Holy Family Church in Fresh Meadows was packed this morning with students.
Children from across the Diocese of Brooklyn came together to worship at a Junior High Prayer Rally.
A day for young people to strengthen their faith.
Holy Family Church in Fresh Meadows was packed this morning with students.
Children from across the Diocese of Brooklyn came together to worship at a Junior High Prayer Rally.
A day for young people to strengthen their faith.
By Jessica Easthope
St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy in Ozone Park, home to the largest Pre-K program in the Diocese of Brooklyn, is welcoming some exciting changes this school year.
After 10 years as the Pre-K Director, Josephine Giudice is stepping into her new role as the school’s principal.
Giudice reflects on her years with the youngest students, sharing how working with 3- and 4-year-olds taught her patience and helped her see the world through their eyes.
Now, as principal, she continues to nurture many of those same children—nearly 200 students from Kindergarten through 8th grade—who once filled her Pre-K classroom.
“Looking at these students, I feel like they’re all my kids now,” she said. “As a mom, I ask myself, ‘How can I help each child?’ and that shapes my approach every day.”
One of her goals as principal is to reignite parental involvement in their children’s education and faith, a quality she found most present during the Pre-K years but often missing in upper grades.
She emphasizes the importance of working together to strengthen the Catholic school community.
To foster a deeper connection, Giudice plans to engage directly with students—both in the classroom and in the church—encouraging them to take ownership of their faith through hands-on activities like food and clothing drives.
“We don’t want students to participate just because they have to. We want them to be excited about their faith, to be involved, and to give back,” she explains.
For many students, Giudice was their very first teacher, and even as they grow and branch out, she remains a steadfast presence—a guiding figure rooted in their early years at St. Elizabeth.
By Katie Vasquez
With rosaries in hand, Christ leads the way in this procession through St. Francis College’s downtown Brooklyn campus.
“I want to do this because I truly want to make the rosary more known by our school,” said Serene Arana, a Senior at St. Francis College. “It’s a beautiful prayer.”
The prayers are a welcome break for the students, who have been so focused on their studies that they were losing their connection with Christ.
“This is, I guess technically, my first time praying in four months,” said Daniel Castro, a Junior at St. Francis College. “I sacrificed the only tutoring hours for physics to be doing this rosary procession today. So one of the best ways to get back into praying is also to sacrifice something to, I guess, carry my cross, if you will. And that’s why I felt so good.”
St. Francis says that’s exactly why they are holding this event. It’s one of many happening throughout October for “Franciscan Month,” a time when the Brooklyn school reflects on the life and legacy of their patron, St. Francis of Assisi.
Sophomore Isa Vidales organized this rosary procession with the goal of getting her classmates to connect with each other and explore their faith.
“I honestly was a little nervous going around the school,” Vidales said. “And sometimes I do feel afraid of my faith and being Catholic, and saying that I’m Catholic out of fear of judgment because I don’t want to be labeled as ‘the church person.’ But I am, so like, what the heck? You know, own up to it.”
St. Francis hopes that these students praying the Joyful Mysteries, along with the community members who joined them, will be some of the many to celebrate Franciscan values across the globe this month.
“Our ultimate goal is to get a designation of October as Franciscan Month around the world in 2026. This year we started in six dioceses in the general area,” “Next year, we’re going national with this.”
And from this event alone, the seeds of faith have already been planted.
“I think I’m ready to go back to it,” Castro said. “So, I will absolutely be spreading the gospel, going back to praying every night.”
“It’s truly fulfilling to start now because God is calling us at every age to be with Him and to pray to Him always,” Arana said.
The Brooklyn Catholic college already has more activities planned for Franciscan Month, including film screenings, volunteer opportunities, and a Mass.
St. Francis College celebrates “Franciscan Month” by honoring the life and legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi. Students on the Brooklyn campus participated in a rosary procession.
Dozens of parishioners in Queens walked through Woodside carrying the revered Peruvian painting of Christ, Señor de los Milagros. This beloved annual tradition at St. Sebastian Church brings the community together in faith and devotion.
Currents News visits the new principal of St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy in Ozone Park in its third installment of its newest series, Meet the New Principals. Josephine Giudice, the former director of the school’s pre-K program for ten years, is now weeks into her exciting new role as the school’s leader.
Students from Catholic schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn got a special treat as they took a break from class to attend rehearsals at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. Get a sneak peek as “Music at Co-Cath” gears up for its upcoming concert series!
By Katie Vasquez
It was an act of violence that shocked the world.
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing thousands of people and leaving many still in captivity a year later.
It also set off a series of protests, including the violent altercations that happened at Columbia University in April.
A tent city was constructed on campus, and more than one hundred people were arrested before the students cleared out.
Father Roger Landry, the Catholic chaplain at the Ivy League, said that behavior was not a reflection of the school.
“Everything was being focused on 300 students out of 37,000 at Columbia,” Father Landry said.
The situation was terrifying for Jewish students, as an alarming increase in anti-Semitism has occurred at colleges nationwide.
