As 2021 Sees Increase in Anti-Asian Violence, NYC Community Groups Step Up to Help

By Emily Drooby

Keeping a watchful eye in Flushing, Queens — it’s how Teresa Ting fights xenophobia. It’s a fight she took on out of love.

“I fear for my mom’s safety, I fear for my father’s safety,” the Flushing native said. “I tell her not to take the subway by herself.”

Teresa’s fear is not surprising. In New York City, hate crimes against Asian people are on the rise. In 2019, the NYPD recorded three anti-Asian hate crimes. In 2020, that number spiked to 28 hate crimes committed against Asian people. That includes crimes that come from a new category specifically for attacks motivated by the coronavirus.

As of March 28, 2021, they have had 33.

Teresa says a lot of people also don’t report these crimes.

She was particularly rattled by an attack on an elderly Asian woman back in February.

“It’s just really sad that it’s come to a time and place like this.” she told Currents News, “and this is why we have to do something proactive.”

That’s why she started Main Street Patrol, a group of volunteers who patrol in Flushing, Queens.

Since it started, it’s grown to 60 volunteers. They act as the eyes and ears of the community, filling a gap Teresa noticed while watching video of attacks: bystanders not knowing how to safely interact.

“We just focus on using these verbal de-escalation methods rather than physical intervention. I feel like a lot of people are not aware of these methods, you know? They’re like, ‘What do I do? I’m here, I don’t want to get hurt,’” she explained.

Group members have had to intervene a few times already.

They use ihollarback.org to train their volunteers. It’s a free resource available online to help bystanders learn how to safely intervene if they ever see a hate crime taking place. Main Street Patrol uses the group’s “Five D’s Method”: distract, delegate, document, delay and direct.

“Distract” is trying to draw attention away from the target. “Delegate” means getting help from an authority figure. “Document” means to get proof, ideally filming it. “Delay” means checking back in with a person who was harassed after the incident concludes. The last is “direct,” which is speaking up, if and when it seems safe.

Teresa is hoping in the future the group will continue to grow so they can expand from just weekends. She’s also hoping to teach the public these de-escalation methods.

They’re people helping people, creating a safe community for everyone.

Indonesian Cathedral Bombed in Palm Sunday Attack

Currents News Staff

Authorities are now investigating any ties between the bombers and radical networks. They linked one of the militants to a 2019 suicide attack that killed 23 people at a cathedral in the Philippines.

The Palm Sunday bombing is the most recent attack on Christians, a growing trend in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

A fireball and then smoke burst out the moment an explosive was detonated outside of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar.

Palm Sunday Mass had just ended and as churchgoers were leaving, the blast went off.

At least 20 people were wounded and taken to area hospitals. Police say the two suspected bombers who used a motorbike in the attack have died. They say they were newlyweds who were members of a pro-Islamic State extremist group. Security guards at the church say the man and woman first tried to enter the cathedral. When they were turned away, they blew themselves up. Four guards were among the injured.

The president of the Muslim-majority nation, Joko Widodo, condemned the March 28 attack saying terrorism is a crime against humanity and has nothing to do with any religious teachings.

“I invite all members of society to jointly fight terrorism and radicalism, which are against our religious values and noble values as a nation that upholds divine values and upholds the values of diversity.”

So far, there has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Palms and Parishioners Back in Church for Palm Sunday in the Diocese of Brooklyn

By Emily Drooby

For 43 years, Anna King has come to St. James Cathedral Basilica. However, she hasn’t been able to come for the past year.

“We were all confined to our homes last year,” Anna said. “This year, we are able to come out.”

Now that Anna’s vaccinated, she’s back in church just in time for Palm Sunday.

“And it feels good to get back to church,” Anna said.

Anna told Currents News that she couldn’t miss another Palm Sunday after the pandemic made it impossible for her to attend last year.

“This is always a special day,” Anna said. “It’s the start of Holy Week, commemorating the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, days before he was crucified.”

But for parishioners like Anna, this year felt extra special. After nearly two years, they were allowed back in the pews as Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated Palm Sunday Mass.

“It feels good that we have been able to come back,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “It was a difficult year and last Lent was kind of a virtual Lent. We couldn’t participate in all of the things that we normally do, so it was really different.”

Last year’s Holy Week fell just after New York City shut down to combat the pandemic, which meant there was no procession or palms.

“I love the church, I love Palm Sunday,” said long-time parishioner Isabel Navarro. “And it was very sad. We just sat at home. It was just at the beginning of the pandemic. Last year was a little rough, a little sad, but like I said, this year we are making progress and it’s getting better.”

