Kathleen Gallagher to Retire as New York State Catholic Conference Pro-Life Activities Director

By Currents News Staff and Melissa Enaje

Served as a ‘giant of the pro-life movement’ for nearly 40 years

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — After serving as the director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference (NYSCC) for almost four decades, Kathleen M. Gallagher is retiring at the end of January.

“No one in New York State, or across the country, has done more to advocate on behalf of all human life from conception until natural death than Kathy Gallagher,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York and president of the NYSCC, said in a statement.

He thanked Gallagher for her service in the organization that represents the state’s bishops in areas of government and public policy and called her a “giant of the pro-life movement” who fought for the “most vulnerable.”

“In that time, she has not only represented the New York State bishops, but has been a national leader in the pro-life movement, advocating against abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia, and in favor of supports for pregnant women in need and people near the end of life,” Cardinal Dolan added.

Even in Gallagher’s retirement, Cardinal Dolan said she will still serve as a consultant to the NYSCC: “God knows we need her voice.”

A Long Island native, Gallagher graduated from the New York Institute of Technology and joined the NYSCC in 1984 after a brief stint working in the New York Legislature. At that time, she served as the organization’s pro-life lobbyist and spokesperson. Her initiatives helped spearhead pro-life advocacy groups including New Yorkers for Life and the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide.

She has received the Diocesan Pro-Vita Award from the dioceses of Brooklyn, Rockville Centre, and Buffalo, and the Bishop Broderick Award from the Diocese of Albany.

“I am grateful to Cardinal Dolan and the bishops for allowing me to represent them for so long,” Gallagher said, “and blessed beyond measure to have received a salary to advocate for moral principles in which I deeply believe.”

In addition to being an outspoken advocate for pro-life policies regarding abortion, the death penalty, and assisted suicide, Gallagher’s efforts have resulted in several state-approved programs including the Prenatal Care Assistance Program that serves low-income mothers and their children; the continuation of the state-funded abortion alternatives; and the Health Care Proxy Law that allowed competent adults to appoint agents who can help decide health care options in the event they become unable to decide for themselves.

“Pro-life work is not an easy vocation, but Kathy never lost faith,” said NYSCC Executive Director Dennis Poust. “She has continued to put all of her passion into her work to implement policies that protect human life in the law and to convert hearts toward a culture of Life.”

Annual March for Life Still on This Year in Washington

By Kurt Jensen

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The 49th annual national March for Life — with a rally on the National Mall and march to the Supreme Court Jan. 21 — will go on as scheduled this year amid a surge in the omicron variant in the nation’s capital.

Outdoor events are not affected by the District of Columbia’s vaccine mandate for indoor gatherings, but participants should expect to wear face masks. Indoor events associated with the annual march will have to comply with city COVID-19 restrictions.

The national Pro-Life Summit, sponsored by Students for Life, is also scheduled to take place Jan. 22 at Washington’s Omni Shoreham Hotel. The event will feature former Vice President Mike Pence as the keynote speaker. Pence has been a frequent March for Life speaker, and in 2020 he introduced President Donald Trump at the event’s rally.

The March for Life has canceled its three-day Pro-Life Expo and is combining two planned Capitol Hill 101 panel discussions Jan. 20 into a single event. The organization is still holding its annual Rose Dinner Gala.

Participants who are 12 and older attending the panel discussion or dinner will have to provide proof of receiving one COVID-19 vaccination by Jan. 15, or, if they are seeking a medical or religious exemption, they must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of the event.

The Pro-Life summit is also requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination following the city’s regulations. The summit, which in previous years has drawn more than 2,000 high school and college students, notes on its website that it is accepting vaccine exemptions “for a strongly (or sincerely) held religious belief … in writing or orally” and it is also requiring masks at all events.

March for Life never projects attendance figures, but an informal survey by Catholic News Service of a few groups planning to attend this year’s march indicates that the turnout may approach pre-pandemic levels.

Last year’s march was turned into a virtual event due to the pandemic and the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Only an invited group of 80, joined midway by more than 100 others, marched from the nearby Museum of the Bible to just behind the Supreme Court. It was the first outdoor event in Washington since the Capitol violence, with both the Capitol and Supreme Court surrounded by high fences.

In previous years, total attendance for the rally and march up Constitution Avenue was estimated to be as high as 100,000.

“We have nearly 250 students and faculty headed to D.C.,” said Ed Konieczka, assistant director of university ministry at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. “That is five full buses — our largest contingent since leading the march in 2017.”

A similar number was estimated by organizers of the bus caravan for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.

However, the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, decided in December 2021 that the COVID-19 risk was too high to sponsor a bus caravan.

Bevin Kennedy, diocesan secretary for communications, cited “the difficulty of monitoring and mitigating the COVID risk with a group of over 100 participants.”

The march is held annually on a date nearest the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.

The first march was held Jan. 22, 1974, organized by Nellie Gray, a government lawyer, and the Knights of Columbus. The idea was to form a “circle of life” around the Capitol and the Supreme Court. Jeanne Mancini assumed leadership of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund after Gray died in 2012.

