Currents News Staff
A San Antonio doctor has become the first to officially challenge the new Texas pro-life law. Doctor Alan Braid says he performed an abortion in defiance of the new pro-life law and is now facing two lawsuits for doing so.
The plaintiffs in both cases are not Texas residents and both say they are pro-abortion. The six-week abortion ban in Texas went into effect Sept. 1.
Currents News Staff
It’s been several months since Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq, but the country continues to remember those days.
Now Iraq is commemorating the visit with postage stamps. Their value ranges from 1,500 dinars (about $1) to 500 dinars. They immortalize moments like the Holy Father’s visit to Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of Abraham and his meeting in Najaf with Ali Al Sistani, the spiritual leader of millions of Shia Muslims.
One of the stamps has an image of the facade of the Cathedral of Baghdad. It isn’t the first time Iraq prints Christian images on its stamps.
In 2020, the country released this postage stamp collection featuring some of Baghdad’s churches. It’s often sold online by collectors.
The Department of Homeland Security says its sending personnel to conduct oversight after disturbing pictures of Border Patrol on horseback emerged at the makeshift migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas.
The Supreme Court is set to take up the pro-life battle on Dec. 1 when it hears arguments in a Mississippi case — directly challenging the landmark abortion case, Roe v Wade.
President Biden is delivering his first address to the United Nations.
After 86 years together, a California couple is celebrating a major milestone! They’re the longest married couple in the U.S.
By Jessica Easthope
Church leaders agree – they say asylum is a human right and the way the humanitarian crisis at the Del Rio border is being handled is wrong.
“This situation, this cry for help, for survival hits home and hits us all here,” said Monsignor Pierre-Andre Pierre, the head of the National Center of the Haitian Apostolate.
Church leaders in the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Archdiocese of San Antonio, where thousands of Haitian migrants have created a makeshift encampment, say they understand the issue is complicated and there’s no clear solution.
“The situation is pressing because there are too many, but these people have been leaving very difficult situations in their home countries and they have been moving toward the border for weeks and months, some even years,” said Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
The advice they’re giving is now is the time to act according to faith.
“They’re in desperation and they have been following directions and they want to make it right coming into the U.S,” said Archbishop Garcia-Siller.
“This is a Christian, a Catholic duty to welcome the stranger and help a brother and sister in need,” Monsignor Pierre said.
The Haitian Apostolate is meeting this week to strategize on what it can do to help at the border as it joins forces with the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Through Catholic Charities the Archdiocese is building a migrant center in Del Rio – one of its functions will be to help migrants with legal services.
Homily from Bishop DiMarzio: Ordination to the Priesthood 2017 from the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
Homily from Bishop DiMarzio: Ordination to the Priesthood 2019 from the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
Homily from Bishop DiMarzio: Ordination to the Priesthood 2018 from the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
Homily From Bishop DiMarzio: Memorial Mass for the 15th Anniversary of 9/11 from the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
By Emily Drooby
Viral videos of U.S. border patrol agents on horseback confronting Haitian immigrants have prompted outrage across the country and from the White House.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said it’s unacceptable.
“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” she said.
The events occurred near a refugee encampment near Del Rio, Texas where thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum are waiting to be processed by the U.S. government.
Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is fighting to uphold Title 42, a public health order issued by the CDC at the beginning of the pandemic used to allow the government to deport undocumented migrants who have crossed the border quickly.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, said they are securing transportation for deportation.”
“We in DHS are securing additional transportation to accelerate the pace and increase the capacity of removal flights to Haiti and other destinations,” Alejandro said. “In the Western hemisphere, we are working to increase the capacity of return flights to Haiti and other destinations. We anticipate at least one to three flights per day.”
Many of the Haitians gathering at the border are believed to have been living in South America following the 2010 earthquake and have moved north to the U.S. border due to the coronavirus crisis. Their home country is still recovering from the latest earthquake and dealing with political unrest and increasing violence.
By Jessica Easthope
The stone walls inside St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral are the originals. Compared to the rest of the ornate church they’re not much to look at, but they’re part of why it’s been nominated by Governor Kathy Hochul for the state and national registers of historic places.
“Because of the history of this building and the history of this community being an immigrant church originally the two things combined went into this 70-something page document that was submitted,” said Father Thomas Zain the archpriest of the cathedral.
The State Street church which was first built as an Episcopal church in the 1850s joins a list of 19 other buildings. It became an Orthodox church in 1920, growing with a Syrian and Lebanese immigrant community of faith.
Father Thomas Zain says the nomination opens up opportunities for grants that could help his renovation project to add an elevator, handicap bathrooms and an access ramp.
“One of our concerns was is it like landmark status because with that you need permission to change a lightbulb and we didn’t want that because we knew we’d be doing these repairs but she said no it was just an honor for the cathedral,” said Father Zain.
So much of the church’s history can be seen from the outside, but Father Zain hopes this new title draws people in.
“While we’re still waiting for a lot of our older people to come back we’ve gotten a lot of new parishioners so hopefully this is another vehicle to evangelize and for people to hear about the church that are searching for a spiritual home,” he said.
The church has already been approved for the state historic place registry and is waiting for approval on the national level.