City Councilman Proposes Increased Fines for Vandalism at Houses of Worship in New York City

By Jessica Easthope

Councilman Fernando Cabrera is a pastor at New Life Protestant Church in the Bronx. Just a few months ago, his place of worship, like many others in New York City, was vandalized.

“When my church got graffitied it hurt, this is my second home, this is where we have communion where we worship the Lord together, you can see they’re laughing but it’s no laughing matter,” said Councilman Cabrera who represents the city’s 14th District.

Now, Councilman Cabrera is determined to send a message and show criminals just how serious it is.

“What I’m hoping now is that the fence of protection that says If you touch this house of worship it’s going to cost you and it should cost them to the point that it will cost the house of worship,” he said.

He’s introduced legislation in the City Council that would double the fine for vandalizing a house of worship from $500 to $1,000 – on top of possible criminal charges.

“Any kind of vandalism will be covered, we want to send a message that it’s unacceptable to attack a house of worship, members feel vulnerable, they feel scared, it’s a form of intimidation, it’s a form of persecution,” said Cabrera.

Since 2016 there have been 12 churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn that have filed insurance claims over vandalism. Five churches in Queens and seven in Brooklyn – the range of cost of damage from around $600 to $25,000.

“Generosity flows through a Catholic church and then someone comes and tags them, marks them, breaks a statue or something valuable and we want to say now in New York City we’re not going to tolerate it,” Cabrera said of the vandalism that’s happened at Catholic churches.

Cabrera says the $1000 figure is significant – it’s the deductible most churches are required to pay out of pocket by insurance. In the last year several churches and schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn that were damaged and defaced didn’t go through insurance – Councilman Cabrera encourages them to make a claim – not only for protection after the fact but as a deterrent.

“If we’re going to keep stats on this and data to be able to show that we do have a real problem here it’s very important for houses of worship to report and report it to the insurance company because that also goes into a database in the city,” he said.

Councilman Cabrera’s bill will be up for a vote in the Public Safety Committee and then in the City Council in the next few weeks.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday, 5/7/21

We are wrapping up teacher appreciation week and we’re honoring educators in the diocese who are making a difference for their students.

New York City students won’t be off for Columbus Day this year – instead they will be out of school for Indigenous People’s Day.

A statue memorializing Father Jerzy Popieluszko was targeted by vandals with garbage and a trash bag.

India shatters another global record for one-day COVID-19 cases.

A First of Its Kind in College Education: A Master of Fine Arts in Catholic Literature

Currents News Staff

From a historic church to history being made at a Catholic college in Texas: the University of St. Thomas in Houston is offering a”first of its kind” program.

Professor James Matthew Wilson is the director of the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing. He joined Currents News to discuss the breakthrough in a resurgence of Catholic literary arts and how to enroll in the online two-year, 30-credit program.

You can take the courses online. If you’d like to apply to this MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, head on over to stthom.edu/mfa.

St. Peter Catholic Academy Teacher Celebrated for 31 Years of Service

By Jessica Easthope

Filomena Piccolo feels at home in a bustling classroom, but when it’s time to settle down and learn, she never yells. Somehow her students know she means business. Ms. Piccolo has been a teacher at St. Peter Catholic Academy in Bensonhurst for 31 years.

“I had second grade here, I had third grade here and I had first grade here,” she said.

She’s seen thousands graduate – one even went on to become her principal.

“She was a teacher when I was here,” said Danielle Alfeo, the principal of St. Peter Catholic Academy. “I did not have the privilege of having her as a teacher but my brothers and my cousins did.”

Mrs. Alfeo says Ms. Piccolo is a joy to have as a teacher and a friend, especially when it’s time to take a stroll down memory lane while looking at old yearbooks from the early 1990s. Mrs. Alfeo says Ms. Piccolo’s dedication is unmatched.

“Anyone can come into a room and teach a bunch of children. You can bring your knowledge to the table, but bringing your heart to the table is a whole other story,” Mrs. Alfeo says. “She remembers the names of all the children she taught in all her 30 years.”