This year’s theme is “Equality Begins in the Womb.” The rally is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with a performance by singer Matthew West. The march starts at 1:15 p.m. after the political speeches are completed.

There is considerable anticipation that this year’s march could be the last one with the Roe decision hanging in the balance.

Later this year, the Supreme Court will announce its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an appeal by Mississippi to remove a lower court’s injunction on its law banning most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.

If the court rules in favor of the state law, it will effectively overturn Roe v. Wade and send abortion laws back to the states.

A Look at the Life of Oscar Winner Sidney Poitier

Currents News Staff

Sidney Poitier, Hollywood’s first Black movie star and the first Black man to win the best actor Oscar, has died at 94.

Poitier was so much more than a film legend – he is revered. Not just because of what he did on screen, but also because of his tremendous impact off-screen as a champion of civil rights.

“We believe in the essential dignity of every human being,” Poitier said.

The son of a Bahamian tomato farmer, raised Catholic, but ultimately became Agnostic, Poitier lived a life of firsts – the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Actor and one of the first Black people to become a true Hollywood star, among the greatest of all time.

“We have lots, and lots, and lots of African American Actors,” Poitier said. “Now, when we didn’t have any – I appeared. Not because I brought so much, but because the time was right.”

But his career almost ended before it even began. As a teenager, Poitier auditioned for the American Negro theatre, but he was quickly thrown out because he couldn’t read, he was tone-deaf – and he had a thick Bahamian accent.

“He says, you’re no actor. We got next to the door. He opened it, pushed me out and slammed it,” Poitier recalled.

A determined Poitier would spend months perfecting his acting skills and modifying his speaking voice. His hard work would pay off in a big way.

“I was right, I know I was right,” Poitier said.

In the 1950s, he appeared in more than a dozen films beginning with “No Way Out” and including an Oscar nominated performance in “The Defiant Ones.”

However, it was his portrayal of a former GI, in the 1963 movie “Lilies of the Field,” that broke Hollywood’s color barrier – earning him the coveted Oscar for Best Actor.

Poitier never overcame his tone-deafness, lip-synching the song “Amen” in the famous “Lilies” scene.

The song’s writer – Jester Hairston – actually did the singing. Poitier was considered a bankable star in 1967, starring in the landmark film “To Sir, With Love” playing characters that would force audiences to confront racial prejudices.

“They call me Mr. Tibbs,” Poitier said.

But he would also challenge the Hollywood establishment – forcing a change in his iconic role as Detective Virgil Tibbs in the 1967 Academy-award winning “In the Heat of the Night” – because of a scene that would require him to acquiesce to a racist character. That same year he would star in the watershed film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” alongside Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepbern.

The film not only depicted a successful interracial relationship, it also foreshadowed future progress in America. It’s only fitting that in 2009, Sidney Poitier would be presented with the medal of freedom by then-President Barack Obama.

“Poitier once called his driving purpose to make himself a better person,” Obama said. “He did. And he made us all a little bit better along the way.”

Blessing Your Home For the New Year is a Catholic Tradition Steeped in Biblical History

Currents News Staff and Junno Arocho Esteves

Vatican City (CNS) — Just as the Magi were guided by a shining star, Christians can rest assured that the light of Christ will guide them to a happy and meaningful life, Pope Francis said on the feast of the Epiphany.

“The Magi teach us that we need to set out anew each day, in life as in faith, for faith is not a suit of armor that encases us; instead, it is a fascinating journey, a constant and restless movement, ever in search of God,” the pope said.

Pope Francis celebrated the feast day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 6.

In accordance with an ancient tradition, after the proclamation of the Gospel, a deacon chanted the announcement of the date of Easter 2022 (April 17) and the dates of other feasts on the church calendar that are calculated according to the date of Easter.

After celebrating Mass, the pope led the recitation of the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square.

In his Angelus address, the pope said that in prostrating and worshipping baby Jesus, the humble Magi showed that their true wealth did not lie in fame or success, but in “their awareness of their need of salvation.”

Like the Magi, Christians must also follow their example of humility, otherwise, “if we always remain at the center of everything with our ideas, and if we presume to have something to boast of before God, we will never fully encounter him, we will never end up worshipping him.”

“If our pretensions, vanity, stubbornness, competitiveness do not fall by the wayside, we may well end up worshipping someone or something in life, but it will not be the Lord,” the pope said.

Earlier, in his homily at Mass, the pope reflected on the journey of the Magi to Bethlehem. Although “they had excellent reasons not to depart,” having already attained knowledge and wealth, the three men “let themselves be unsettled” by the question of where the Messiah would be born.

“They did not allow their hearts to retreat into the caves of gloom and apathy; they longed to see the light,” the pope said. “They were not content to trudge through life, but yearned for new and greater horizons. Their eyes were not fixed here below; they were windows open to the heavens.”

The “spirit of healthy restlessness” that led them on their journey, he explained, was “born of a desire” to seek something greater than themselves or what they possessed.

Christians also must live their journey of faith like the Magi, which “demands a deep desire and inner zeal,” and they must ask themselves whether their faith has remained stagnant in a “conventional, external and formal religiosity that no longer warms our hearts and changes our lives,” he said.

