The Tablet newspaper kicks off a major effort to help students and schools hit hard by the pandemic.
Teachers nationwide are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, but getting kids in classrooms is still a work in progress.
Syria ten years later – a look back at the decade long civil war that has destroyed the nation its impact on children.
A huge milestone for Christianity in the Philippines is celebrated at the Vatican.
By Jessica Easthope
Students from more than 50 schools across the Diocese of Brooklyn are becoming newspaper boys and girls. Starting March 15 they’re competing to sell the most new subscriptions or renewals to The Tablet, the Diocese of Brooklyn’s paper.
Vito Formica, the Executive Director of News and Development at DeSales Media Group, the non-profit running the fundraiser, says the incentives are big.
“We have covered how difficult the pandemic has been for students in schools so we really wanted to sit down and come up with a strategy to partner with the schools so we could do anything we could to help,” Formica said.
“I’m going to encourage my students to be loud because loud people get heard,” said Kevin Flanagan, the principal of Bay Ridge Catholic Academy. Flanagan dressed as a paperboy as part of his sales strategy to motivate his students. Kids who sell at least three orders will qualify to begin earning $10 for each subscription and their school will earn five dollars for each sale.
“If you do the math potentially $250,000 or more can be raised and that will go directly back to students in schools,” Formica said. And that’s not all! Students and schools that have the highest sales will win grand prizes that total $12,000. Flanagan says after a year that’s put financial stress on so many schools, even $3,000 would go a long way.
“That’s approximately half of one student’s tuition to attend schools here,” he explained. “You’ve seen how Catholic schools do more with less. We could do so many things with that $3,000 that would promote healthy practices in the future, student engagement in the classroom and higher levels of learning.”
Students at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy don’t know what it’s like to roll up a newspaper and throw it on somebody’s front steps but they’re already getting excited, and competitive about their digital paper routes.
“Who’s going to win out of the two of you,” Currents News asked students.
“Me, I’m going to win! No, I’m going to win, I have more friends, but I’m better with the family,” argued Christopher and Jenna Ghorra, siblings and students at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy.
Christopher and Jenna are already coming up with their sales pitches, and they’re using what they see in The Tablet as inspiration.
“I see that they want to help people in need and share the good news,” Jenna said.
And using their entrepreneurial spirits to evangelize.
By Jessica Easthope
COVID-19 has generally spared the physical health of young people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says kids account for less than 10 percent of all cases in the United States. But the pandemic has preyed on their mental health.
“Uncertainty, death that has occurred, social isolation, parental angst and all of this has impacted children and adolescent mental health,” said Christina Sama-Bommarito, the school psychologist at The Mary Louis Academy (TMLA) in Jamaica Estates, Queens.
Over the last year, the number of students Christina counsels has gone up by 50 percent. She says teachers have taken on a new critical role in identifying students who need help and guiding them on how to control their anxiety.
“We understand now more than ever that what students may need in the moment may not necessarily be part of the lesson plan,” Christina said.
Students say the uncertainty of the pandemic has been the biggest hurdle.
“It was hard those months when we were like majorly isolated and we weren’t going anywhere,” said TMLA sophomore Breann Elder, “and it was hard to stay in contact with my friends.”
Lately, TMLA junior Gabriela Maldonado has been putting mental health first and what she has learned to good use.
“Just taking deep breaths and time out of my day or sometimes, I’ll just get up and take a break from whatever I may be doing,” said Gabriela, “and I’ll go in splash some water on my face it kind of reawakens me and brings me back to the task at hand.”
But what happens when depression and anxiety are so intense, tips and tricks don’t cut it?
According to the American Journal of Pediatrics, suicidal ideations in people ages 11 to 21 went up during months when COVID-related stress was at a high.
“Teenage years, as we know, are stressful enough themselves,” said Chris Dougherty, the chair of guidance department and school social worker at Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, “to add this has been so detrimental to so many kids.”
Chris sees nearly 40 students a week, but it’s been tough to talk to them about important mental health issues like suicide.
