Currents News Staff
According to the National Catholic Education Association, thanks to the pandemic, enrollment at Catholic schools across the country is down 6.4 percent this school year.
But that’s not the case in the Diocese of Arlington, Va. where they are ready to go on a hiring spree.
Their Superintendent of Schools, Joseph Vorbach, joined Currents News to share why their diocesan schools are in huge demand.
A memorial for COVID victims who died in nursing homes and new calls to hold Governor Cuomo accountable.
Stop Asian hate – a rallying cry in New York City as violence spikes.
The border is closed – that’s the message from the Biden administration as a surge in migrants brings the situation to a breaking point.
The new head of Xavier High School tells us her vision for the school’s future.
By Jessica Easthope
Mickey and Dee Newman were always a package deal.
“They lived in Brooklyn in the same apartment for 60 years,” said Donna Johnson, Mickey and Dee’s daughter. “They were never separated. They never went on a trip without each other, not even to a party without each other.”
They were only apart one time in their 60 years of marriage: when the two were living in separate care facilities. The dream was always to get back to each other – a chance they didn’t get in this life. Mickey passed away in his facility of COVID-19 on March 30, 2020, Dee just two weeks later.
“We’re Roman Catholic and we weren’t able to have the proper burial they deserved,” Donna said. “We couldn’t see them, couldn’t hold their hands. The hospital called after my mom died and said ‘if you’d like to, you can come and see her now.’ She was dead and they wanted us to come see her through a glass window. No, that’s not how it should be.”
In the 46 days of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s directive, he ordered nursing homes to take in COVID-positive patients. More than 6,000 patients with the virus were placed into facilities. To date, the number of people who died of COVID-19 in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and rehabilitation centers is more than 15,000.
Now the loss is front and center with faces of lives cut short and families torn apart. The “We Care Memorial Wall” was put up in front of the Cobble Hill Health Center where Peter Arbeeny’s dad, Norman, caught COVID-19.
“The governor said 28 percent, 33 percent. That’s thousands of people,” Peter said. “So I wanted to put their faces on a wall because a number is a person, is a family, is a father, is a grandfather, is a great uncle.”
Peter and his brother, Daniel have now become advocates for their father and the thousands of others who they say Gov. Cuomo put in danger.
“On March 15, he locked us out of the nursing homes and on March 25, he sent COVID in,” Peter said. “It didn’t make any sense then and it doesn’t make any sense now. We still don’t have an apology.”
Assemblyman Ron Kim, who has been one of the most outspoken critics against the governor’s handling of nursing home deaths, says he was threatened if he did not help Gov. Cuomo cover up what Kim calls a ‘fatal error’.
“The moment he ordered me to issue a lie, he passed an unethical and possibly an illegal point that now I had to push back and fight for constituents,” Assemblyman Kim said. “I made promises to these families behind me.”
An apology won’t bring these people back, but those missing them say they’re still waiting for one.
“Who cares? We care,” said Peter. “We need people to care.”
And they’ll continue to wait until they get justice.
Currents News Staff
Pope Francis’ public events have been in constant fluctuation since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
For example, from Christmas 2020 until early February 2021, he was forced to live-stream his Sunday Angelus prayer from inside the Vatican, away from the faithful.
And he was clearly overjoyed when he was finally able to look out at a lively St. Peter’s Square full of pilgrims on February 7, 2021.
“I am happy to see you again gathered in the square,” said the Holy Father back in February.
With Rome’s residents once again in lockdown, St. Peter’s Square on Sunday will remain empty, and Pope Francis will have to once again broadcast the Angelus from the Apostolic Palace library.
Goal reached – President Biden announces the U.S. will pass 100 million vaccinations one year after America began to lockdown.
The need for counseling and mental health services has only grown one year into the pandemic.
The House of Representatives advances two measures on immigration, one offering a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.
Pope Francis calls on Catholics to be more like Saint Joseph.
By Emily Drooby
Xavier High School will be ushering in its 55th headmaster, Kim Smith, this coming summer. Kim will be the first female headmaster in the all-boys high school’s 174-year history and will join 16 other women serving as principals or headmasters at 60 Jesuit high schools across the country.
“I’ve heard also from a lot of women who I know who work in Catholic education and for them it caused some pride,” she told Currents News. “I felt really privileged to be able to help elicit pride of women doing this work because I know I am a part of a much wider fabric.”
Small numbers of women in top positions is a national trend. According to the School Superintendents Association, only 24 percent of superintendents in the U.S. are women.
Xavier can now say they’re helping to change that.
“It is a momentous sort of step for us that I’m very excited about,” said Lindsay Willert, who was on the team who helped hire the headmaster.
“It’s always important to have, certainly representation of a diverse group of people in positions of leadership, so it’s inspiring to me especially as a woman who is a position of leadership here,” she added.
During the hiring process, students got to interview Kim. Senior Patrick Burke says she stood out for all of the right reasons.
‘And it wasn’t just listening because she had to sit there and listen to us, she really wanted to listen to us,’ Patrick said. “She really wanted to hear our stories, our backgrounds, hear our thoughts and our opinions, and you could tell she absorbed it.”
