St. Peter Catholic Academy Teacher Celebrated for 31 Years of Service

By Jessica Easthope

Filomena Piccolo feels at home in a bustling classroom, but when it’s time to settle down and learn, she never yells. Somehow her students know she means business. Ms. Piccolo has been a teacher at St. Peter Catholic Academy in Bensonhurst for 31 years.

“I had second grade here, I had third grade here and I had first grade here,” she said.

She’s seen thousands graduate – one even went on to become her principal.

“She was a teacher when I was here,” said Danielle Alfeo, the principal of St. Peter Catholic Academy. “I did not have the privilege of having her as a teacher but my brothers and my cousins did.”

Mrs. Alfeo says Ms. Piccolo is a joy to have as a teacher and a friend, especially when it’s time to take a stroll down memory lane while looking at old yearbooks from the early 1990s. Mrs. Alfeo says Ms. Piccolo’s dedication is unmatched.

“Anyone can come into a room and teach a bunch of children. You can bring your knowledge to the table, but bringing your heart to the table is a whole other story,” Mrs. Alfeo says. “She remembers the names of all the children she taught in all her 30 years.”

And Ms. Piccolo proved it as they flipped through the yearbooks. She remembered every kid and what each of them taught her.

“They say to teach is to learn twice, so it’s a learning experience for me. I can honestly say in my time here, the students have taught me a lot of things and it’s just helping the students to grow,” Ms. Piccolo said.

Her fourth grade students now say she teaches them things you can’t find in a book.

“She really helps us and understands us,” said Joshua Lee.

“She’s just not like the others. She’s unique and she gives us privileges that I don’t think we’ve had in any other grade,” Gabriella Parascando said.

Ms. Piccolo is also instructing them on how to stay true to their faith – just as she has every moment of her life and career.

“That’s important to me that I can be in a job where I can discuss my faith freely and share my faith with the students,” said Ms. Piccolo.

As for the next 30 years, Ms. Piccolo plans to do what she does best – she’s just getting started.

“God leads you to where you need to be, me staying here this is where He’s saying I need to be,” she said. “As long as I can do it, I plan to do it.”

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 5/6/21

A statue of a Catholic priest is vandalized.

Pope Francis is praying for India as the country sees 400-thousand new COVID-19 cases in just one day.

Moderna says its booster is very effective against troubling strains.

Bishop DiMarzio and Local Clergy Condemn Vandalism of Brooklyn Statue of Slain Polish Priest, Martyr

By Emily Drooby and Tablet Staff

GREENPOINT — Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio described the vandalism to the statue of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko in McCarren Park Wednesday as a “despicable act” and a “hate crime.”

“It is disheartening to learn the statue of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a man who devoted his life to the advancement of freedom and liberty, has been vandalized once again,” Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement.

The statue was found covered in garbage around its base with a large plastic trash bag placed over the slain priest’s head. The words “No Polish” were also scrawled on the stone, authorities said.

“This statue has long stood in Greenpoint’s McCarren Park in tribute to a Polish priest who is revered by Catholics and the Polish community for his courage and leadership in championing peaceful resistance to communism,” DiMarzio continued. “I definitely consider this despicable act to be a hate crime and would encourage the NYPD to classify it as such.”

The NYPD launched an investigation May 6 into the vandalism of the statue that memorialized Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, who was murdered in 1984 in retaliation for his work in support of Poland’s Solidarity movement. The priest was declared a martyr in 2009 by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI and beatified in 2010.

“We are very aware of the significance to the @NYPD94Pct Polish community,” the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force tweeted on May 5.

Father Popiełuszko was considered a holy man dedicated to God’s people not only by Bishop DiMarzio, who once visited his grave in Poland and also has a first-class relic of the priest, but also to one of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Polish bishops.

Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski has said Father Popiełuszko was an inspiration to him during his formative years in the priesthood. The year before the bishop joined the seminary, he participated in Father Popiełuszko’s funeral Mass.

“He fought for the truth,” the bishop told The Tablet in 2015. “He said that the truth will make you free — like Pope John Paul II. We grew up on those sentences.”

At the age of 37, Father Popiełuszko was kidnapped and beaten to death in Poland as a freedom fighter within the country’s solidarity movement during the then-communist regime. He spread his message of nonviolence throughout Europe and also served as a chaplain to the Polish trade union that opposed the communist government. Three men in the Polish secret service were convicted of his murder.

The NYPD is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Additional reporting by Melissa Enaje.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday, 5/5/21

Columbus controversy brewing in New York City – backlash after public schools decided to dump the explorer’s holiday.

