Man Charged with Hate Crime for Vandalism at Holy Family Catholic Church

A man has been charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime for the vandalism of a statue outside Holy Family Catholic Church in Fresh Meadows on June 30, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced on July 12.

Jamshaid Choudhry, 44, was also charged with several other related crimes for the attack, in which the head of the statue of the child Jesus was knocked off, and adjoining statues of Mary and Joseph were also desecrated.

“We will not tolerate unprovoked attacks, especially those driven by hate,” District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “Queens stands as a beacon of diversity and inclusivity, where freedom of religion and expression are celebrated as fundamental pillars of our democracy.”

Choudhry was arrested on July 11 and charged the following day. If convicted, he faces five to 15 years in prison. He is set to return to court on Aug. 1.

Holy Family pastor Father Sean Suckiel told The Tablet that the incident, which took place around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 30, left the community in shock.

The statue has stood for 42 years and is considered “the outside face of Holy Family Church,” Father Suckiel told The Tablet. He noted that the statue of the Holy Family has been the backdrop for photos following baptisms, weddings, first Communions, and other occasions. The District Attorney’s Office estimated the damages to the statues at $3,000.

Father Suckiel said the head of the child Jesus was recovered and added that the church would do everything it could to repair the statue.

“If we can repair it, we’ll repair it because it’s an important statue to us,” he said.

Police investigators said images taken by a video surveillance camera showed Choudhry exiting a yellow cab parked across the street from the church, running up to the statue, taking off a shoe, then spitting and hitting the statue with the shoe.

The attack was the second time in 15 months that Holy Family Church has been the target of vandals. Teenagers destroyed a statue of an angel outside the church in an attack on March 23, 2023

Leaders of the Eucharistic Congress Plan for a Safe Event, Hire Nationally Recognized Security Firm

The National Eucharistic Congress kicks off on Wednesday, and organizers say the more than 50,000 people planning to attend the event should feel safe inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the chairman of the board of the congress, said they have been planning for a safe and secure event for years.

The congress has retained a nationally recognized security firm that is working with local, state, and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Around 200 pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn are currently packing their bags for the congress.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 7/15/2024

World leaders are uniting in condemnation following the assassination attempt on former President Trump, calling for unity and peace.

Following the attack on the former president, Bishop Cozzens is taking proactive steps to ensure the safety of all attendees at the upcoming National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, providing reassurance in the wake of recent events.

Excitement is building as members of the Currents News team head to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress. We will have complete coverage of the highly anticipated celebration

Thousands gathered to witness the 72-foot-tall Giglio tower dance, hoisted up into the air by 120 lifters! See all the sights and sounds from the festive weekend in Williamsburg.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast Unites Faith and Tradition With Dancing of the Giglio

By Jessica Easthope

Stepping lightly with 4 tons on your shoulders is no easy feat, but Anthony Varuzza has been doing it for 50 years.

“It’s just something you just feel. You can’t explain it,” Varuzza said. “The way you fall in love with someone. You fall in love with the feast and the Giglio.”

But what these Giglio lifters carry is much more than weight. Carrying on this century-old tradition is up to them.

This year’s number 1 capo, Danny Vecchiano, has been part of this feast his entire life. On Sunday, he made his debut as lead conductor of an orchestra of more than 120 lifters.

“This is a lifetime worth of planning, preparation, and excitement. And here we are,” Vecchiano said. “The folks that are not only with me now but the folks that are going to come after me are going to do great things moving forward, because we were able to really get ourselves together and make this a team.”

Now for a quick history lesson by some of Giglio Sunday’s youngest.

“They started the feast in Nola, Italy, and then they brought it here to create happiness,” said Carmine Giudice, the Children’s Giglio Capo.

“It’s mostly about Italian and God,” said Sofia DiCanio, a Children’s Giglio Lifter. “And the Giglio, a lot of people lift it, and it’s really hard to lift, so a lot of the older men lift it.”

Ahead of the festivities and lifts of the 72-foot Giglio and the boat of St. Paulinus, who the feast is in honor of, there was the annual mass.

Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, echoed a theme of family and getting back to your roots, of not just heritage but devotion.