Columbia University is fighting that with an Anti-Semitism Task Force, where hundreds of Jewish and Israeli students share testimony of what they have experienced.
Father Landry says they are doing their best to combat hate.
“The first response to anti-Semitism is not to be anti-Semitic. And rather than have some type of irrational phobia against our Jewish brothers and sisters, actually love them,” Father Landry said. “For us as Christians, that should be super easy. Always. Our Savior was Jewish. His mother, our Blessed Mother, was Jewish. All the apostles were Jewish. St. Mary Magdalene was Jewish. We should have no other response than incredible love for Jews.”
But the Catholic ministry at the Manhattan campus is not taking sides, instead focusing on prayer and helping their fellow students.
“We reached out to our Jewish fellow students to just make sure they knew we had their back, to ask them what concretely they would need,” Father Landry said. “We reached out to our Muslim students, especially those from Palestine, to just see how we would be able to help them.”
One year later, Father Landry says the mood has improved, but it is still difficult for many.
“It’s not the greatest environment for students who have been described as the anxious generation, constantly being reminded every time they go on campus that there might be disruptions in one form or another,” Father Landry said. “And so there are still things that are not back to normal yet. And we pray that they will come back to normal. But it’s way better.”
And just like they did last October, Catholics here will continue to lean on their faith.
“We will be praying in a special way for continued peace and harmony on campus on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which is October 7th in our calendar,” Father Landry said. “We’ve been praying the rosary throughout the month of October.”
Jewish people around the world are calling for the release of the hostages.
Families of the kidnapped sounded a siren for two minutes outside the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Oct 7.
Roughly 1,200 people were killed, and 250 were taken hostage on October 7th. There are 97 people who are still being held by Hamas.
Netanyahu acknowledged them during a tribute to the fallen. The youngest of those hostages turned one while in captivity, and the oldest is 86.
Catholics are also on the ground in Gaza, providing much-needed supplies and resources to help the community there.
John Lavenburg, National Correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, sits down with Currents News to talk about their efforts so far.
By Katie Vasquez
Across New York City, houses of worship are on high alert as Monday, Oct. 7, marks one year since Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel. There is heightened security at many synagogues, while churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn pray for an end to the violence.
Catholics flocked to the Cathedral Basilica of St. James on Monday morning to answer Pope Francis’ call for a day of fasting and prayers for peace in Gaza.
Father Patrick Keating, Moderator of Curia in the diocese, celebrated a Holy Hour and Mass at the downtown Brooklyn church.
Monday also marked the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, the people in the pews turned to the Blessed Mother to ask for her intercession.
“We should always intercede for and pray for intercession every single day, because, as Pope Francis said, it’s very important to pray every day because prayer is that power is basically a sword against the devil,” Mena Samwiel, a junior at Cathedral Prep.
“It is a day of prayer, and as a community, we should come together and pray as one,” said Melvin Balderas, a junior at Cathedral Prep. “Because really, it is important to remember the people who lost their lives and especially those who fought for their lives.
“I think the most important thing any Catholic can do is pray. You know, the power of prayer, Jesus tells us, can move mountains and praying the rosary is focusing on those basic prayers,” Father Keating said. “We learned as the father, the words Jesus gave us when the apostles asked, and the Lord taught us to pray.”
Pope Francis wrote a letter to Catholics in the Holy Land on Monday, Oct. 7, expressing his closeness to those suffering from the devastation. Meanwhile, the Diocese of Brooklyn and Catholics around the globe will continue their prayers for peace.
On this somber anniversary, the shepherds of the Archdiocese of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Bishop Robert Brennan, are joining their flock in calls for peace. In a joint statement, they said in part:
“Too often in the past, we Catholics have failed to stand with you against hatred and anti-Semitism. Shame on us for those times! We join now with religious leaders from all faiths, pledging that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form.”
Numbers released by the Anti-Defamation League reveal that the U.S. is seeing the largest recorded number of anti-Semitic attacks.
The report, released on Sunday, states that 10,000 attacks have occurred across the U.S. since the assault, representing a 200% spike from the year before. New York has seen 1,218 cases, making it the state with the second-highest number of recorded incidents.
Pope Francis urges Catholics worldwide to unite in a day of prayer and fasting, hoping for peace in the war-torn Holy Land. Catholics in Brooklyn are leading the charge with holy hours and Masses. Parishioners at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James prayed for an end to the violence.
Bishop Robert Brennan and Cardinal Timothy Dolan are standing in solidarity with the Jewish community amid increased conflict and rising antisemitism worldwide.
The conflict in the Holy Land continues, with Israel’s counter-attacks against Hamas in Palestine resulting in over 40,000 deaths and millions displaced.Following months of violent protests and rising anti-Jewish hate, Columbia University created a task force to address antisemitism and provide a platform for Jewish and Israeli students to share their stories.
As security is increased across the nation on the anniversary of the October 7th Massacre in Israel, Catholics throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn are praying for an end to violence in the Middle East region.