This year, not everything was the same: there was no procession, but they did hand out palms. Still, parishioners were overjoyed to be back in church for Palm Sunday – or Passion Sunday – for the first time since 2020.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday, 3/26/21

A Women’s History Month Special Edition of Currents News.

Two religious sisters are making a huge difference as they feed the hungry.

The first female Headmaster of Xavier High School.

Jasmine Salazar talks about her role as Victim Assistance Coordinator and Vice Chancellor for the Diocese of Brooklyn.

A retired NYPD officer looks back at the path her mother blazed for her years ago in the department.

Brooklyn Priest Reflects After a Year of Loss, Including of his Mentor, Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay

By Emily Drooby

2020 was a year filled with unfathomable loss for Father Joseph Dután. It started in March with a call from his mentor, Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay.

“He calls me and says, ‘Joseph, I don’t feel well,’ and at that moment, I knew something was not right,” Father Dután explained.

As the illness progressed, Father Ortiz-Garay was taken to the hospital.

“Every time we would call him he would say, ‘I’m doing well, but I’m losing more and more oxygen,’” Father Dután said. “Come Wednesday night, he tells me, ‘Joseph, the mask is no longer helping me, I think I’m going to need something stronger.’”

He told Father Dután, that if he should pass, at least he could celebrate Easter with the Lord.

The next morning, he was intubated and sent one last text to Father Dután.

“Pray for me and tell the parishioners to pray for me,” he said. “And don’t worry, I trust you.” Father Ortiz-Garay passed away shortly after.

“At that moment, not knowing what to do, how to react,” Father Dután said, “the first thing I did was run into the church, get down on my knees and pray and ask the Lord, what’s going on?”

Hours later, he lost a childhood friend. A week later, his dad entered the hospital and by May, his father passed away. Father Dután spoke about the moment he heard his dad was gone.

“For me,” he said, “that was like, the world just stopped for a moment.”

In the following months, he lost another mentor, Father Adnel Burgos, along with 90 active parishioners of St. Brigid Church.

It has been a year since those events. Everyday Father Dután deals with the grief, but he has also learned the importance of leaning on his family and his flock.

“God is good and people are great,” he said. “People will always be there for you and you always have to be there for your people. Open up your heart to them as they open up their heart to you – to walk with them, to cry with them, to laugh with them.”

The church community is also starting to heal. They were assigned a new pastor, Father Carlos Velásquez.

The community even started to grow and added more Masses. All this occurred in the middle of a pandemic – in what seemed like an impossible feat in an impossible year.

Even with all that happened, it was still a year that Father Jorge would be proud of.

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 3/25/21

Catholics walking to bring attention to the value of life and end abortion. Their message to the new administration in Washington.

President Biden holds the first formal news conference of his presidency more than two months after his swearing in.

New York lawmakers are set to legalize marijuana but some members of the clergy are not happy about it.

We speak with the producer of the new faith-based movie Resurrection, which covers Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and rising.

Fifth Annual International Gift of Life Walk Marches Down Broadway

By Jessica Easthope

It was a day to make steps toward change.

Dozens gathered in Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, March 25, for the fifth annual International Gift of Life Walk. The crowd was smaller and people were more distant than in years past, but they’re all connected by a common goal: to end abortion.

“It’s purposely on March 25, on the Feast of the Annunciation, when our Lord became flesh, which is why we’re here for the unborn children and their mothers and the respect of all human life,” said Catherine Donohoe, an organizer of the annual event.

The latest data shows 24 percent of all women in the U.S. will have an abortion before the age of 45. That’s one reason why Catherine Donohoe says the time to act is now.

“We need people coming back to the church and get the message that all life deserves to be protected under the legislation,” Catherine said, “because we know in this country, legislation is the way to go. You have to be involved politically.”

In the first two months of 2021, eight new abortion restrictions and bans were enacted. Yet members of the pro-life movement here in New York City say that taking more steps against abortion will be hard with the Biden administration.

“The Biden Administration is the pro-life movement’s worst nightmare,” said Chris Slattery, the president of Expectant Mother Care. “President Biden is an advocate of total abortion up until the day of birth and claims to be a practicing Catholic. That is an abomination.”

Historically, the pro-life movement’s fight for people of color has been an uphill battle. The abortion rate for Black women has been almost five times that for white women. Barbara, from Harlem, was the walk’s Grand Pro-Life Marshal.