“Getting back to our roots is not just remembering, but really taking what we have learned from our parents and grandparents, what our faith teaches us, and putting that into action and trying our best to live it every day,” Msgr. Gigantiello said.

Christine Vitale, another lifelong feast-goer, said every year the tradition gets richer.

“I’m almost 50. I’ve been coming my whole life. That’s the big thing about this feast,” Vitale said. “No matter where everybody moved to when we moved out of Brooklyn, we always come back for the feast.”

There are many new faces at this year’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast, including the Giglio itself. The entire facade of the Giglio was rebuilt and replaced for the first time since 2018.

“It gives us a little bit of a modern twist but still keeps tradition very, very strong.”

Then, what many wait all day for: the so-called double lift, when the Giglio and boat dance in unison. For just a moment, the front lifters on each structure join hands, symbolizing St. Paulinus’ return to Nola, Italy.

A lot has changed in 137 years, but what hasn’t is that the Giglio is at home in Brooklyn.

If you missed Giglio Sunday, you can still see a Giglio lift.

The tower will dance under the stars on Wednesday, July 17th, at 7:30 PM. There will also be an old-timer’s lift on Sunday, July 21st, at 2 PM.

Bishop Robert Brennan Comments on Former President Donald Trump’s Assassination Attempt

Greetings. I’m at Our Lady of Solace Church in Coney Island for regular Sunday mass on this July Sunday morning. But how appropriate that I’m here in the Church of Our Lady of Solace?

We call on Our Lady of Solace in this moment when our Nation is in shock at the assassination attempt against former President Trump while he was on the campaign trail. Thank God he is okay, although we mourn the loss of a citizen who was present at the rally, and we pray for those who were injured in that shooting.

What a terrible, terrible act of violence. We have to condemn violence in every form, violence that afflicts our Nation in so many ways. At the same time, we have to condemn the divisions and the rhetoric that raises the level of hatred.

Indeed, we are people of differing viewpoints, and our democratic process is such a gift that we can debate things openly and then place our votes.

Let’s pray for this Nation during this campaign season. Let’s pray for those who govern our Nation. Let’s pray for all peoples of the United States that we will draw together in unity for the common good, seeking always the common good, respect for all life, respect for life at every moment along the way.

And that we will be a Nation that seeks and asks God’s blessings.

Our Lady of Solace, pray for us.

Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello’s New Tomato Sauce Hits Shelves, All Profits Donated to Charity

By Jessica Easthope

The burner ignites and suddenly heaven’s not too far from Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

“Hearing all about Michael’s sauce and Rao’s sauce, Lidia’s sauce, I said, you know, maybe someday I’ll come out with my own sauce,” said Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello while at the stove in the rectory of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.

The first shipment of Monsignor Jamie’s tomato sauce has just arrived and with one of the very first jars popped, pasta has found a perfect match.

The sauce Monsignor Jamie calls “a taste of heaven from Brooklyn” has been months in the making. He sourced a facility to jar it, and worked on getting the recipe he says he’s been making for decades just right and ready to be consumed by the masses.

With less than 10 fresh ingredients, it’s a blessed blend of delicious and nutritious.

“I grew up with this sauce. My mother made a simple sauce, a little garlic, some onion, some fresh tomatoes, some basil, a little oregano, a little salt and pepper and then you have your sauce and you simmer it. And the whole thing is to use fresh ingredients, these tomatoes are imported from Italy and that’s the key,” he said.

It sells for 10 dollars a jar, the cost goes to making more of it and marketing the sauce, one hundred percent of the profits go to causes close to Monsignor Jamie’s heart.

“Futures in Education is dear to my heart, I worked with it for 15 years, so part of it will go to Futures in Education, and another part of it will go to the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, which is one of the Holy Father’s new foundations that helps and alleviate poverty, famine, human trafficking throughout the world,” said Monsignor Jamie.

Monsignor Jamie’s sauce can be found in grocery stores around the Diocese of Brooklyn and will be sold at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel feast which goes from until July 21.

Portal Brings Prayer to Both Sides of the Atlantic

by Katie Vasquez

A moment of prayer, as a crowd of 30 people gathered with rosary beads in hand outside the portal, a live stream connecting New York City and Dublin.

“I think it’s so cool to share in the rosary with people across the world. you know, you don’t get to do things like that very often and the church is universal,” said Hope Hansen who prayed at the portal.

