Brooklyn Church Funds Wells, Pediatric Cancer Hospital for African Communities

By Jessica Easthope

Father Cletus Forson does not take a single glass of water for granted.

He remembers what it was like to walk six miles during the dry season in his native Ghana just to find water.

“During the dry season, water is scarce to come by,” he said. “So you go look for water and carry it on your head — maybe five gallons of water you’re carrying, from six miles to bring home.”

Today, Father Forson is helping make sure others do not have to endure the same hardship. He partners with International Help of Missionaries, a nonprofit that drills wells across Africa, including in Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan and Ghana.

His friend and collaborator, Don Magnotta, founded the organization 18 years ago.

“Since I started this, this was exactly what God wanted me to be,” Magnotta said. “I understood that this was my mission in my life because you know that God is putting you there. There is nothing that could stop you from doing well because he is there helping you along the way.”

To date, International Help of Missionaries has sent close to $2 million around the world to support wells, schools, clinics and orphanages. The organization is now assisting in the construction of a pediatric cancer hospital in Ghana, which aims to help treat the 100,000 African children diagnosed with cancer each year.

“Over the course of time, there are a lot of children cancer cases that are really showing up — retinoblastoma, leukemia and lymphoma — all of these things are really prevalent,” Father Forson said.

More than 5,000 miles away, Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen Church in Carroll Gardens, where Father Forson serves as parochial vicar, has embraced the cause. The parish’s faith formation program has made fundraising for the hospital its Lenten service project.

“It became a real personal experience,” said a parish leader. “It wasn’t simply something that was a blind charity, so to speak. There were real people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean who were benefiting by what we were doing here.”

In the past five years, the parish has helped fund three wells in Ghana.

“Africa, the continent, sits at our dinner table and is very much part of this parish,” the parish leader said. “That has also taught us a great deal — and our children a great deal — on how we might appreciate what we have and to share what we have.”

Parishioners say the funds raised go toward life-changing aid for communities thousands of miles away.

“This small little thing, that we may look at as quite insignificant, is really making significant impact in the life of people out there,” Father Forson said.

The money collected by Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen for the pediatric cancer hospital will be sent to Ghana after Easter. Just as with the wells drilled in African villages, supporters say every contribution makes a difference.

Pope Leo Urges Diplomacy as U.S.-Israel Conflict With Iran Escalates

By Christine Persichette

Pope Leo XIV is urging world leaders to halt escalating violence in the Middle East as the United States and Israel continue a coordinated military offensive against Iran.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions, I make a heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm,” the pope said.

The U.S. and Israel launched what officials described as a massive, coordinated attack aimed at dismantling the Iranian regime and its nuclear program. Several U.S. service members have been killed. President Donald Trump warned that additional American casualties are possible as Operation Epic Fury continues.

“Send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Trump said. “And sadly there will likely be more before it ends, that’s the way it is.”

Military analysts say the trajectory of the conflict may now hinge on Iran’s next moves.

“Where does this go? In many ways it’s not up to the president, nor is it up to Netanyahu,” said retired Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy. “It’s up to the Iranians.”

Since the start of the war, deaths and destruction have been reported in Iran and Israel, as well as in other parts of the Middle East. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes against several neighboring countries, including U.S.-allied Gulf states.

With Iran’s supreme leader, defense minister and other senior officials reported dead, the regime has formed a provisional leadership council and indicated a new supreme leader could be selected soon.

“This is a regime whose existence is at stake, and it’s doing the only thing that it knows to do, which is to lash out violently,” said Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an Iran expert.

As fighting intensifies, U.S. bishops are joining Pope Leo in calling Catholics to prayer “for peace in the Middle East, for the safety of our troops and the innocent, that leaders may seek dialogue over destruction, and pursue the common good over the tragedy of war.”

The pope again emphasized diplomacy as the only path forward.

“May diplomacy regain its proper role, and may the well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice, be upheld,” he said. “And let us continue to pray for peace.”

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 3/2/26

Catholic leaders worldwide are calling for prayer and diplomacy after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran escalate tensions.