It’s a big job. In her new role, Kim will be overseeing Xavier’s robust academic program and proactive student life, including retreats, service projects, athletics and extracurricular activities. She will be succeeding Michael LiVigni, who has served as Xavier’s longest-serving headmaster for the past 15 years. Kim will rely on her faith.
“God wants us to be our best versions of ourselves in the world and we have to be not afraid to say yes to that,” said Kim.
Kim is currently finishing out the year as a vice principal at Boston College High School. She’s been there 20 years and started as a teacher. She will take over at Xavier in July.
Catholic high schools and their student athletes are calling on New York City to let them play as their futures hang in the balance.
One year into the pandemic, demand on food banks has only grown. Catholics Charities is holding a pop-up for people in need.
Anti-abortion Democratic lawmakers have picked a day to speak out in support of the Hyde Amendment.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
By Emily Drooby
The adrenaline rush before a play and the joy of winning the big game are milestone moments in a kid’s life. In New York City, those moments are being threatened.
“All we’ve been pushing for is to play football and that’s all we want to do at this point. We’re not asking for much,” student athlete Charles Torres told Currents News. “We just want to play football.”
But he and his teammates at Xaverian High School can’t.
NYC’s Department of Heath hasn’t approved high risk sports at Catholic schools, despite consistent requests from school and athletic officials. Football, basketball, cheerleading and other sports fall into that category.
Starting on February 1, the State of New York gave local departments of health the right to decide if and when high risk sports could reopen.
Dominick Vulpis is the Executive Director of the Catholic High School Sports Athletic Association in Brooklyn/Queens. He said after hearing about the February 1 deadline, they immediately sent their proposal to the city, but received nothing back.
“We followed rules and regulations, we are ready to go…but to this date, nothing yet,” he said.
After over a month of radio silence, both the Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York and Diocese of Brooklyn got involved, sending a joint letter to the Department of Heath(DOH) and the mayor, but still nothing.
“There’s not even the decency or the respect to respond,” said Thomas Chadzutko, Superintendent of Schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn. “It’s infuriating, it’s a strong word but it’s disrespectful and infuriating.”
While NYC public schools have been flip-flopping between open and closed, The Diocese of Brooklyn’s schools have been open consistently all year.
Adding to the frustration, schools in other areas like Long Island and Westchester have already received permission from their departments of health back in February, and have been playing since.
As Xaverian High School’s athletic director Anthony Mancusi explained, “To see other teams in our league be able to compete is very, very frustrating, because we have the same protocols in place that they have.”
“So, hearing that other kids get to play and we can’t, it’s pretty much unfair,” student athlete Charles added.
Some students are upset at missing their last chance to play. Others, worried about future college scholarships.
Now, school programs like Xavarian are begging the DOH for a chance.
“Give us an opportunity to show you that this is something we can do safely,” Anthony said.
Right now teams can hold practices, as long as they’re no-contact.
The DOH has mid-April highlighted as the estimated start date for high risk sports. However, different sports have a mandatory amount of practices students have to have before games. That rule would push the first games to early May, right before the end of the year and while students are preparing for their final exams.
Catholic school and athletic leaders are pleading with the DOH to approve them sooner, hoping to give kids some semblance of normalcy by the end of the year.
Currents News Staff
All eyes are on Georgia after three deadly shootings at three spas in the Atlanta metro area. Eight people are dead — six were Asian women.
This tragedy is only adding to the fear Asian Americans around the country are already facing.
People around the world are talking about the shootings.
Police say suspect Robert Aaron long told them the shootings weren’t about race, they were about eliminating sexual temptation.
But, Georgia officials are investigating whether the shootings can be prosecuted as hate crimes.
Either way it’s adding to outrage and anxiety over rising violence against Asian Americans.
The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate reports receiving almost 3,800 complaints from mid-March 2020 through February 2021.
“Many of my family members are living in fear,” one local told Currents News. “I think the rhetoric from our previous administration was definitely the catalyst for all this.”
Here’s what the current administration has to say.
“We stand with you, and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged,” said Vice President Kamala Harris.
President Joe Biden is instructing officials to conduct listening sessions in Atlanta, and on this issue, people have a lot to say.
“I think this country has a reluctance to admit that there is very real and deep rooted systemic racism that does result in violence,” said Georgia politician Nee Nguyen.
Governors of other states, former president Barack Obama, advocates and foreign leaders are also speaking out.
There are “a lot of Asian Americans who are looking over their shoulders when they go outside, when they go to the grocery store,” explained Santa Cruz Warrior NBA veteran Jeremy Lin.
They’re all pleading for change as the discussion continues on Capitol Hill and the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on “Discrimination and Violence Against Asian Americans.”
President Biden and Vice President Harris will be in Atlanta March 19.
Currents News Staff
New York City’s grand St. Patrick’s Day parade turned completely virtual in 2021.
Only the fighting 69th infantry actually marched down Manhattan’s 5th Avenue, instead of the normal sea of green.
Father Christopher Heanue, director of the Irish Apostolate in the Brooklyn Diocese, usually takes part in all of the festivities. This year was a little different.
He joins Currents News to share how generations are celebrating their Irish heritage this year.