“Tracking them down has become harder, or them forgetting about the appointment,” Chris said of the hybrid school model, “so I had to remind them to send notifications and reminders and things like that. It’s been a challenge.”
Simple things like laughing can relieve stress and anxiety, but students say it’s most important to ask for help.
“Over the course of the pandemic, God has really become my rock,” said Breann. “When I just feel, like scared or anxious, or any sort of paranoia, just knowing that I have God and I can have faith and hope in Him, it really keeps me grounded. It really helped my relationship with Him.”
Stress is high and though physical distance is necessary, experts say now is the time for kids to stay socially connected.
By Currents News Staff
A decade ago, Syrians took to the streets to demand better lives.
The democracy protests spiraled into a civil war involving multiple regional and international players that left an entire generation of Syrian children knowing nothing but violence.
Now 10 years later, hundreds of thousands of people have died. Millions more have been internally displaced or have fled the country. The situation is described as a “living nightmare…” and young Syrians are scarred by the brutality of it all.
According to UNICEF, more than 5 million children have been born in Syria since the violence began in 2011 with 90 percent of them needing humanitarian assistance. The agency also reported a huge rise in levels of anxiety, distress and sleep disorders.
The United Nations estimates about half of Syria’s children have not lived a day without war and 60 percent of the entire population is at risk of hunger.
During Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis prayed that Syria not be forgotten and called the situation there as one the most serious humanitarian catastrophes of our time.
“Countless dead and wounded, millions of refugees, thousands missing, destruction, violence of all kinds and immense suffering for the entire population,” Pope Francis said.
The pontiff called for dialogue between the warring parties and for international collaboration. But for young Syrians, a decade of violence coupled with an ongoing pandemic has had a devastating impact for an entire generation.
By Currents News and Elise Ann Allen
ROME (Crux) — Ten years after Syria’s bloody civil war began, most of the fighting is now over. Yet the country is now facing a massive economic, social, and humanitarian crisis in which rampant poverty is the next major battle it faces.
Referring to the March 15 anniversary of the start of the Syrian civil war, Pope Francis in his Sunday Angelus address said the decade-long conflict “has caused one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of our time.”
In the past 10 years, the war has caused “an unknown number of dead and wounded, millions of refugees, thousands of disappeared, destruction, violence of every kind and immense suffering for the entire population, especially the most vulnerable, such as children, women and the elderly,” he said.
Pope Francis urged all parties involved in the war “to show signs of goodwill, so that a glimpse of hope can open up for the exhausted population,” and asked for “a decided and renewed commitment, constructive and supportive,” on the part of the international community, “so that, having laid down their arms, we can mend the social fabric and begin reconstruction and economic recovery.”
The pontiff then led pilgrims in praying a Hail Mary for suffering to end and hope to be revived in “beloved and martyred Syria.”
Speaking to Crux about the state of the crisis 10 years into the conflict, Giampaolo Silvestri, secretary general of the AVSI Foundation, which carries out development and humanitarian projects in Syria, said that “fighting in Syria for the most part is over, but the bomb of poverty has exploded.”
With roughly 80 percent of the population living under the poverty line, “it’s an enormous problem,” he said, adding that in his view, small reconstruction projects must begin in rural areas, supporting schools, hospitals, and other essential services.
Similarly, Flavia Chevallard, AVSI’s representative for Syria, said the decade-long war has caused “an enormous economic crisis,” as well as Syria’s isolation from the international community.
Things were already difficult when Lebanon’s financial crisis began, and the coronavirus pandemic has compounded the situation, she said, adding that the cumulative impact has been “catastrophic.”
“There’s been a fast devaluation of the local currency: the Syrian pound lost three quarters of its value during 2020, and prices of basic items increased 200 percent. This means that people are not able anymore to get enough food, many people tell me that they cannot even afford bread anymore,” she said.
With the bulk of the population living in poverty, “the needs are incommensurable in the whole country,” Chevallard said, noting that in areas where AVSI is active, such as Aleppo, Damascus, and portions of the country’s northeast and northwest, “the situation is very critical.”
