstone event of the annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & San Paolino Di Nola, hosted by the parish in Williamsburg. (Photo: Bill Miller)
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, knows the pain, having helped to hoist the Giglio in years past. This year the tower, at two tons and 80 feet tall, needed “125 strong men to lift it,” he said.
Many of them have moved out of Brooklyn but return to the feast, which is a main fundraiser for the parish.
“Having a feast this year is wonderful in many ways,” Msgr. Gigantiello said. “So many people we didn’t see last year because we didn’t have the feast — we’re seeing again. It’s great to see so many wonderful familiar faces.”
The dancing of the tower and boat toward each other commemorate that reunion, albeit on the shoulders of the lifters. The Franco brothers said they believed they were the youngest in the group. Most appeared to range from the 20s to 50s, although a couple admitted to being in their 70s, like Sal Guagliata of New Jersey.
“I grew up two blocks away,” he said. “I come here a lot, but I’m always here for the feast. I remember coming here when I was 3 years old, holding my father’s hand. It’s home.”
Being a lifter, he added, is a family tradition first started by his grandfather, followed by uncles and cousins.
“I’m totally convinced that this feast kept Williamsburg together,” Guagliata said.
A Joyful Noise
The festivities began Sunday at 11:30 a.m., with Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop James Massa.
The entrance song was “When the Saints Go Marching In,” a rousing brass rendition performed by the Giglio Band. Meanwhile, a life-size statue of St. Paulinus was jubilantly shaken up and down by the men carrying it down the aisle.
Lifters, dressed in yellow or brown t-shirts and bandanas, joined parishioners in hearty applause and cheers. Bishop Massa urged the enthusiasm with his opening declaration, “Let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord!”
In his homily, the bishop honored the parishioners’ rich heritage as the descendants of immigrants.
“This feast always evokes, in us, gratitude for our grandparents and great grandparents, who were the first to carry the Giglio,” Bishop Massa said. “We stand, always, on the shoulders of these giants — women and men — who have left the comfort zones of their native towns back in Italy and from other countries.
“They poured themselves into a new life here in New York where they often — let’s face it — were treated poorly and unjustly.”
Immigrants leaving the loving embrace of their families and villages resonated throughout the homily.
Bishop Massa said the feast reminds him of his own grandfather, who left Italy by himself at age 12.
“His story captures a quality of character that we do well to honor in many of our ancestors,” the bishop said. “He traveled by boat in steerage, knowing absolutely no one except the cousins who awaited him on his arrival in New York Harbor. He left the comfort zone of his village with little more than the shirt on his back, a few letters from the relatives, and a pile of dreams about a new life in America.”
Bishop Massa said his grandfather started a bus company in Bayonne, N.J., raised a family of seven, and contributed to his community and parish. These rewards, the bishop said, “were the results of having heard a call from God to leave his comfort zone and venture into the unknown, with only the promises of faith to console him.”
The Story of Everyone Here
Such courage is characteristic of immigrants but also “a pervasive message or theme in the Bible,” Bishop Massa said.
For example, Bishop Massa pointed to the Gospel reading for Sunday’s Mass, which described how Jesus sent his disciples out of their comfort zones and into the mission field with no provisions or money — only the authoritative but loving and encouraging voice of their savior (Mark 6:7-14).
“What comfort zones have we been made to leave?” the bishop asked. “What comfort zones do we have yet to leave? You need to trust God and hear his authoritative voice that says, ‘You can do it.’
“Our immigrant forebears, I am convinced, heard that encouraging voice that summoned them to Brooklyn.”
After the Mass, Bishop Massa took a moment on the church’s steps to discuss the homily.
He said the immigrant heritage was on full display Sunday as the feast attendees honored their memories of parents, grandparents, and even older generations.
“This story,” the smiling bishop said, as the feast gained momentum around him, “is the story of everyone here.”
The feast continues through Sunday, July 18. The annual procession of the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel throughout Williamsburg was scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday.
Carmine Caggiano portrayed the “Turk,” Sunday, July 11, for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & San Paolino Di Nola in Williamsburg. The “crew” included his niece and nephew, Joseph Renna, age 12, and MaryAnn Renna, 14, along with Rocco Petronella, also 14.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pilgrims and well-wishers gathered at Rome’s Gemelli hospital to greet Pope Francis as he made his first public appearance in a week after undergoing intestinal surgery.
Appearing on the 10th floor balcony of his suite of rooms at the hospital July 11, the pope was greeted with applause and shouts of “Viva il papa” (“Long live the pope”) from the crowd that stood under the scorching midday sun to see him.