More than 450 candidates from Brooklyn and Queens are taking a step toward full communion with the Church during the Call to Continuing Conversion

Pilgrims are continuing the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten pilgrimage with Mass, Stations of the Cross, and Eucharistic adoration at St. Anastasia Parish in Queens.

Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen Church in Brooklyn is partnering with an international nonprofit to raise funds for clean water projects and a pediatric cancer hospital in Africa.

Catholic Leaders Urge Action as NY State Owes Schools Over $30 Million

By Currents News

Catholic leaders across New York are calling on the faithful to speak up as more than $30 million in state reimbursements owed to Catholic and other nonpublic schools remains unpaid. The New York State Catholic Conference is urging supporters to contact lawmakers as budget negotiations continue.

Diocese of Brooklyn Lenten Pilgrimage Stops in East New York for Bilingual Mass and Stations of the Cross

By Currents News

The Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten pilgrimage continued in East New York as Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated a bilingual Mass at Mary, Mother of the Church Parish. About 50 faithful gathered to pray in English and Spanish, followed by a bilingual Stations of the Cross as the journey toward Easter continues across the diocese.

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 2/27/26

Teachers in the Diocese of Brooklyn are taking part in active shooter response training, learning life-saving strategies to protect students during emergency situations.

Six months after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, families are urging lawmakers to pass new gun restrictions.

Catholic leaders are calling on New Yorkers to contact lawmakers and help secure more than $30 million in overdue state reimbursements owed to non-public schools.

Students at St. Athanasius Catholic Academy in Brooklyn are celebrating Black History Month with a Motown-themed performance.

Students Celebrate Black History Month with Motown Tribute

By Katie Vasquez

BENSONHURST — The sounds of Motown filled St. Athanasius Catholic Academy on Friday as students performed hits like “Build Me Up Buttercup” and “Proud Mary,” capping off Black History Month with a musical tribute to industry pioneers.

The Brooklyn Catholic academy marked the occasion by teaching students about influential Black artists through song and dance.

“We felt that it was good for them to learn about them through music,” said Principal Gina Auricchio. “So they figured that Motown would be really great and interesting and engaging for them.”

The lesson helped students gain a deeper appreciation for Black history and the impact of artists who broke barriers in the music industry.

“We learned about the Jackson Five when they were in a group, and then they started singing,” said sixth-grader Aiyme Torres.

Seventh-grader Christopher DeGeorge said he learned about singer Bill Withers and the challenges Black artists faced.

“Bill Withers was a Black artist who was signed to a mostly Black artist label because due to racism during that time, most Black artists couldn’t get signed to a label because most white artists were already in the labels,” Christopher said.

Throughout the program, students showed off their dance moves and practiced choreography they had learned in class.

“I like that we get to do those cool dance moves like this one. And this one. And this singer was pretty cool. And the dance teacher taught us a lot,” said third-grader Matteo Carrillo. “I learned that Motown was a lot of action and movements.”

First-grader Carter Thomas said he practiced every night for the performance.

When asked what he liked about the song, he replied, “Because it was made by Michael Jackson.”

School leaders said the lesson extended beyond music, encouraging students to embrace and respect different backgrounds.

“Having the children learn about each other, they realize that they have more in common than they have in differences,” Auricchio said. “So learning about each other builds a bond with them and they accept each other.”

Catholic School Educators Learn Potential Life‑Saving Tactics

By Katie Vasquez and Paula Katinas

CORONA — Alexandria Bay came to St. Leo Catholic Academy on Jan. 20 to learn a lesson she said she hopes will never get used in real life.

Bay, a fourth-grade teacher at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Academy in Jackson Heights, was one of nearly 100 teachers from five Catholic schools in Queens who spent the morning at St. Leo taking part in a training on how to protect themselves and their students in the event of a school shooting.

The training, conducted by Synergy 911, a Massachusetts-based risk assessment firm, offered teachers tips on staying safe if a shooter were on campus.

“It’s very important and something that is obviously in the news today,” Bay said, explaining her reason for wanting to be there. “I’m hoping to learn to keep my class safe if it ever were to happen, even though I hope that it doesn’t.”

Synergy 911 will conduct training for schools across the diocese.