“Do our words and our liturgies ignite in people’s hearts a desire to move toward God or are they a ‘dead language’ that speaks only of itself and to itself?” he asked. “It is sad when a community of believers loses its desire and is content with ‘maintenance’ rather than allowing itself to be startled by Jesus and by the explosive and unsettling joy of the Gospel.”

Departing from his prepared remarks, the pope said it was also sad when a priest or bishop closes the door to a desire for God and instead falls into “clerical functionalism.”

The current crisis of faith in life and in society, he added, is “related to a kind of slumbering of the spirit, to the habit of being content to live from day to day, without ever asking what God really wants from us.”

And, he said, Christians must allow themselves to be “unsettled by the questions of our children, and by the doubts, hopes and desires of the men and women of our time.”

Their journey, he said, also mirrors the upcoming Synod of Bishops on synodality, which is a time of listening “so that the Spirit can suggest to us new ways and paths to bring the Gospel to the hearts of those who are distant, indifferent or without hope, yet continue to seek what the Magi found: ‘a great joy.’”

The Magi’s journey ends with the adoration of baby Jesus, Pope Francis noted.

“Indeed, our hearts grow sickly whenever our desires coincide merely with our needs,” the pope said.

“God, on the other hand, elevates our desires; he purifies them and heals them of selfishness, opening them to love for him and for our brothers and sisters. This is why we should not neglect adoration: let us spend time before the Eucharist and allow ourselves to be transformed by Jesus,” he said.

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 1/6/21

Today is the Epiphany celebrating the arrival of the three kings who came to worship baby Jesus shortly after his birth.

President Biden spoke this morning one year after protesters stormed the Capitol to try to stop the electoral count.

Philadelphia’s Archbishop Nelson Perez is praying for the victims of the deadliest fire the city has seen in more than a century.

In Mexico, people are celebrating Three Kings Day with a traditional ring-shaped cake and it may look familiar to some in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Yer Man’s Irish Pub Fights to Stay Open Through Omicron Surge

By Jessica Easthope

Everything’s stocked and ready for a full house – but it’s not likely that there will be more than a few customers today at Yer Man’s Irish pub in Glendale, Queens.

“It was getting back to some kind of normalcy, but then omicron came in and destroyed everything,” said owner Jimmy O’Reilly.

Owner Jimmy remembers a time when he would make more than $1,000 dollars during lunch. But over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, those memories have been replaced with struggle, a roller coaster of emotions and desperation. He’s down 65 percent of his business.

“You never know what’s going to come around the corner,” he said, “they could shut it down, hopefully they won’t, the new mayor promised.”

From the outside looking in, Jimmy’s precautions and provisions seemed like a business owner trying to appease city leaders and show them that he could comply, but that’s not how Jimmy sees it at all.

“The barriers I put up for my family that work here, my employees are like family,” he said.

It costs Jimmy $17,000 dollars a week just to keep his doors open. He says businesses have been tossed aside and he imagines the city feels just like he does: broken.

“I still love New York,” Jimmy said. “It needs to be put back together the way it was. Hopefully Mayor Eric Adams, hopefully [he] brings this beautiful New York City that we love, that we used to love, falling out of love with it – back, the quicker the better.”

With business worse now than during the height of the pandemic, Jimmy says his story isn’t one of loss but of resilience. He’s going to keep fighting – that’s one thing he’ll never lose.

Evangelization Through Media: Father Christopher Heanue

Father Christopher Heanue, the new Rector of the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph and pastor of St. Teresa of Avila returns to On The Block to speak with Ed Wilkinson about his new role and how he uses the media to create a parish that reaches beyond the pew

Three Takeaways Catholics Should Know After New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s State Address

Currents News Staff

COVID was a big topic when New York’s first female governor, Kathy Hochul, delivered her state of the state address. Gov. Hochul spoke for a little more than a half hour before a limited, socially distanced audience in the assembly chamber of the State capitol in Albany.

She’s only been in office for 134 days after taking over for disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Still, Hochul said she has more than 200 proposals to make the State better.

Joining Currents News was St. John’s University Political Science Professor Brian Browne to delve deeper into the issues mentioned by the New York governor.

Will There be any Changes to the Diocese of Brooklyn Synod Process due to Omicron?

Currents News Staff

Despite the rise in coronavirus cases across the city, Bishop Robert Brennan says the Catholic Church will continue to remain open providing a lifeline so many desperately need.

The Diocese of Brooklyn has consistently taken special precautions to protect against the spread of the variant: some of those include mask-wearing, a moratorium on the distribution of wine, and no handshakes during the sign of peace.

The synod’s diocesan phase is also well-underway in Brooklyn and Queens with listening sessions being held at the ground level to get feedback from parishioners.

Bishop Brennan joined Currents News to talk more about what his plans are to keep the process going despite the omicron outbreak.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday, 1/5/22

As New York City battles the omicron virus, the surge is not keeping Catholic school students at home – schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn are open and following COVID safety guidelines.

COVID hospitalizations are topping 10,000 for the first time in 20 months in New York State.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul delivers her first state of the state address.

Pope Francis went to the circus – actually the circus came to him!