“I thank you all,” the pontiff said. “I have felt your closeness and the support of your prayers. Thank you very much.”
Pope Francis arrived at Gemelli hospital July 4 to undergo “a scheduled surgical intervention for a symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon,” the Vatican said. The pope has recovered steadily from his surgery and resumed working from the hospital.
Among the well-wishers outside the hospital was Liliana Valina who, like Pope Francis, is a native of Argentina living in Rome.
Draped in the Argentine flag after the country’s July 10 win against Brazil in the Copa America soccer championship, Valina told Catholic News Service that she was there “because I care for this pope very much and not just because he’s from Argentina like me.”
“I think he tells Jesus’ message in a clear way, even on things that are uncomfortable for some,” she said. “I came here hoping that he recovers soon, that he be healthy.”
When asked what she would tell her fellow countryman if she could speak directly to him, Valina said: “Never feel alone because you have God and you have many people who love you and are with you.”
Marlene Barbosa, a native of Peru living in Rome, also was outside the hospital with her husband, Maximo Lopez, as well as her mother, Susanna Morante, who traveled from Washington, D.C., to be with her family and have a chance to see the pope.
“We wanted to see him and receive his blessing because we are Catholic, we are believers and through prayer, we have been close to the pope in these days in which his health has been delicate,” Barbosa told CNS.
“We are with him, we are always praying for him so that he will recover completely,” she said. “We love him, all of Peru loves him and the whole world loves him.”
In his address, the pope reflected on the Sunday Gospel reading from St. Mark, in which Jesus sent out his disciples to anoint the sick with oil and heal them.
The oil, he said, not only represents the comfort given through the sacramental anointing of the sick, but also symbolizes “the closeness, the care, the tenderness of those who take care of the sick person.”
“It is like a caress that makes you feel better, soothes your pain and cheers you up. All of us, everyone, sooner or later, we all need this ‘anointing’ of closeness and tenderness, and we can all give it to someone else, with a visit, a phone call, a hand outstretched to someone who needs help,” he said.
Pope Francis said that his time in the hospital gave him the opportunity to experience “once again how important good health care is” and that free, universal health care, especially for the most vulnerable, is a “precious benefit (that) must not be lost.”
Acknowledging that some hospitals run by the church face the threat of closure “due to poor management,” the pope said the Catholic Church’s vocation “is not to have money; it is to offer service and service is always freely given.”
“Do not forget this: save free institutions,” he said.
Before praying the Angelus prayer with the faithful, Pope Francis expressed his “appreciation and encouragement” to the doctors, nurses and staff at Gemelli hospital. He also asked for prayers for the patients, especially the children, at the hospital, several of whom stood on the balcony with him.
“Why children suffer is a question that touches the heart. Accompany them with prayer and pray for all those who are sick, especially for those in the most difficult conditions,” the pope said. “May no one be left alone, may everyone receive the anointing of listening, closeness, tenderness and care.”
Protesters took to the streets in Havana calling for liberty, creating the largest mass protests in years, perhaps decades.
In front of police, the crowd yelled ‘fatherland and life,’ a new opposition slogan that has led to many arrests. Usually any anti-government activity leads to immediate arrest.
On Sunday, July 11, Cuba seemed to be a very different place as thousands of people in cities across the island took to the streets and took the government by surprise.
Thousands of people voiced their anger openly and many people told Currents News they simply had lost their fear. Police surrounded the protesters and arrested some of them, but for the most part they did not or could not stop the demonstrations.
The protests are only the latest sign of the unprecedented crisis facing the communist-run island.
Even as Cuba produces its own home-grown vaccines, the number of COVID cases has skyrocketed. On Sunday, health officials announced the highest single day increase in new cases and deaths.
For months, the Cuban economy has spiraled further downwards. The island has been hard hit by increased U.S. sanctions under the Trump administration, which have continued under President Biden.
The pandemic has cut off tourism and the ability to receive help from relatives abroad for many Cubans. Lines for food now stretch around the block and can last for hours.
For many in Cuba, waiting for scarce food and medicines has become their life.
“Every day there are people out here for whatever there is. Some days, you don’t even know what products they’re going to be selling,” Rachel said. “You have to be out here if you want to have food.”
The economic misery is already leading to desperation as Cubans are now taking to the sea on rafts and the greatest numbers since 2017, when then President Obama ended the wet foot dry foot policy that allowed Cubans reaching us to stay.
Cuba is confronting the worst crisis in decades without a Castro at the helm, as Raul Castro stepped down from his last leadership role in April. On Sunday, Cuba’s new leader, Miguel Diaz Canel, blamed the island’s economic troubles on the U.S. and vowed to crack down on the protesters.
