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Putin Doubles Down on War with Ukraine During Victory Day Festivities: ‘This Was the Only Correct Decision’

Currents News Staff

Russia’s Victory Day parade is intended to commemorate the country’s defeat of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II.

Russian President Vladimir Putin used the event to reiterate his accusation that the west left him no choice but to invade Ukraine, and offered few clues on the direction of the conflict.

“Russia repelled this aggression in a preventive way and this was the only correct decision,” said Putin.

Over the weekend there was a new slate of sanctions, with U.S. cutting off Kremlin-controlled media outlets from American advertisers and banning Russia from using some American consulting services.

“There was no reason for him to either declare victory or to declare a war that he has already been carrying on for more than two months,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to U.N.

On Monday the president of the European Council was forced to take shelter during a visit to Odesa as missiles struck the region.

This, following First Lady Jill Biden’s unexpected Mother’s Day trip to western Ukraine.

Her visit to an active war zone is a rarity from the spouse of a sitting U.S. President.

Meanwhile, dozens are feared dead in the Luhansk region after Russians were accused of bombing a school sheltering Ukrainians over the weekend.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is vowing his country will win the war.

“We are free people who have their own path. Today, we are waging war on this path and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land,” said the Ukrainian President.

Wisconsin Pro-Life Nonprofit Hit by Arson, Vandalism: ‘If Abortions Aren’t Safe Then You Aren’t Either’

Currents News Staff

Police in Wisconsin’s capital are investigating what they are calling a “targeted arson” at a pro-life organization Sunday.

Madison police say someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the Wisconsin Family Action office, a pro-life nonprofit.

For Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, it meant an unexpected trip to her office on Mother’s Day.

“The smoke damage, the water damage, all of the glass damage, all of that is just terrible. The building management got a hold of me about a quarter to 8:00 and told me that there had been a breach in our office,” Appling said.

Appling believes the attack was motivated by a possible overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Inside were clear signs of fire damage and outside, vandalism. The words “if abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either” were spray painted on the building’s walls.

“I’m standing here in front of a sign that’s threatening my life. I respect the right for people to disagree with us but we’ve never had anything that materialized like this,” said Appling.

“They have every right to be angry. But the anger cannot. It cannot translate into what you’re looking at behind me, or what you saw in my office,” she continued.

But not knowing by who is behind the attack has Appling now worried for the safety of her staff.

“We truly are trusting people? I never even thought about security cameras. They may not have been killed because it wasn’t that strong but you certainly would’ve been harmed by just the flying glass,” she added.

She is standing firm in her beliefs.

“I’m not going to back down on our opinion, we’re not going to take a different position, and change what we believe at our core,” Appling said.

Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Madison issued a statement about the attack, saying: “The destruction of Wisconsin Family Action headquarters in Madison over the weekend is a brazen act of violence which all citizens should condemn, as an attack on the respect and concern we owe to each other in seeking the common good.  The graffitied message, ‘If abortions aren’t safe, you aren’t either’ shows this attack to be explicitly against pro-life Americans who seek to protect the precious gift of life in the womb.”

Bishop Hying’s statement continued, “Abortion is violence, not only against the unborn child, but also women, men, and families.  We pray for a conversion of hearts in our country, that we may truly build a culture of life and compassion, where every human person is welcomed, nurtured and loved from the moment of conception to natural death.”

Wisconsin Family Action released a full statement about the attack on their website. They are back on the job this week, but the office staff will be working remotely.

Schumer Announces ‘The Women’s Health Protection Act’ Intended to Codify Roe v Wade

Currents News Staff

The battle over abortion rights appears to be heading to the Senate floor.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday he will be putting a bill to codify Roe v Wade up for a vote later this week.

Democrats are hoping they can preserve abortion rights that way.

On Sunday, which was Mother’s Day, dozens of women in Kansas City protested in support of Roe v. Wade.

“Once they take away abortion, they’re going to take away birth control, I mean who knows what comes next? It’s a slippery slope,” said Lorraine Goodrich.

Schumer says he plans to file a motion for a procedural vote Monday, which could see a full Senate vote on the controversial issue Wednesday.

“I think Roe v Wade created a constitutional right that doesn’t exist in the written constitution. It’s created division from the first day it was decided until now,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina.

The Women’s Health Protection Act bill to codify Roe, pushed by Schumer and other Senate democrats, would need at least ten republican votes to overcome a G.O.P. filibuster.

Hitting that threshold is unlikely.

“If America’s people, America’s women and men who love them do not fight right now, we will lose the basic right to make decisions, to have bodily autonomy, and to decide what our futures look like,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand from New York.