Then to the crisis in India – it’s worsening every day. Why now, more than a year into the pandemic?

Facebook upholds its block of President Trump, but will they ban him indefinitely?

NYC DOE Replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day and Italian Heritage Day

By Jessica Easthope

The latest move against Christopher Columbus isn’t a statue toppling to the ground but a holiday being ripped off the calendar. For the first time since it was announced that the New York City Department of Education removed Columbus Day from its calendar, Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in on the decision.

“This process wasn’t handled right, but the end result is going to be a day to honor Italian American heritage and a day to honor indigenous peoples and I think that’s a good way forward,” Mayor de Blasio said.

This week, New York City public schools replaced Columbus Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday in October, with Indigenous Peoples Day then later added Italian Heritage Day.

“Celebrate Italian-Americans with the day they always had, which is Columbus Day, and celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on another day,” said Andre DiMino, the executive board member of the Italian-American organization, One Voice Coalition. “Why dilute them both by putting them together? Now it’s a double insult and it shows that they didn’t really think this through.”

New York City has the largest population of Italians and Italian-Americans in North America. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio says it’s denying so many Italian-American students the right to learn about their culture.

“It’s not a good understanding of history to people who are teaching others history. I don’t think we want revisionist history, we want all history, teach all of history correctly,” Bishop DiMarzio said.

Those who oppose the decision say it’s not just an attack on Italian-American history, but a cornerstone of culture — the Catholic faith.

“When you think about it, it’s an attack on all the precepts of our background, including our faith,” DiMino said. “To go after Columbus and Italian-Americans who are very strong in their faith, as I am, and to go after Columbus and destroy our faith and our heritage is an attack on our history.”

“I hope all Catholics support Columbus because he does represent our community and our religion,” said Angelo Vivolo, the president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition.

Bishop DiMarzio says Columbus wanted to share Catholic teaching across the globe.

“He was a third order Franciscan, buried the Franciscan habit, he led his men in prayer on the boats each day, he brought missionaries with him,” said Bishop DiMarzio.

The Columbus Heritage Coalition says it reached out to the governor’s office for support and to the mayor’s office asking him to rescind the decision.

“We’re doing this in support of Italians, in support of Columbus but we’re supporting every ethnicity and every race so no one is discriminated against,” Vivolo said.

If it’s not overturned, the coalition says it’s prepared to take legal action.

As the COVID Crisis Continues in India, Doctors Blame Large Gatherings and Lack of Complacency

By Emily Drooby

The COVID-19 outbreak in India is devastating. Outside of hospitals, patients struggle to get in and inside, they struggle to breathe.

“These are really, really painful stories,” explained Father Peter Poonoly.

He’s the parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but is from the Diocese of Rayagada in India.

He lost two close friends and heard horrible stories abroad, including from his nephew who is also a priest, who said a whole family was affected at once.

“A priest friend of his, father, mother, brother and sister-in-law all died within a few days,” Father Poonoly said.

Over in Bellrose, Queens, Father Johnson Nedungadan has also been monitoring the situation.

“The situation is really out of control,” said Father Nedungadan.

His two parents are in their 80’s and quarantined in India. They can’t get their second shot.

“The problem is right now vaccines are not available for the second shot, so they have to wait,” he said.

In February, it seemed cases were under control. So how did this happen? There’s a lot of factors. One, experts say, people were unprepared because they didn’t see it coming.

“First, the fact that people became extremely complacent and stopped following the COVID guidelines,” explained Dr. Mathukumalli Vidyasagar. He’s the chair of the COVID-19 Modeling Committee in India.

More were unsafely gathered together at big events.

“When the cases were coming down, people took it lightly, they were not following the protocol wearing masks and sanitizing their hands,” Father Poonoly said.

While Father Nedungadan added, “There were election campaigning going on and there was also a huge gathering of Hindu festival-goers.”

Even with the spike in COVID cases, festivals and election rallies continued this past week.

Also to blame are a slow response by the central government and slow vaccine rollout, along with a false sense of herd immunity.

“And second, the emergence of certain contagious variants on the Indian subcontinent,” Dr. Vidyasagar explained.

If trends continue experts say deaths will double by mid-June. The spike could have a global impact.

If you’d like to donate to the COVID-19 relief in India, head on over to khalsaaid.org/donate

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday, 5/4/21

Pilgrimages are coming back online – how the faithful are starting to nourish their faith with trips to the Holy Land and beyond.

U.S. bishops are praising President Biden’s move to raise the refugee cap after backlash that he’d gone back on a promise to help desperate migrants.