“There is another perception that I feel people have in the Western world, and it’s that in the Middle East people is used to war and violence. This is not true,” she said, adding, “Very often people here ask me if I knew Syria before the war, and they talk about their life before.”
“It’s touching to see how people are still shocked by how the war arrived and destroyed their lives, as anybody in Europe would be,” she said, noting that at the moment, “hope is unfortunately rare after ten years of war and no signs of an improvement.”
How it began
What began as a series of peaceful protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 10 years ago warped into an intricately complex and devastatingly bloody civil war that has left more than 500,000 people dead or missing, and millions more displaced.
Assad succeeded his father as Syria’s president in 2000, at a time when many citizens were complaining about high unemployment rates, corruption, and limited political freedom. In March 2011, peaceful pro-democracy protests broke out in Syria’s southern city of Deraa, which the Syrian government responded to swiftly and with deadly force, causing mass protests nationwide.
Unrest quickly intensified as Assad’s opponents took up arms, initially in defense and later to oust security forces from their towns and cities — actions which earned the opposition supporters the title of “foreign-backed terrorism” from Assad.
From there, violence quickly spiraled out of control and civil war erupted. However, the situation became increasingly complex as numerous rebel groups sprouted and neighboring countries began to take sides in the conflict, sending money, weapons, and soldiers. As the violence descended into chaos, numerous jihadist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda also entered the scene, seeking to advance their own agendas.
By now, Assad’s forces have largely retaken the country, with fighting currently limited to a few pockets in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, near the border with Turkey.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), as of December 2020 there were at least 387,118 deaths as a result of the war, 116,911 of whom were civilians. However, an additional 205,300 were registered as missing and presumed dead, including some 88,000 civilians believed to have died of torture in state prisons.
Nearly 12,000 children have either been killed our wounded as a result of the war, according to UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s agency.
In addition to those who have been killed, SORH found that so far, more than 2.1 million civilians have been injured or suffered permanent disabilities as a direct result of the conflict.
Syria’s pre-war population of around 22 million has been drastically reduced or scattered. Some 6.7 million are internally displaced, most of whom are living in camps, and an additional 5.6 million are living abroad as refugees, roughly 93 percent of whom have relocated to neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.
Since December alone, nearly one million people were driven from their homes in Syria’s north as fighting lingers, with UN agencies warning the battle for the Idlib province could turn into a bloodbath.
Squeezed by international sanctions, crippled by the loss of many of its hospitals and schools, and burdened by the coronavirus pandemic, Syria also faces an enormous humanitarian crisis in which some 13.4 million people required some form of assistance as of January 2021. According to the UN, more than 12 million people in Syria struggle to find enough food to get through a single day, and some 500,000 children are chronically malnourished.
According to Chevallard, “Children are always victims of war.”
In addition to the risk of malnourishment and the lack of access to education for almost a decade, there is also concern about the long-term psychological impact the conflict will have on the next generation, whose entire lives have been spent under duress.
“For children it is especially dramatic because many of them have only lived in war, and they don’t know otherwise,” Chevallard said, recalling how a friend told her about a 15-year-old boy who “didn’t have any life experience or education, because he spent 6 years of his life doing nothing, closed in his house, because the streets were too dangerous.”
“It is difficult to measure the impact on this level, as it is difficult to evaluate the impact of trauma and depression among children and youth, but it is a very real consequence of war,” she said, adding that just because the fighting is mostly over, that doesn’t mean life is easy.
Regional ripple-effect
“When we speak of Syria, we need to speak of a regional crisis, because the impact is felt in the entire region,” Silvestri said, noting that Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon in particular have all been hugely impacted by the Syrian war, “but especially Lebanon is a country that has been destroyed by this crisis.”
While coping with some 1.5 million Syrian refugees, Lebanon is also in the throes of a crippling financial crisis that has the country on the brink of economic collapse, where poverty is soaring, and many banks are blocked, with small limits on what can be withdrawn per month.
According to Chevallard, the economic impact of having millions of people camped out indefinitely is not the only reason neighboring countries are reluctant to host Syrian refugees, but for Lebanon, there is also the recent memory of the role Palestinian refugees played in its own 1975-1990 civil war.