The Jan. 20 session was for teachers from five Queens schools — St. Leo, Our Lady Fatima, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy in Corona, St. Bartholomew Catholic Academy in Elmhurst, and St. Joan of Arc Catholic School in Jackson Heights.

First, Brian Rojee, lead instructor for Synergy 911, detailed a list of actions the teachers should take in an active shooter situation. Then, trainer Matt Mello led small groups of teachers into a classroom and taught them how to properly barricade a door to prevent a shooter from barging in, which one teacher did in three minutes.

Rojee offered three main tips for the teachers to remember.

“First of all, access control is super important. Nobody should be roaming around your school who doesn’t belong there,” he told The Tablet after the session. “Second, when in doubt, leave. Get out of Dodge and get out of sight of the school. And third, redundancy is key. Get into your classroom or office, close and lock the door, and add layers of redundancy to that by throwing furniture in front of it.”

A teacher should always wait for law enforcement and never take matters into their own hands and confront the shooter unless it’s a last resort, he added.

The training took place at a time of heightened concern over mass shootings.

In 2025, there were 75 school and school-related shootings, including at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, where a gunman attacked during a Mass, killing two young children and injuring 30 other people. He later took his own life.

In 2022, the nation’s attention was drawn to a tragedy in Texas when a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24 and killed 19 students and two teachers before being killed by border patrol agents.

“It’s better to be prepared and hopefully never, ever need it again,” said John Maldonado, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Bartholomew Catholic Academy. “That’s the world we live in.”

The goal of the training session, Rojee told the teachers, was “to empower you, rather than make you afraid” — a lesson the teachers seemed to take to heart.

At St. Leo’s, Rojee assured the teachers that school shootings are rare.

“You’re more likely to be struck by lightning,” he said. However, he quickly added, “It does not relieve us of our responsibility.”

Mass Shootings 1966-2025

** There were 510 mass shootings in the U.S. between 1966 and 2025 with a total of 1,728 fatalities.
** In 2025, there were 75 reported school shootings in the U.S., with 31 people killed and more than 100 injured.

** The most common places for mass shootings are workplaces and schools

** In 73% of the incidents, the shooter used a handgun.

— Rockefeller Institute of Government, Gun Violence Archive

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 2/26/26

The Merchant’s House Museum in Manhattan reveals a hidden passageway linked to the Underground Railroad.

A Notre Dame University professor has withdrawn from her leadership appointment following weeks of criticism from students, faculty and several Catholic bishops over her public support for abortion.

The Vatican announces Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming apostolic journeys to Monaco, several African nations, and Spain.

Catholics are gathering at St. Joan of Arc in Queens for Mass with Bishop Robert Brennan, continuing the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage.

Pope Leo XIV To Visit Spain in June of 2026, Vatican Announces

By Currents News, Junno Arocho Esteves, and Paulina Guzik

(OSV News) – With the Vatican confirming Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Spain in June, plans for the upcoming visit are full steam ahead, the organizer of the visit said.

Speaking to OSV News Feb. 25, Yago de La Cierva, who was appointed by the Spanish bishops’ conference as the general coordinator of the visit, said he is hopeful that, like past papal visits, Pope Leo will come with a powerful message that “will be a revival” for the people of Spain.

“I would say the real effects of any papal visit can be measured in a spiritual change, in a spiritual revival, in people, in individuals, in families, in communities, in cities,” he said. “This is our hope, and we are working hard so that this visit is not just superficial, but that it goes deep into the souls of many people.”

The pope’s visit, he added, would also serve as an “important push to recover our identity as a welcoming society that is (concerned) for the underprivileged and those who are vulnerable.”

Acknowledging that the country faces political, economic and social tensions, de La Cierva said many hope the pope will help heal divisions and encourage unity.

“We really, really hope that the pope can give us not only guidance and suggestions to improve the situation, but also to put like a balsamic oil on many wounds and will be able to tell all Spaniards, ‘Hey, you can do better. You can work together even if you don’t think in the same way.'”

In a statement published Feb. 25, the Vatican press office also confirmed several other papal visits, including Monaco, Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

Logistical Challenges

Although Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the program of the June 6-12 trip “will be announced in due course,” the destination cities – Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands – were first confirmed in January by Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid, who, along with a delegation of Spanish bishops, met with the Secretariat of State to discuss initial plans for the visit.