And Ms. Piccolo proved it as they flipped through the yearbooks. She remembered every kid and what each of them taught her.

“They say to teach is to learn twice, so it’s a learning experience for me. I can honestly say in my time here, the students have taught me a lot of things and it’s just helping the students to grow,” Ms. Piccolo said.

Her fourth grade students now say she teaches them things you can’t find in a book.

“She really helps us and understands us,” said Joshua Lee.

“She’s just not like the others. She’s unique and she gives us privileges that I don’t think we’ve had in any other grade,” Gabriella Parascando said.

Ms. Piccolo is also instructing them on how to stay true to their faith – just as she has every moment of her life and career.

“That’s important to me that I can be in a job where I can discuss my faith freely and share my faith with the students,” said Ms. Piccolo.

As for the next 30 years, Ms. Piccolo plans to do what she does best – she’s just getting started.

“God leads you to where you need to be, me staying here this is where He’s saying I need to be,” she said. “As long as I can do it, I plan to do it.”

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 5/6/21

A statue of a Catholic priest is vandalized.

Pope Francis is praying for India as the country sees 400-thousand new COVID-19 cases in just one day.

Moderna says its booster is very effective against troubling strains.

Bishop DiMarzio and Local Clergy Condemn Vandalism of Brooklyn Statue of Slain Polish Priest, Martyr

By Emily Drooby and Tablet Staff

GREENPOINT — Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio described the vandalism to the statue of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko in McCarren Park Wednesday as a “despicable act” and a “hate crime.”

“It is disheartening to learn the statue of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a man who devoted his life to the advancement of freedom and liberty, has been vandalized once again,” Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement.

The statue was found covered in garbage around its base with a large plastic trash bag placed over the slain priest’s head. The words “No Polish” were also scrawled on the stone, authorities said.

“This statue has long stood in Greenpoint’s McCarren Park in tribute to a Polish priest who is revered by Catholics and the Polish community for his courage and leadership in championing peaceful resistance to communism,” DiMarzio continued. “I definitely consider this despicable act to be a hate crime and would encourage the NYPD to classify it as such.”

The NYPD launched an investigation May 6 into the vandalism of the statue that memorialized Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, who was murdered in 1984 in retaliation for his work in support of Poland’s Solidarity movement. The priest was declared a martyr in 2009 by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI and beatified in 2010.

“We are very aware of the significance to the @NYPD94Pct Polish community,” the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force tweeted on May 5.

Father Popiełuszko was considered a holy man dedicated to God’s people not only by Bishop DiMarzio, who once visited his grave in Poland and also has a first-class relic of the priest, but also to one of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Polish bishops.

Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski has said Father Popiełuszko was an inspiration to him during his formative years in the priesthood. The year before the bishop joined the seminary, he participated in Father Popiełuszko’s funeral Mass.

“He fought for the truth,” the bishop told The Tablet in 2015. “He said that the truth will make you free — like Pope John Paul II. We grew up on those sentences.”

At the age of 37, Father Popiełuszko was kidnapped and beaten to death in Poland as a freedom fighter within the country’s solidarity movement during the then-communist regime. He spread his message of nonviolence throughout Europe and also served as a chaplain to the Polish trade union that opposed the communist government. Three men in the Polish secret service were convicted of his murder.

The NYPD is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Additional reporting by Melissa Enaje.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday, 5/5/21

Columbus controversy brewing in New York City – backlash after public schools decided to dump the explorer’s holiday.

Then to the crisis in India – it’s worsening every day. Why now, more than a year into the pandemic?

Facebook upholds its block of President Trump, but will they ban him indefinitely?

NYC DOE Replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day and Italian Heritage Day

By Jessica Easthope

The latest move against Christopher Columbus isn’t a statue toppling to the ground but a holiday being ripped off the calendar. For the first time since it was announced that the New York City Department of Education removed Columbus Day from its calendar, Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in on the decision.

“This process wasn’t handled right, but the end result is going to be a day to honor Italian American heritage and a day to honor indigenous peoples and I think that’s a good way forward,” Mayor de Blasio said.