At one Brooklyn school, no kid will go without a friend again, thanks to a bench honoring one former student’s legacy.

Soon to be saints – Pope Francis announces he will canonize 7 blesseds as models of holiness.

More Than a Year After the Pandemic Shut Down Pilgrimages, They’re Finally Back

By Emily Drooby

Pilgrimages are making a comeback after a year of being shut down.

“We have to celebrate! Actually, yes, it’s good news, it’s a positive news,” said Peter Bahou.

For 38 years, Peter owned Peter’s Way Tours. They specialize in pilgrimages and work with Catholics throughout the United States, including the Diocese of Brooklyn.

The pandemic forced them to cancel all of their trips since March of last year, which affected about 200 groups.

Now they’re back!

Twenty pilgrimage groups will head out between July and the end of this year.

“First and foremost, we want to make sure people are comfortable and traveling with confidence,” Peter said.

In terms of safety, Peter and his team have been keeping track of travel requirements as they change. There are precautions in place, like PCR testing, and limiting the amount of people allowed on the buses. Peter is so confident in the safety that he’s going on a pilgrimage himself this summer.

“It is not only business, for us, it’s a ministry,” explained Peter. “It gives us energy to see those pilgrims traveling, coming back so happy.”

The Diocese of Brooklyn’s first pilgrimage is scheduled starting May 17, 2022. It will be a trip to the Oberammergau Passion Play and will be led by Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros.

Ironically, the Passion play dates back to 1633 and was started because of a pandemic.

“The people prayed to God that if they were spared the Bubonic Plague, every 10 years they would have a celebration of the passion of our Lord and since then, they have been celebrating it every 10 years,” said Bishop Cisneros.

The 2022 pilgrimage was a rescheduled trip. The original date was set for May 2020, but was cancelled because of the rapid spread of COVID-19. Eleven people are signed up for the new trip so far.

The pilgrimage is intended to deepen one’s Catholic faith and help them take one step closer to a return to normal.

“We go with a spiritual purpose,” Bishop Cisneros said, “to touch base with the faith of other people, to see the history of our faith lived out in others.”

‘Buddy Bench’ Inspires Kindness and Inclusion after Loss of Gianna Gambino

By Jessica Easthope

Gianna Gambino’s three younger siblings can’t name their happiest memory with their sister – there are just too many.

“She had a lot of great memories so I don’t really know,” said her sister Briella.

But one thing they’re sure of is she was the perfect role model. Gianna lost her battle with osteosarcoma on February 19, just two months shy of her 13th birthday.

The Gambino’s lives will never be the same – but through their loss – they want to inspire people to live like Gianna.

“Gianna gave everyone a reason to smile, the other kids would just brighten up when they were around here, she made everyone see the positive side of things,” said Gianna’s aunt and godmother, Taryn Cararo.

Now, her family and her elementary school PS 222 in Marine Park are making sure her legacy lives on. Sitting in her old schoolyard is Gianna’s Buddy Bench since she was known for being a friend to everyone. Now her name serves as a reminder to be kind – and the bench, a refuge for any kid who’s lonely or left out: two things Gianna never let anyone feel.

“We felt like this bench here and the colors in the middle of the schoolyard were inviting for kids who felt they needed a new friend of felt left out and it’s a way of just memorializing and reminding people live like Gianna, be kind and make someone feel good,” said Gianna’a mom, Jillian.

Even in her darkest day, Gianna’s life was full of faith. Father Thomas Doyle, the pastor of Good Shepherd Church where the Gambinos are parishioners and Gianna sang in the children’s choir says her impact on his life is forever.

“In 37 years of being a priest, this was the hard one because you saw how positive she was and you saw the community come together and that’s how we’re supposed to be,” said Father Doyle. “You had a 12-year-old who taught us how to live.”

Now with her buddy bench, Gianna’s memory will be one of inclusion. Her father Carl says it represents everything she was.

“If you don’t put yourself first and put others first … it’s basically living like Jesus,” Carl said. That’s the effect it has to have peace in the world.”

The next time the bench reminds someone to share a smile, warm a heart or be a friend – that’s all part of the ‘Gianna effect.’

Catholic News Headlines for Monday, 5/3/21

Scores are being tallied for The Tablet’s COVID relief fundraiser, with Catholic schools anxiously waiting to hear if they’ll take home the big money prize.

New York’s governor announces most COVID-19 capacity restrictions will be lifted by the 19th.

Pope Francis kicked off a prayer marathon to end the pandemic and is calling on you to help.

One archbishop says Catholics who support abortion should not accept communion.