“This complexity is not always perceived by the Western world,” Chevallard said.
With tensions increasing between the people and the governing class, and with increased anger over allegations of corruption among the political elites, Silvestri said he believes Lebanon’s internal woes combined with the pressure of hosting millions of Syrian refugees long-term could throw Lebanon itself into another civil war.
Andrea Avveduto, communications chief for the Pro Terra Sancta organization, which operates in Syria, said the Syrian war has also awoken complex regional power struggles and even religious conflicts among Muslims.
At the beginning of Syria’s war 10 years ago, “there was a rush to gain power…the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, financed this war, these groups, these militias,” Avveduto told Crux, “so the situation can ignite again very, very easily.”
“The whole Middle East is in this situation of precarious stability,” he said, cautioning that there are already signs that the so-called Islamic State is reemerging in Iraq, while Lebanon is on the verge of political and economic collapse, “so in reality the population is so exasperated that there is a risk the social fabric won’t hold.”
Avveduto said another factor that emerged in the Syrian war, which was evident from those who financed it, was the conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the region.
Shiites currently represent just 20 percent of the Muslim world, whereas Sunnis are roughly an 80 percent majority, he said, adding that in his view, “There is obviously an interest in stabilizing that part of the Arab region — Syria, Iraq, and now Lebanon — also in order to eliminate those last countries government by the Shiite minority.”
“How will the war in Syria change the status of the Middle East? Today we don’t know, but certainly Syria is part of all these interests, and naturally where there is a void there is someone who wants to fill it,” Avveduto said.
Looking to the future
In terms of the future, both Avveduto and Silvestri had clear ideas on what needs to be done.
Silvestri said there is an urgent need “for donors to finance reconstruction, “because if in Syria there is no effort to start rebuilding the hospitals, schools, some streets, there will never be the possibility to return.”
He also stressed the importance of volunteer projects, which he argued would help “diminish the pressure and tension” in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan due to the presence of Syrian refugees.
Currently funds are tight, including from international donors such as the United States and EU countries, Silvestri said, noting that the UN is set to hold a virtual meeting later this month to discuss the Syrian crisis, and he hopes to secure funds for reconstruction.
“There is no fighting, there are no more bombs, but poverty has exploded…People don’t have enough to live,” he said, and criticized American and European donors who in the past have refused to support rebuilding efforts until Assad is out of power, calling them “deaf.”
“We must recognize that Assad by now has won, and we need to start rebuilding … Otherwise, we’re in a vicious circle. We give money only for humanitarian purposes, so these people stay there, and we won’t rebuild because Assad is there, and we stay in a vicious cycle. Rather, we must try to go in a virtuous cycle,” where things are moving forward, he said.
Before rebuilding can begin, Avveduto said international sanctions should be lifted.
“The only thing that can really change the card on the table is to allow people to breathe…to remove the economic sanctions on Syria and the embargo,” Avveduto said, noting that Syria has lived under economic sanctions for eight years, which has had a devastating impact on the country.
Citizens, he said, “don’t have gas, they don’t have electricity, they don’t have products, it’s not possible to trade, there are no tourists, there are no pilgrimages. There are not commercial exchanges, there is nothing.”
While rebuilding is necessary, “Today the true invisible wound that is destroying Syria are the economic sanctions. I will repeat this with force (because) those who live or die because of this situation are clearly the people,” he said.
Due to skyrocketing inflation rates and the lack of basic goods and medicines, black markets have emerged for certain projects, lines to get gas are miles long, and electricity is being rationed, with some people left in the dark and without heat during cold winter months.
Suicide rates have also increased, because the people are “desperate,” Avveduto said, noting that Pro Terris Sancta has helped to rebuild some 600 houses in Aleppo and has financed the building of cultural centers in Damascus, but the organization has had to halt these reconstruction efforts to respond to immediate needs, “because people are still dying of hunger.”