The last time a pope visited Spain was in 2011, when Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Madrid for World Youth Day, where he presided over the final Mass attended by over a million young people.

De La Cierva noted that the preparation period for Pope Leo’s visit is dramatically shorter, at just over three months.
“The main difficulty is that for World Youth Day, normally you have two years to prepare for the trip. And this time, we are 101 days ahead, which (means) that everything is much more complicated,” he said.

Despite the logistical hurdles, de La Cierva praised the cooperation from public officials.

“After contacting the local authorities, the mayor … of the Madrid community, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it has been a full collaboration,” he told OSV News, expressing hope that the visit “will also be a manifestation of teamwork.”

Madrid, he said, is expected to draw Catholics from across Spain because of its accessibility and central location.

“We told every diocese in the country that they are welcome to come,” de La Cierva said.

While travel to the Canary Islands or Barcelona may prove more difficult, “I think Madrid will be a place in which many people from around the country will come and will attend the events.”

“It would be a really, really joyful gathering,” he added.

Initially the iconic Bernabeu soccer stadium was supposed to be a venue for youth vigil, but organizers say its 85,000 capacity is too small for the estimated 300,000 young people expected as they’re working with local authorities to find a bigger space. Bernabeu may be used for another papal event however, OSV News was told.

De La Cierva confirmed to OSV News that a Vatican delegation will arrive in Madrid March 2 and visit “places in which the local bishops have asked the pope to meet people.”

The delegation will then head to Las Palmas and Tenerife on the Canary Islands, before finally visiting Barcelona. The pope is expected to mark the June 10 centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí – the legendary architect of one of the world’s most iconic churches, the Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona, known in Spanish as Sagrada Familia.

A Historic Moment

The upper arm of the cross atop the tower of Jesus Christ was installed Feb. 20. At over 564 feet in height, the tower makes the basilica the tallest Catholic church in the world, surpassing the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, which stands at 518 feet.

It also surpasses the Ulmer Münster Lutheran Church in Germany, which stands at 530 feet, making it the tallest church of any denomination in the world.

Construction of the basilica began in 1882, and it is considered a masterpiece of Gaudí, a Catholic whose cause for sainthood is underway.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the basilica faced numerous delays and challenges in its over 140-year construction, including the Spanish Civil War and the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the main building is expected to be completed in 2026, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death, work on statues and other areas of the basilica is expected to continue until 2034.

De La Cierva told OSV News Pope Leo’s presence would be a key event that represents a full-circle moment.

“I think that would be one of the main events of the trip to Spain because the altar was blessed by Pope Benedict XIV in 2010. And this is like the close of the circle with this magnificent basilica,” he said.

In Pope Francis’ Footsteps

Another full-circle moment, according to de La Cierva, would be Pope Leo’s visit to the Canary Islands, a trip his predecessor, Pope Francis, had wanted to make.

The archipelago, which is geographically in Africa, is the destination each year for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking a better future. They arrive in poor and fragile boats called “callucos,” and many die in transit.

Pope Leo, he said, is continuing “the legacy of Pope Francis,” who he said had “expressed his wish to go there because it has been the center of an important element in immigration.”

“I think Pope Leo is trying to continue the path of Pope Francis when he made his historical trip to Lampedusa,” de La Cierva said.

“And this is probably his intention of putting in front of Europe the need to be a welcoming society and accepting people as human beings and not as a threat. That we have to deal with each one of them as a person, not as a menace,” he said.

“I think this is why the pope is visiting the Canary Islands for the first time in history,” he said, adding “everybody” in Spain is “so happy” with the trip.

“We were hoping for a papal visit for 15 years. And for a Catholic country it is a lot,” he said, emphasizing that many generous donors are willing to support the trip, fully financed by “the Church, faithful and people of goodwill.”

St. John Paul II visited Spain five times, including the iconic 1989 Santiago de Compostela World Youth Day, with Pope Benedict returning twice – in 2010, and 2011 – for World Youth Day in Madrid.