March for Life 2021 in D.C. Goes Virtual But Impact and Message Remains Strong

By Emily Drooby

A limited number of pro-life advocates marched on Friday, Jan.29, in Washington D.C. because of the pandemic and security restrictions. However, hundreds of thousands across the country tuned into the 48^th annual March for Life virtually.

“Although separated by physical distance, we are united by you,” said Archbishop Joseph Naumann Chairman, speaking about God while leading the kick-off prayer. He’s the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities (USCCB).

Attendees heard stories like Florida Republican Rep. Kat Cammack. Her mother chose life after doctors urged her to abort, fearing the pregnancy could harm her health.

“She chose life, her bravery and courage in the face of this difficult decision led to my passion of standing up for the rights of the innocent and the unborn,” said Cammack. “Life is sacred.”

Christian Rada, the director of marriage, family formation, and respect life education at the Diocese of Brooklyn was one of those who joined virtually. To him, seeing the large amount of people tuned in virtually was powerful.

“I was there in a sense spiritually, with all of these people hearing this message of, that we are all pro-life,” he explained.

It’s a message that’s especially important in New York which is often called the abortion capital of America. The state sees more than 80,000 abortions with over 50,000 occuring in New York City alone. That’s according to the Susan B. Anthony List, a nonprofit that seeks to end abortion.

Pro-life advocates say that spreading the pro-life message nationally is crucial right now as the country has seen a recent change in power.

“We can still send a very powerful message to the White House as they begin the earliest days of their administration,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life Education & Defense Fund. “Let’s tell them that every life matters, from the moment of conception.”

During the march, lawmaker, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey spoke directly to President Joe Biden.

“Your words, that the dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer, are to have any true meaning, the lives of unborn children must be included and their precious lives must be protected,” said Smith.

The message from Rep. Smith and other speakers was clear: no matter who is in the White House, the fight for life must remain strong, loud and passionate.

Financial Aid Proves Crucial for College Students During Pandemic

By Jessica Easthope

The ongoing pandemic has thrown college students navigating their way into adulthood off-track without warning.

“It was right in the middle of the semester,” said Alliyah Speight, a sophomore at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights. “I was trying to get my grades together, get my classes together.”

The St. Francis College sophomore had a devastating year. Her problems were bigger than money.

“Back in April, I lost my father due to COVID and that was my only parent, because I lost my mother at 11 years old, so things have been pretty hard for me,” Alliyah said. “It was a week before my 19th birthday that I lost him.”

Losing her father changed everything including how she would pay tuition. Alliyah did what many students are afraid to do: she asked her school for help. She’s now one of nearly 300 recipients of aid from The Terrier For Terrier Relief Fund.

“We know that Alliyah was affected very hard during the pandemic,” said Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management, Robert Oliva. “When she applied for The Terrier For Terrier Relief Fund, we wanted to assist her in a very special way.”

St. Francis College helped Alliyah continue her Catholic education and also provided financial aid from The Cares Act to more than 1,300 students.

“As a mission driven institution, the St. Francis College community rallies around those who need it most,” said Robert.

St. Francis has its own way of helping out but in April 2020 “Swiftstudent” came onto the scene. Swiftstudent is a free online tool that helps students ask their colleges for additional financial aid.

“It’s really changing students’ lives and enabling them to get the financial aid they need in many cases to complete college or at least stay in college,” said Abigail Seldin, a producer from Swiftstudent.

The need is great. A survey by Oneclass shows 56% of college freshmen and sophomores say they can no longer afford tuition because of COVID-19.

“Students are tremendously affected by the job losses that are happening,” Abigail said. “We’re seeing many more students are reporting that they are food and housing insecure than they’ve ever been before.”

For students like Alliyah, financial aid is more than just money.

“I don’t have my dad, but I have other people I can look to and look up to help me out when things get rough,” Alliyah said. “I’m not completely alone. I have people that want to see me succeed.”

It’s a lifeline after so much loss.

Currents News full broadcast for Thurs, 1/28/21 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Education overload – cash-strapped families trying to pay for college as the pandemic crushes their finances.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is under fire after a damning report finds nursing home deaths were severely underreported in the state of New York.

A domestic terror threat – could houses of worship be targeted?

Plus, kids and coding – one Catholic school in Bushwick, Brooklyn, is making sure their students have a leg up on the technology.

St Brigid-St Frances Cabrini Catholic Academy Creates Tech Savvy Kids With Game Coding Project

By Emily Drooby

Most kids play games, but Eli Perez builds them.

“I’m proud of it, I like to see people enjoy the game,” she told Currents News.