“They don’t have access to gas, no water, no electricity, so we cannot offer development projects if they don’t have bread to eat, if they can’t make it to the end of the day. This is the real problem,” he said.
In terms of what role the church can play in help to alleviate the crisis and the burden many Syrians face, Silvestri said the local Church will continue to support and carry out projects in the region aimed at assisting all citizens, regardless of religion or social status.
Aid agencies such as Caritas International, Aid to the Church in Need, and the AVSI Foundation have long been active in the area, offering programs that support hospitals and schools, and which food and other basic needs.
“We won’t lose hope, because regardless, it’s worth it to help these people who are suffering. If there is no political will for change, it’s very difficult, but we won’t abandon Syria or Syrians,” Silvestri said.
Chevallard praised the many Church officials and religious stayed in Syria throughout the war to provide support, despite the risks.
“It is a choice that requires courage,” she said, and pointed to the Vatican’s ambassador to Syria, Cardinal Mario Zenari, as a prime example, saying he never left the country, and his presence allowed certain projects such as AVSI’s Open Hospitals initiative to continue.
“This has an enormous value, not only because of the great work that these people did and is doing, but as a sign. A sign that Syrians are not left completely alone, in a period where Syrians felt abandoned by the world,” Chevallard said, adding, “this means hope, that is the thing that people need the most now.”
Avveduto said he believes providing this hope for people has been, is, and will be the Church’s primary task going forward.
“When the war finishes, it will not be a Christian country, it will always be of a Muslim majority, but it will be judged on what it did during the war. The charity it provided during the war will be the business card it presents to the new government, to the new Syria,” he said.
This is important, he said, because “the Church, with all this charitable work, which is indiscriminate, which reaches everyone, will build bridges.”
“The vocation of the Church is to heal wounds, to build relations, bridges between Sunnis and Shiites,” he said, noting that while this is in many ways a political task, it is “a task that changes society.”
By doing this, he said, the Church can help Syria “reach peace as soon as possible.”
“There is a peace that is not a sense of war. The army can win the war, but making peace is something else,” Avveduto said. “It’s a daily effort. It’s a task based on education, formation, healing wounds. This creates a serenity in relations in the country, and above all, allows them to hope.”
A closer look at Pope Francis’ historic journey to the land of Abraham. From messages of hope to momentous meetings – the pontiff makes strides towards interfaith dialog.
A Currents News Special: Pope in Iraq.
Catholic Charities offers grief counseling to essential workers during the pandemic.
President Joe Biden is set to give his first primetime address on the heels of the COVID relief bill being passed.
A new poll about Americans, faith, and politicians is out – we have the findings.
The nun who has the Pope’s ear – one of the highest ranking women in the Catholic Church.
By Emily Drooby
Snapshots of Herman Ziering’s life hang on a wall in the library of Manhattan College. He’s a husband, a father and a Holocaust survivor.
“He was in the Riga Ghetto, which is in Latvia, in Eastern Europe,” explained Dr. Mehnaz Afridi. She is both associate professor of religion at the college and director of their Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith (HGI) Education Center.
At the time, Lea and her mother escaped to America by posing as Christians. Herman, Lea’s dad, eventually escaped too.
After coming to the United States, he became a Nazi hunter. He traveled from Long Island to South America to seek justice.
Herman and Lea’s incredible lives are laid out at the Manhattan College exhibit.
The exhibit was born from boxes brought to Mehnaz from Herman’s daughter, Debbie Ziering.
“You never say no to boxes, right? You never know what you’re going to find,” explained Mehnaz.
What she found was an extensive Holocaust library — moments collected throughout Herman and Lea’s life.
“I owe it to this family to do something with this material,” said Mehnaz.
So, she set up a space to display it all. The pieces are carefully picked out to make people stop, think and feel.
Debbie is amazed by what those boxes have become.
“Having other people acknowledge what my parents went though, and seeing that they contributed so much, in such a short amount of time, I was so proud of them, I miss them so much,” she told Currents News.
The exhibit is also about fighting against hate, and promoting discussion and collaboration among all faiths.