The first portal rosary took place on May 31st with a small group.

Catholic influencer Franco Fernandez got the idea from a friend and connected with Dominican priests in the Irish capital.

“He was like, hey, who’s going to be the first to put the rosary through the portal? and so as soon as I saw it, i’m like, ‘I have to do this asap,” said Fernandez.

“Straightaway, I said, let’s do it, because collaboration, I think, is really important among catholic content creators and influencers online. so i realized this guy, he’s the real deal,” said Father Conor McDonough, OP, a Dominican Friar of the Irish Province.

The day starts by praying the first decades at St Vincent Ferrer Church on the Upper East side.

“It is drawing people from around the world together to pray with our lady as we’re asking her to beseech the lord on behalf of our needs and the needs of the world,” said Father Peter Martyr Yungwirth, OP, the pastor of St Vincent Ferrer Church.

The group then takes the subway downtown to the Portal which is located across from the Flatiron Building.

Mel Alegre, a parishioner of St Bartholomew Church, learned of the event through social media and felt it was a good way to put his faith on display.

“It’s just not to be ashamed of my faith. like, don’t be. don’t ever be ashamed of what you believe in,” said Alegre.

The portal was briefly closed in May because people on both sides displayed inappropriate behavior.

Franco and the Irish Dominicans hope bringing prayer to the space will counteract that.

“They might make them just rethink and rethink the catholic faith and and recognize, gosh, maybe there’s a bit of life in the church that i didn’t expect,” said Father McDonough.

“It’s like when you watch a good movie and you just want to share it to as many people as possible,” said Fernandez.

They plan to be back the 22nd of every month, sharing their faith with others.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday 7/12/2024

Step into a portal in New York City, bridging the Big Apple with the people of Dublin, Ireland, thousands of miles apart for live interaction—an innovative prayer space.

Celebrating 50 years of tradition at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast, Lucy’s Sausage stands as an iconic symbol of Williamsburg’s culinary heritage.

Indulge in heavenly flavors with Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello’s charitable tomato sauce. We have all the details on how you can get a “Taste of Heaven” too!

Embark on an immersive journey through Rome’s Colosseum under the stars, featuring guided tours in English and Italian, video projections, and glimpses into ancient spectacles!

Iconic Giglio Gets New Facade Ahead of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast

By Jessica Easthope

Danny Vecchiano was brought home from the hospital in a Giglio t-shirt. This year, his shirt says “Capo #1” of the Giglo feast – it’s the honor of a life time.

“This is the most important thing that we do in this feast, right? This is a beautiful festival and a wonderful show of heritage and our tradition, but carrying the Giglio is the most unique thing that happens in the city,” Vecchiano said. “There’s plenty of Italian festivals, but we have this. So it was really important to us that we did this the right way.”

The new Giglio facade took Danny and several other volunteers seven months to make. The plaster and paint that sits in an upper room at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Williamsburg is what’s left of their labor and countless man hours. They did it so the Giglio can dance 72 feet into the sky on Sunday, looking better than ever.

“It’s a kind of replica of a Giglio that they built here in 1954. One of the things that we identified very quickly is that we wanted to use Styrofoam as opposed to wood, to build this, to make it lighter,” Danny said.

This is the 137th feast which was started by Italian immigrants from Nola, Italy. Danny, a trumpet player and the owner of the band that sits atop the four-ton structure carries on the tradition of the feast and his family.

“We’re totally invested, totally devoted. And we made it fun too, it wasn’t labor, it wasn’t work,” he said.

The Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast goes from now until July 21.

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 7/11/2024

Ahead of the highly anticipated National Eucharistic Congress, Pope Francis sent participants a heartfelt letter of support. Hear what his message said to those who will be in Indianapolis for the celebration.

We revisit the last Eucharistic Congress – in 1941! You’ll be amazed by how many faithful showed up in Minneapolis.

Notre Dame emerges from the ashes. After a devastating fire, the iconic cathedral nears completion of its extensive restoration and aims to reopen this December.

Don’t miss the iconic Giglio Lift in Williamsburg this weekend—a century-old tradition honoring Nola’s patron saint, with 100 lifters and a 72-foot tower!