There are so-called ‘trigger laws’ in 13 states, which would quickly ban abortion if Roe is overturned.

One of those states is Mississippi and its governor, Tate Reeves, says ending Roe would be a big win for the pro-life movement.

“We’re trying to provide those potential expectant mothers the resources that they need so they can go to a full-term pregnancy. If they choose to keep that child, then that’s a great outcome,” said Reeves.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday, 5/6/22

Chief Justice John Roberts says the leak of the Supreme Court draft document will not affect the court’s decision process.

Christians in Iraq are returning to their homes and rebuilding their lives after the military defeat of ISIS in the Nineveh Plains.

There are some talented kids in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn! Check out some of the artwork they submitted this year for The Tablet’s Easter Art Contest.

 

Incoming Diocese of Brooklyn Superintendent Shares What His Agenda Will Be First Day on the Job

Deacon Kevin McCormack Named Superintendent of Schools for Diocese of Brooklyn

By Currents News Staff and Paula Katinas

BAY RIDGE — Deacon Kevin McCormack, the principal of Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge, has been appointed superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Brooklyn by Bishop Robert Brennan, the diocese announced on Thursday, May 5.

McCormack, whose appointment becomes effective July 1, will succeed Dr. Thomas Chadzutko, who is retiring after serving as superintendent for 19 years.

“The schools and academies of the Diocese of Brooklyn have been blessed by the many years of steady, strong, and devoted leadership of our Superintendent Dr. Thomas Chadzutko,” Bishop Brennan said. “He truly has championed the growth of our schools and academies through teacher professional development, technology, and curriculum enhancements. Today we see the success of Catholic schools throughout Brooklyn and Queens because of his work. I am confident Deacon Kevin McCormack will expand on that success, given his exemplary work leading Xaverian and his clear commitment to Catholic Identity.”

“I am grateful that Bishop Brennan has placed his trust in me to build upon the formative work of Dr. Chadzutko and continue the blessed tradition of excellence in Catholic education,” said McCormack, who helped shepherd Xaverian High School’s transition to a co-ed institution in 2016.

In an interview with The Tablet, Deacon McCormack, 61, outlined his priorities — chief among them strengthening students’ Catholic identity. 

“I want to renew our understanding of the mission of Catholic schools,” he said. “Every school teaches math, science, history, and English. Catholic schools do something different. We bring a Catholic identity to a world that so desperately needs it.”

Schools in the diocese saw a 2.4% increase in enrollment between the 2021 and 2022 school years and Deacon McCormack said he will work to keep that trend moving up.

There are 70 Catholic elementary academies and schools in the diocese, as well as 15 Catholic high schools. The current enrollment is 30,894 students — 19,613 in elementary students and 11,281 in high schools.

Another priority will be to recruit and maintain teachers. 

“The biggest crisis we have, I think, is being able to sustain the people that we need. We need to invest financially in our faculties and our administrators and our staff,” he said.

Keeping up with the latest advances in technology is also at the top of his agenda. “Technology is an essential part of what we do. We need to keep pushing the envelope on technology,” he said.

However, he vowed to proceed carefully. “We have some great things that are being done here. We don’t need a complete overhaul by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.

Deacon McCormack spent 37 years at Xaverian High School, first as a teacher of English and religion before he was appointed principal 15 years ago. During his tenure, the formerly all-boys school went co-ed, welcoming girls in September 2016.

There were other notable gains during his years there. In 2010, Xaverian became one of the first schools in the country to introduce iPads into the classroom. 

“We also worked with outside communities finding new ways for funding and making sure that we have access to all the things that are rightfully ours by state mandate,” he explained.

Deacon McCormack was the co-host, with Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, of the program Religion on the Line on WABC Radio from 2006 to 2018.

As he gets ready for his new job, Deacon McCormack looks with admiration at his predecessor. 

“In Tom Chadzutko, you’re talking about a guy who is dedicated. I don’t think he sleeps! I’ve never had a situation where I reached out to Tom, no matter what time of day, where he hasn’t helped me,” he recalled.

Chadzutko said he was grateful for the chance to serve. 

“I have been blessed with pastors, principals, and staff that share the faith and the mission of Catholic education,” he said. “The greatest joy is the knowledge that our work has impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of students over the past three decades.”

Deacon McCormack was born in the Fordham section of the Bronx. His dad Joe was a transit worker. His mother Betty was a homemaker. McCormack attended Our Lady of Mercy School. “We lived in a Catholic community. Your whole world was the church,” he recalled.