Mehnaz is Muslim, Manhattan College is Catholic and the exhibit explores persecution against Jewish people.
“I believe that education about the Holocaust is about understanding what racism can do to people, to human beings,” said Mehnaz. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Jewish or Black or Muslim, or any kind of minority, but if you build up this mythology and you make them a scapegoat, it leads to murder and genocide.”
Interfaith dialogue is a cornerstone of Pope Francis’ historic trip to Iraq, where he heavily focused on tolerance, inclusiveness and human fraternity.
Recently the center was given a grant to digitize everything, so that people all over can learn from Lea and Herman’s stories and wisdom.
By Jessica Easthope
The reassuring voice on the other end of the phone, sometimes when the person calling is desperate for help — that voice can save a life.
“Not having a job or my job stopped because of the pandemic, I’m not working or whatever I’m getting isn’t enough some people are reporting suicidal ideations or even suicide attempts,” said Karina Albarracin, a social worker and therapist at Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens.
Over the last year Karina’s seen an increase in suicidal thoughts and attempts among her clients, even children.
“If we talk about children and teenagers it’s the remote learning, how it has affected many of them at such a young age having to learn time management, now they have to wake up on their own and be responsible,” she said.
Karina has had a 30 percent increase in cases. Not only has her number of clients gone up, but the pandemic has driven up the frequency of the need itself.
“I used to have clients who were okay with bi-weekly sessions, but now they have so much need that you need to see them weekly. It’s not only the amount of clients, but how often they need help,” said Karina.
She’s the person some clients see after reaching out to Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens’ 24/7 Essential Workers Hotline.
“Having their children at home, not having financial resources, not having food, domestic violence they’re experiencing because of the pressure, substance abuse has increased in not only our clients but in the community,” said Claudia Salazar, the Vice President of Behavioral Health at Catholic Charities.
The hotline has had more than 700 essential workers call in. They have put their health at risk for the sake of the community. Claudia says as the COVID-19 pandemic is hopefully nearing its end, we’re only on the brink of a mental health pandemic.
“There’s a lot of trauma that we’re going to see in the next few years because trauma doesn’t start up and shut down. It’s something that takes a long time to develop and also a long time to deal with,” said Claudia.
After getting to know her clients, Karina says she’s able to incorporate one of her strongest coping tools: faith.
“What is going to help me to be able to say, It’s going to be okay,’ that’s when we have our faith,. Being able to say, ‘Things are going to be okay and I can’t control that, but I have my faith and hope that things will get better,’” Karina said.
As essential workers themselves, the mental health professionals at Catholic Charities encourage people to use the hotline. Whether it’s one time or every day, a voice will be there.
Currents News Staff
Sister María Luisa Berzosa is known as a trailblazing religious woman who participated in both the Synod dedicated to young people and the one dedicated to the Amazon.
She made headlines in May of 2019 when Pope Francis appointed her one of four women consultors to the Synod of Bishops.
“During the Synod on youth, the Pope modified the rules and used his authority to allow superiors general to vote, whether priests or not,” Sister Maria said. “That’s when it no longer made any difference to the superiors general whether I was a woman or a man, and that led us to ask ourselves: why make this distinction?”
The Spanish nun took her vows in 1965 and has dedicated her life to educating the poor and underprivileged in Spain, Argentina, and Italy. She’s also a vocal advocate for the role of women in the Church.
Sister Maria says reviving the spirit of the Second Vatican Council is one of the main focuses of Pope Francis’ pontificate.
“I’ve been hurt by the Church, but I never wanted to leave. I always wanted to stay,” Sister Maria said. “I mean, this is it: this is the Church of Jesus. Jesus and the Church are one and the same to me, not separate. The Church leads me to Jesus, and Jesus leads me back to His Church.”
Sister Maria says the Church must search for creative ways to address the challenges of our time. But above all, the Church must listen and give a voice to all people.
“I offer spiritual guidance, give spiritual exercises, I listen to people and accompany them in formation,” she said. “I’m an educator, even if this is not a school. In our groups I emphasize how our’s must be a synodal and participatory Church.”