Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 12/9/21

It’s Christmas in Brooklyn again! The Diocese of Brooklyn’s 27-foot Christmas tree was lit up at Grand Army Plaza.

In D.C., another symbol of our faith was attacked!

The Diocese of Brooklyn is opening its arms to migrants at the southern border.

As the Supreme Court considers a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, other states are preparing for a ruling that would uphold it.

Gil Hodges Inducted as Hall of Famer a ‘Long Time Coming’ His Catholic Family Says

Currents News Staff

First baseman. Manager. All Star and devout Catholic. That is how the late, great ball player Gil Hodges is being described – until now. 

The former Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Mets star has posthumously been inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame – a national honor and recognition for his family. 

His son, Gil Hodges Jr. joined Currents News to talk about the long awaited tribute.

St. Mel’s Parish and School

Ed Wilkinson visits the parish of St. Mel’s in Flushing, Queens. He speaks with the pastor, Father James Fonti, about the vitality of the parish, and the reopening of the parish school as The Early Childhood Center at St. Mel’s Catholic Academy. Ed also speaks with the principal, Amy Barron about the importance of the school to the community.

Three More Missionary Group Hostages Released in Haiti

By Currents News and The Tablet Staff

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — A Haitian gang has released three more of the hostages it kidnapped from Christian Aid Ministries, while 12 remaining representatives of the Ohio-based missionary group approach the third month of their captivity.

The missionaries announced on their website that the 400 Mawozo gang released three of its hostages on Sunday, Dec. 5. Gang members had abducted a total of 17 adults and children in mid-October and threatened to kill them unless a $1 million-per-person ransom was paid, according to Haitian authorities. The gang freed the first two hostages on Nov. 21, said Christian Aid Ministries, which has neither named any of those released nor provided background details of the situation.

[Related: Cries of Haitian People ‘Cannot go Unheeded,’ Vatican Official Says]

The group did say Monday that the three most recently released “are safe and seem to be in good spirits.” The organization asked for continued prayers for the entire team, abducted at a time when Haiti is in the throes of widespread gang violence and kidnappings. Those taken captive included 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian and comprised 12 adults and five children.

Haiti’s social turbulence follows a summer that brought a 7.2-magnitude earthquake and the assassination of the country’s president, along with shortages of key supplies for the population.

Dorothy Day’s Road to Sainthood Continues With a Boost from New York Catholics

Currents News Staff

A native of Brooklyn could soon become a saint. The Archdiocese of New York is advancing Dorothy Day’s cause for canonization to the Vatican’s congregation for the causes of saints.

Day, who spent her young adulthood as a writer and activist, experienced an astounding conversion from Atheism to Catholicism in 1927, when she was 30 years old. She then went on to establish soup kitchens, group homes and farming communities all over the world.

The event, which signals the conclusion of a national process investigating Day’s holiness, will be marked with a Mass celebrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The ceremony will be live-streamed online at saintpatrickscathedral.org/live

Distance Learning Successes

Students at Catholic schools continued to thrive as our remote learning programs ensured every child’s education continued in a well supported and caring environment.