The family moved to Valley Stream, New York, and Kevin transferred to Blessed Sacrament School. 

For a time, he thought God was calling him to the priesthood. He entered the St. Pius X Prep Seminary Seminary and later attended Cathedral College and the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. But he left Immaculate Conception in his pastoral year.

McCormack had met Regina Procida, a novice preparing to take her vows to join the Sisters of St. Joseph. “We took classes together and we became friends. And then we were in a wedding together and things started to move in a different direction,” he recalled.

They were married in 1987 and have four children.

Years later, McCormack heard God’s call again — this time to be a deacon. He was ordained a deacon of the Diocese of Rockville Centre by Bishop William Murphy on May 18, 2002.

Deacon McCormack holds a Master of Arts in Theology from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Fordham University.

Msgr. David Cassato, vicar for Catholic schools, said Deacon McCormack enjoys an advantage coming into his new job because of his decades of experience. 

“He can hit the ground running on Day One,” he said. “He knows the diocese so well. He’s done great things at Xaverian. He’s a man of vision and a man with a lot of energy.”

Xaverian announced that Daniel Sharib, Xaverian Class of ’96, will be the new principal effective July 1. Sharib, who has been the assistant principal of academics since 2016, will serve as the school’s 10th principal.

“It is an honor and privilege to be able to serve as the principal of a community and family that have meant so much to me personally for nearly 30 years as a student, teacher, and administrator,” Sharib said in a statement.

 

 

 

Pro-Life Groups Fight Continues As They Await Supreme Court Decision on Roe after Leak

By Currents News Staff and Carol Zimmermann 

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Although many pro-life groups immediately reacted positively to the news that the majority of Supreme Court justices seem set to overturn the court’s Roe v. Wade decision, some tempered their reaction with a continued call for more advocacy while others kept a wait-and-see approach until the court issues its opinion in the weeks ahead.

Some Catholic bishops likewise kept their response in check, but acknowledged the work done on the grassroots level by pro-life activists.

For example, hours after the draft of the court’s opinion was published by Politico May 2, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone tweeted: “Tonight I am thinking of all the years of hard work by pro-life people of all faiths and none. Years and years of patient advocacy, help for unwed moms, political engagement and more.”

The next day, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis said in a statement that he will “comment when the Supreme Court releases its official ruling. No matter the court’s decision, the Catholic Church will continue to work toward building a culture of life and supporting women and their children,” he said.

National Right to Life, an advocacy group that has long fought against abortion, similarly said it “agrees with the statement of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who said, ‘We will let the Supreme Court speak for itself and wait for the Court’s official opinion.’”

Other groups were not so cautious. Texas Right to Life said it was encouraging news that “Roe soon may be gone. Yet new attacks on life will emerge.”

In its May 2 statement, the group called its supporters to further action saying: “Already, abortion advocates are calling on Congress to ban states from passing pro-life laws.”

“If and when the court overturns Roe, the pro-life movement must defeat attacks such as these and build a culture that values preborn children and pregnant mothers.”

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, likened the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade as the beginning for the antiabortion movement.

The previous day, her group sent a letter to all the Republican members of Congress urging them to back a nationwide “heartbeat bill,” banning abortions at six weeks of pregnancy. Hawkins, and nine other antiabortion leaders, emphasized that the 15-week ban at stake in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case before the court did not go far enough.

“If we are not focusing on limiting early abortions, we are not really addressing the violence of abortion at all,” Hawkins wrote in the letter.

After the court’s draft decision was leaked, she told The Washington Post: “We are on the precipice of a whole new America.”

One thing many groups said they were not happy with was that the opinion was leaked to a news outlet.

Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said the leak was a breach of trust and “an attack on the integrity of the Judicial Branch of government.”

“When our highest court cannot operate free of political interference or intimidation, it serves as a stark example that nothing is sacred anymore. While we fervently pray for legal protections of unborn children, we will not dignify the goals of the leaker by commenting on the contents of the draft document.”

The California Catholic Conference said in a May 3 statement that the leak of the opinion draft “triggered the governor and California legislative leadership to announce its intent to create a California constitutional amendment to protect the right to abortion. This will destroy lives, families and significantly limit the ability of the Catholic Church in California to protect the unborn.”

The conference said this was moment for the church and California Catholics to “engage with their communities, actively and publicly oppose this amendment.”

Right to Life Michigan expressed “cautious optimism” about the leaked draft and said its mission won’t change if Roe is overturned.