From a game where players rescue gifts from the Grinch, to a maze where players have to escape before the clock runs out, Eli has thought up, designed, drawn out and coded four games into existence.

“I feel like through my coding, I can express myself, my creativity, and it just helps me relax,” she said of her newfound hobby.

She learned how to do it at St. Brigid-St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Academy in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and she’s not the only one.

The program idea came from math and technology teacher José Martinez. He wanted to bring coding to the school, but knew he needed to find a way to make it interesting to his young students.

“I know they play games,” he explained. “I thought that making games is something that could really get them excited.”

For years, educators have pushed to teach coding in schools — it’s said to improve problem solving and logical thinking.

It has become an important skill in the job market, and it pays. A study by job market analytics firm Burning Glass found jobs that use coding skills paid an average of $22,000 more a year.

The nonprofit code.org says that while 90% of parents wanted their kids to study computer science, only 47% of high schools actually teach it.

That puts St. Brigid, a nursery through 8th grade school, ahead of the curve.

“As a teacher I feel excited. I’m thinking about their future,” José said. “I want them to get the most out of this school that they can get.”

Through this program students not only build the games, but publish them for anyone to play.

The code is even made public, helping other students learn.

Eli will continue coding — now a beloved hobby — and José says he plans to grow the program next year.

NYS Catholic Conference Director Shares How Pro-Life Advocates Can Protect the Sanctity of Life

Currents News Staff

One woman who’s leading the fight for the unborn in New York says we are facing some additional challenges, due to changes in the White House and Congress.

Kathleen Gallagher, the director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference joined Currents News to share what progress pro-life advocates can make legislatively and from home.

WYD Organizers Release Official Theme Song for Lisbon 2023 Gathering

By Currents News Staff and Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — World Youth Day organizers released the winning theme song for the international gathering in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2023.

The official song is titled “Ha Pressa no Ar” (There Is Urgency in the Air). The lyrics were written by a 51-year-old priest, Father Joao Paulo Vaz, and the music was composed by 41-year-old Pedro Ferreira, both of the Diocese of Coimbra, Portugal. The musical arrangement was by Carlos Garcia.

The winning song was officially presented online Jan. 27 on the websites of the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life (www.laityfamilylife.va) and the local organizing committee at www.lisboa2023.org.

People from all over Portugal submitted more than 100 potential theme songs, and they were evaluated by a jury made up of musical and artistic professionals, according to a press release from the organizers.

The song’s lyrics reflect the theme chosen for WYD Lisbon by Pope Francis, “Mary arose and went with haste” — a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke about Mary going to see her cousin Elizabeth after Mary had been visited by an angel who told her she would bear the son of God.

The theme song is meant to inspire and invite young people “to identify themselves with Mary” and be eager to serve in a missionary spirit and to transform the world, the press release said.

A logo, which had been released in October, depicts the cross, a path, the rosary and Mary as a young woman. The rosary is meant to symbolize the devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, and it is placed on the path to recall the experience of pilgrimage.

The World Youth Day cross was handed to young people from Lisbon by young people from Panama, the host country of World Youth Day 2019, after a Mass with Pope Francis on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 22, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The handoff originally was scheduled for April 5, 2020, Palm Sunday, but was postponed because of the lockdowns and travel bans in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Because of the global pandemic, Pope Francis also agreed with a recommendation by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life to postpone World Youth Day until August 2023 rather than as originally scheduled in 2022.

Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 1/27/21 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Sending the word of God to hundreds of people at home and across the world – but in a click, big tech took it away. How one Brooklyn parish is standing up to Facebook.

More vaccine doses are heading to New York as the Empire State slowly starts to reopen – but when will the Big Apple loosen restrictions?

The Department of Homeland Security warning of potential homegrown violence since President Biden took office.

Pope Francis with a message of hope as he remembers the victims of the Holocaust.

Facebook Blocks Brooklyn Parish From Livestreaming Masses

By Jessica Easthope

José San Juan has worked in technology for 30 years, and he says he’s never seen anything like this: Sacred Heart-St. Stephens Mass, live streamed daily to hundreds, was ripped off from the web on January 22. The parish still remains blocked from broadcasting by Facebook.

Why? Their pastor, Monsignor Guy Massie, isn’t so sure.

“It was needless to say a little bit annoying and my question was, what did we do wrong to get ourselves into this situation,” he asked.

The livestream began as a simple and seamless solution to the pandemic. DeSales Media, the communication and technology arm of the diocese of Brooklyn that operates NET-TV, came in to install several new cameras that allowed people to hear the Word of God in just a click.

“They allowed us through DeSales’ program to stream simultaneously through Facebook Live, YouTube and our website,” José said.