“We have a governor who believes in abortions even at the late stages,” Barbara said, “and in my communities, we have more children aborted than are born in New York. Something has to stop.”

During the event, performance artists caused a graphic disturbance in the crowd, but it didn’t shake the marchers, especially not Grace Colucci.

During the pandemic, her pro-life advocacy has taken on a new meaning. She marched for her father who caught COVID-19 in his nursing home and died.

“Life is precious and should be held precious from conception until their natural death,” Grace said. “These people in the nursing homes didn’t have a natural death. Their deaths were put upon them before their times.”

That day, the pro-life movement gained momentum with each step and it won’t stop until life is given the respect, they say, it deserves.

President Biden Holds First Formal News Conference

Currents News Staff

Joe Biden faced the press in his first news conference after more than nine weeks into his presidency.

“I want to give you a progress report to the nation,” President Biden said.

The event happened later for Biden than it did for his 15 recent predecessors. The White House said the president wanted to keep the focus on his COVID recovery agenda in his first weeks.

On that topic, he announced a new vaccination target for the country.

“By my hundredth day in office, we will have administered 200 million shots in people’s arms,” Biden said. “No other country in the world has even come close.”

But in recent days, other urgent issues have demanded a spot on his agenda.

In the wake of mass shootings in Georgia and in Colorado that took the lives of 18 people within a week, Biden was pressed for how he’ll work with a sharply-divided Congress to deliver the gun control reform he has promised.

“It’s a matter of timing,” Biden said.

And similarly, there were talks of a legislative solution as the U.S. grapples with an influx of migrants, many of them unaccompanied children at the southern border with Mexico. The migrants are overwhelming detention centers amid the ongoing pandemic.

“What we’re attempting to do now is rebuild,” Biden said. “Rebuild the system that can accommodate what’s happening today.”

In addition to domestic policy issues, Biden also addressed a number of foreign policy challenges, including North Korea, China and Russia.

News Anchor Shannon Bream on How Her Book ‘The Women of the Bible Speak’ Can Inspire One’s Faith Journey

Currents News Staff

As we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month here on Currents News, we’d like to tell you about a new book that highlights the women of “The Good Book.”

“The Women of the Bible Speak” takes a closer look into the lives of 16 biblical warriors – women who were central figures in many Bible stories.

Joining Currents News is the author of the book, Shannon Bream, who’s also the anchor of Fox News Channel’s “Fox News at Night.”

If you’d like to get the book “The Women of the Bible Speak” – it’s set to be released on March 30, but you can pre-order your copy now. Head on over to FoxNews.com/books.

Colorado Community Mourns Shooting Victims Amid Calls for Action on Gun Control

The suspect in the Boulder, Colo. Mass shooting makes his first court appearance March 25 as the community mourns. They are still waiting for answers and the motive behind the violence.

“This is going to take time and we’re going to see justice prevail,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

The suspect, Ahmad Alissa, is set to make his first court appearance Thursday as questions mount over the motive.

“I just don’t know why he would choose this way to get his point across,” said Damien Cruz, a friend of Boulder shooting suspect.

There are renewed calls for action on gun control resonating from Colorado.

“We have mass shooting after mass shooting and congress has failed to act,” said Weiser.

It’s being heard in Washington with the Biden Administration echoing the call.

“If we really want something that is going to be lasting,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, “we need to pass legislation.”

Many Republicans argue that stricter gun laws are not the solution.

“I don’t think it would address this issue,” said Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell.

The mayor of Boulder says an assault weapons ban may have made a difference in his city.

“I can say it wouldn’t have hurt and probably would have helped,” said Mayor Sam Weaver.

His city is now home to growing memorials for the 10 community members lost to gun violence.

One of the victims of that shooting, Officer Eric Talley, is being remembered by the Catholic community he loved.

The decade-long police veteran was a regular visitor of St. Martin de Porres parish, located just across the street from the grocery store where he was killed.

Though he was not a parishioner there, he often took part in their events.

In a statement, Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver says Officer Talley was “a man of character and strong faith, a loving father to seven children, a husband who cared deeply for his family, and a soldier for Christ.”

The officer’s mother, Judy Talley, also described her son as a “strong Catholic of deep faith.”

She says that over the past year, his job became increasingly difficult with people cursing and even spitting on her son.

“Why?! Why? My son gave his life to save those people,” said Judy, “He gave it all and the hate still continues. Oh God, help them.

Judy said she and her son spoke every day.