“We’d have a complete abortion ban in our state, but there are a lot of different moving parts with different groups and with a governor who is trying to invalidate this law. Our focus would be on those efforts and making sure we are fighting against them and have as many people on our side fighting against them as well,” Anna Visser, director of communications and education for Right to Life Michigan, told Detroit Catholic.

She warned pro-life advocates not to celebrate too early, considering the official opinion hasn’t been released and the final version might not reflect the views of Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the draft opinion.

She also noted that the work of pro-life advocacy goes beyond abortion.

“As a pro-life organization, we have to protect the vulnerable, the elderly, the disabled, the unborn,” she said, adding that the focus is “on the marginalized and those discriminated against.”

Contributing to this report was Daniel Meloy, a staff writer for Detroit Catholic, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

The Tablet Newspaper’s 2022 Easter Art Contest Winners Announced at Awards Ceremony

Currents News Staff

It’s the moment students from across the Diocese of Brooklyn have been waiting for: who won the Tablet’s Easter art contest!

The winners were announced this week at the Knights of Columbus’ Archbishop John Hughes Council in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. A special ceremony was held there. The Tablet hosted the winners and their families.

The competition was tough this year – there were nearly 300 entries and more than 25 schools participated.

Catholic School Students Spend Retreat Day at Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph and Tour Currents News

Currents News Staff

Currents News had a busy work day bringing its audiences the top headlines Catholics should know – as well as welcoming future journalists and anchors.

7th graders and 8th graders from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy in Brooklyn were invited to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph by rector Father Christopher Heanue for a retreat-like event.

After Mass, they were given a tour of the Currents News set and control room to see journalism in action!

Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens Cuts Ribbon For Pope Francis Apartments at Loreto

Currents News Staff and Bill Miller

BROWNSVILLE — When Denise Robinson was shown an apartment unit at the Catholic Charities Pope Francis Apartments at Loreto, she knew she had found a new home.

“My eyes got big, and I was like a kid just after Santa Claus came,” said Robinson, who in mid-April settled into one of the 135 units. “I didn’t ask to see another one. I said, ‘Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus!’ ”

Bishop Robert Brennan and Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio joined Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens (CCBQ) in dedicating the eight-story complex with a ribbon-cutting on Thursday, April 28.

This site, 2377 Pacific St. in the Brownsville area, was once home to Our Lady of Loreto Parish. Structural problems forced the demolition of the church in 2017.

About half of the apartments have already been leased for low-income and formerly homeless senior citizens like Robinson, who struggles with back and hip ailments.

Robinson and her new neighbors now have access to Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services, including an on-call nurse, health counseling, and case management. Amenities include 24-hour security, a fitness room, two large community rooms, and laundry room.

Rooftop solar panels cut the building’s utility bills and its carbon footprint, in accordance with the environmental leadership expressed by Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Sí.”

Bishop Brennan said that as the new head of the Diocese of Brooklyn, “you find yourself taking bows for work that other people did.

“And so,” he continued, “I’m proud to pick up the baton from Bishop DiMarzio and all of the work that went into the planning and all of the construction of this project.”

CCBQ broke ground on this affordable housing project in January 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic struck two months later, but construction continued while other projects in the area stalled.

That’s because affordable housing projects were exempted from the lockdowns, said Tim McManus, senior vice president of CCBQ’s Progress of Peoples (POP) Development Corporation. This organization develops affordable housing for Catholic Charities.

Although construction at the Pacific Street site continued, it was not without pandemic problems, McManus said.

“Everything we know about construction and real estate development changed because of COVID,” he said. “We had to adapt to new ways of doing things. Case in point: we had to learn how to do things remote.

“We had specialty software that the general contractor would [use to] walk around and do video tours so we could actually inspect without coming here, without the risk,” McManus added. “If someone from the outside came in and had COVID and infected someone on the site, we would have had to shut down for three weeks, potentially more.”

Including the rooftop solar panels added to CCBQ’s experience of developing clean alternative energy solutions. CCPOP launched its Laudato Si’ Corporation in 2021 to do just that. CCPOP now runs several solar arrays in the CCBQ housing portfolio.

Like Robinson, new resident Michael Freeman was ecstatic to have a new home

“I’m just so happy,” he exclaimed, verging on tears. “I want to scream and shout. But I don’t want to embarrass myself.”

Freeman, who spoke during the dedication, explained later that he became homeless during the pandemic, He fell into depression when family members died of COVID. He entered homeless shelters, but Catholic Charities quickly helped him find a new home.

“What you [CCBQ] guys are doing, please keep doing it,” he said. “Because I’m not the only one; many other people out here need help. And I know they will be just as grateful as me.”