“The order to combat has been given,” he said. “Revolutionaries need to be in the streets.”
Cuba edges closer to the edge, neither side appears they’re backing down.
Pope Francis is back at work! The Holy Father will be leading the people in prayer this Sunday from a hospital, a week after he underwent intestine surgery.
A relic of the teen set to be the first millennial saint will be here in Brooklyn! We tell you the story of Carlo Acutis, the servant of God who has inspired Catholics around the world.
Catholics in Miami are praying for the victims of that Surfside condo collapse – an update on the situation there as teams still try to find the dozens missing.
St. John’s University: a Catholic institution that’s been on a mission for 150 years continues its legacy with St. Thomas More Church. It’s now at the center of St. John’s Queens Campus, according to 1970’s alum Father Bernard Tracey.
It was placed in the campus’ academic center, also known as the heart of the campus, where students of all faiths and denominations go throughout the day.
“It’s really an example of ‘if you build it, they will come,’” said St. John’s University Spokesperson Brian Browne.
Although St. Thomas More Church opened its doors in 2004, Browne says its construction was long awaited.
“If you go back into our archives, there was always a design for a free standing church on campus, but inevitably, other things had to get built,” said Browne. “We always had a chapel at every one of our campuses but we didn’t have the church that we have today.”
Today, it’s a church adorned with all original art focused on Jesus ‘the teacher – from the mosaics, to the stained glass, to the pipe organ built into the walls.
In memory of the more than 75 St. John’s alums who died in the attack, there’s a special shrine dedicated to the fallen of 9/11: the cross, made from steel, recovered at the site.
The church also pays tribute to its Vincentian roots with a circular mosaic, designed and made by hand in Italy, that tells the story of St. Vincent and the birth of the university in Brooklyn.
There’s even a refuge within a refuge.
“There was a blessed sacrament chapel that was created for students to be able to go into that quiet spot while they’re there, even if they’re not attending Mass, they can still go there and pray,” said Executive Vice President for Mission Father Bernard Tracey.
After years of planning, its construction was made possible by a St. John’s grad who suggested it be named after St. Thomas More, the 15th century adviser to King Henry VIII who was beheaded because of his opposition to the king’s divorce, remarriage, and ultimate separation from the Catholic church.
Another reason why Brian Browne calls St. Thomas More is an extension of the classroom, but that’s not all.
“The weekly Sunday night Mass here at St. Thomas More Church is the largest student event held weekly at St. John’s and it’s a great experience,” said Browne. “We also have a church community of neighbors from the surrounding community who’ve been celebrating Sunday Mass here for years on campus. We’re so blessed to have it here.”
He was only a teenager but now Carlo Acutis could be a saint – a relic of his is on its way to Brooklyn! Why this 15-year-old is loved by hundreds of thousands around the world.
From a rescue mission to recovery effort – prayers for the souls lost in Surfside.
And a papal checkup – the Holy Father was running a fever, but now tests are looking up.
There have been songs written about him and art exhibits dedicated to him, but soon you can experience Carlo Acutis’ legacy firsthand.
One of his relics will be coming to the Diocese of Brooklyn this Wednesday, July 14, and will be presented to Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.
If canonized, Blessed Carlo Acutis will be the first ever millennial saint. Acutis died at the age of 15 in 2006 within a week of being diagnosed with leukemia.
His mother gave him the nickname “Cyber Apostle of the Eucharist” because Acutis combined his two passions – technology and the body of Christ – with a website he designed cataloguing every Eucharistic miracle. Before his evangelization efforts surrounding the Eucharist touched the world, they touched his own mother.
“I started to get closer to the Church. I started to go back to Mass. And this was actually because of Carlo. Carlo was for me a kind of little ‘Savior,’” Acutis’ mother Antonia Salzano said.
Relics belonging to Acutis are responsible for unofficial reports of his intercession as well as his first recognized miracle. A four-year-old Brazilian boy with a rare disorder kissed a piece of a t-shirt Acutis wore and was miraculously healed.
“It’s hard not to be inspired, it’s hard not to feel ‘okay how do I become a better Catholic because of this man,’ how can I get there?” said Michael Lichens, the editor of Catholic Exchange.
Hundreds of thousands viewed his beatification Mass live online last October and more than 41,000 people went to venerate his body when it was on display in Assisi, Italy. Now a relic is coming to the Diocese of Brooklyn’s more than 1.5 million Catholics.
With the arrival of this relic, devotion to Acutis and prayers for his canonization may soon multiply – maybe the miracle he needs is waiting in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