This week, New York City public schools replaced Columbus Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday in October, with Indigenous Peoples Day then later added Italian Heritage Day.

“Celebrate Italian-Americans with the day they always had, which is Columbus Day, and celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on another day,” said Andre DiMino, the executive board member of the Italian-American organization, One Voice Coalition. “Why dilute them both by putting them together? Now it’s a double insult and it shows that they didn’t really think this through.”

New York City has the largest population of Italians and Italian-Americans in North America. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio says it’s denying so many Italian-American students the right to learn about their culture.

“It’s not a good understanding of history to people who are teaching others history. I don’t think we want revisionist history, we want all history, teach all of history correctly,” Bishop DiMarzio said.

Those who oppose the decision say it’s not just an attack on Italian-American history, but a cornerstone of culture — the Catholic faith.

“When you think about it, it’s an attack on all the precepts of our background, including our faith,” DiMino said. “To go after Columbus and Italian-Americans who are very strong in their faith, as I am, and to go after Columbus and destroy our faith and our heritage is an attack on our history.”

“I hope all Catholics support Columbus because he does represent our community and our religion,” said Angelo Vivolo, the president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition.

Bishop DiMarzio says Columbus wanted to share Catholic teaching across the globe.

“He was a third order Franciscan, buried the Franciscan habit, he led his men in prayer on the boats each day, he brought missionaries with him,” said Bishop DiMarzio.

The Columbus Heritage Coalition says it reached out to the governor’s office for support and to the mayor’s office asking him to rescind the decision.

“We’re doing this in support of Italians, in support of Columbus but we’re supporting every ethnicity and every race so no one is discriminated against,” Vivolo said.

If it’s not overturned, the coalition says it’s prepared to take legal action.

As the COVID Crisis Continues in India, Doctors Blame Large Gatherings and Lack of Complacency

By Emily Drooby

The COVID-19 outbreak in India is devastating. Outside of hospitals, patients struggle to get in and inside, they struggle to breathe.

“These are really, really painful stories,” explained Father Peter Poonoly.

He’s the parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but is from the Diocese of Rayagada in India.

He lost two close friends and heard horrible stories abroad, including from his nephew who is also a priest, who said a whole family was affected at once.

“A priest friend of his, father, mother, brother and sister-in-law all died within a few days,” Father Poonoly said.

Over in Bellrose, Queens, Father Johnson Nedungadan has also been monitoring the situation.

“The situation is really out of control,” said Father Nedungadan.

His two parents are in their 80’s and quarantined in India. They can’t get their second shot.

“The problem is right now vaccines are not available for the second shot, so they have to wait,” he said.

In February, it seemed cases were under control. So how did this happen? There’s a lot of factors. One, experts say, people were unprepared because they didn’t see it coming.

“First, the fact that people became extremely complacent and stopped following the COVID guidelines,” explained Dr. Mathukumalli Vidyasagar. He’s the chair of the COVID-19 Modeling Committee in India.

More were unsafely gathered together at big events.

“When the cases were coming down, people took it lightly, they were not following the protocol wearing masks and sanitizing their hands,” Father Poonoly said.

While Father Nedungadan added, “There were election campaigning going on and there was also a huge gathering of Hindu festival-goers.”

Even with the spike in COVID cases, festivals and election rallies continued this past week.

Also to blame are a slow response by the central government and slow vaccine rollout, along with a false sense of herd immunity.

“And second, the emergence of certain contagious variants on the Indian subcontinent,” Dr. Vidyasagar explained.

If trends continue experts say deaths will double by mid-June. The spike could have a global impact.

If you’d like to donate to the COVID-19 relief in India, head on over to khalsaaid.org/donate

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday, 5/4/21

Pilgrimages are coming back online – how the faithful are starting to nourish their faith with trips to the Holy Land and beyond.

U.S. bishops are praising President Biden’s move to raise the refugee cap after backlash that he’d gone back on a promise to help desperate migrants.

At one Brooklyn school, no kid will go without a friend again, thanks to a bench honoring one former student’s legacy.

Soon to be saints – Pope Francis announces he will canonize 7 blesseds as models of holiness.