But all that effort was gone in an instant when big tech blocked every single one of the parish’s accounts from live streaming.

“It’s taken away from our parishioners who have found this connection with religion, with God and they’ve already had so much taken away from them in the past year,” José explained.

Currents News reached out to Facebook to ask why this connection has been banned, and were told their investigations team would be looking into it.

Monsignor Massie is so proud when he talks about the church’s presence online, and the team that made it all possible.

“I am indebted to them. They have made this parish look very good and helped the leadership of this parish to still present the Gospel, still present Mass,” he said.

But why would a tech giant target a local church practicing their simple right to religious freedom? For José, until he knows the real reason, he is sticking with censorship.

“There’s nothing that we feel has stepped over any bounds except for maybe the amount of time we’ve broadcast, but even then there are no guidelines, no stipulations so if there are now please tell us,” he said.

A Heavenly Sound at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Brooklyn as Nearly Million Dollar Organ Is Restored

By Emily Drooby

Angie Hemulgada has spent over 40 years sitting in the pews of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church listening to the church’s organ.

“The organ is a big difference for the community, the sound is totally different,” she told Currents News.

The organ was repaired for the first time since 1968.

“It feels great compared to playing the old one, because it was very worn out and very out of tune,” said organ player Connor Whelan, the church’s music director.

“Music is essential to a good liturgy and the organ plays a huge part in having good music, music that people feel,” explained Deacon John Cantirino, “music that people experience, music that resonates with people’s souls.”

Their Pastor, Father Ilyas Gill, made the restoration a priority.

The restoration was done by Peragallo Pipe Organ Company, a company that operates out of New Jersey. It was quite an undertaking, but important for the parish.

Two of the three organ bellows, which generate the wind, were not working.

1,400 pipes had to be reshaped, replaced or cleaned up. Pieces were removed one by one, and taken up and down a steep ladder through a tiny opening in the ceiling.

They also repaired the room the organ was in, and added new electronics. It took a year and $350,000 dollars. The money came from several places, including collections and parishioners.

“People are very generous, since I am here I have never seen them put the church down,” said Father Gill. “They always support the church.”

The community is coming together and being there for their church, just like the church and clergy are always there for them.

Parishioners went almost a full year without the organ while it was being repaired, but now heavenly music will be heard again.

President Biden Pledges to Speed Up COVID Vaccine Delivery in the U.S.

Currents News Staff

January has become the worst month for U.S. COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

According to Johns Hopkins University, as of Jan. 26, nearly 80,000 people have died from coronavirus.

The grim milestone highlights the growing demand from state officials for more vaccines to inoculate americans.

On Tuesday, President Biden announced plans to expedite vaccine distribution and have nearly the entire U.S. population vaccinated by the end of summer.

Shortages and long lines have been fueling frustration across the country.

“The end goal is to beat COVID-19, and the way we do that is get more people vaccinated,” said Biden, adding that the U.S. will buy an additional 200 million vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna, increasing the nation’s supply to 600 million.

Since both vaccines require two doses, that’s enough to protect 300 million Americans against COVID-19, that’s more than the U.S.’ entire adult population.

“The brutal truth is, it’s going to take months before we get the majority of Americans vaccinated, months,” the president said.

The announcement comes one day after he raised his daily vaccination target to 1.5 million people a day, all part of his plan to give 100 million shots in his first 100 days.

“The president said, ‘I hope we can do even more than that,’” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “Of course that’s a hope. He is continuing to push our team to get as many Americans vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

The president began his term focused on speeding a messy vaccine rollout in the U.S, signing an executive order pledging to boost vaccine supplies on his first full day in office.

On Tuesday, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator told governors vaccine allocations will increase by about 16% starting next week.

“Until now we’ve had to guess how much vaccine to expect for the next week, and that’s what the governors had to do: ‘How much am I getting next week?’ This is unacceptable,” said Biden, “lives are at stake here.”

The weekly vaccine supply to states, tribes and territories will grow to a minimum of 10 million doses, up from 8.6 million.

“At least now we can do a schedule for three weeks, and we can schedule appointments and start to run on an efficient basis rather than what’s been going on,” said New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“The fact that there is a plan to ramp up gives me great peace,” said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Of course, it is not as fast as we all want, but we are feeling better about where we are headed as a nation.”

The White House coronavirus response team also says it’s committed to making sure vaccines are given fairly.

“That means we’ll send vaccines to churches and mobile clinics and may take a couple days longer to get into people’s arms but it will also mean people of color and people in rural communities will have access too,” Andy Slavitt, Senior White House Adviser for Coronavirus response, told Currents News.

Vice President Kamala Harris received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine Wednesday, encouraging everyone to do the same when they can.