Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
Some of the top stories on this newscast:
It’s still not over – President Trump’s campaign attorney, Rudy Giuliani, continues the fight – laying out his case of voter fraud in Arizona.
Will a new bipartisan proposal on Capitol Hill break the stalemate over a coronavirus relief bill?
And on this Giving Tuesday – how you can make Christmas brighter for every boy and girl in the Brooklyn Diocese.
By Emily Drooby
On her confirmation day, Sally Montalvo received a corsage from her father. It was a physical gift on a day where she will receive one of the greatest spiritual gifts.
Sally was confirmed at St. Dominic’s Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
She described how she felt in the moments before it happened, “…a happy but nervous kind of feeling.”
She’s the third child in the Montalvo clan to be confirmed. The family has a strong faith now, but it wasn’t always that way.
“My children brought me deeper into my faith,” said Sally’s father, Anthony.
Faith, like genes, tends to run in families. A Pew Research Center survey found that Catholic parents usually create Catholic children. In fact, 81 percent of practicing Catholic parents will have kids that are, too.
However, that same study found children to be far less religious, in fact 19 percent less religious than their parents.
That’s not the case for the Montalvos. Anthony says his children are actually the reason the family deepened their faith.
“They were attending a program here at St. Dominic’s with the youth ministry and they had asked for volunteers during Mass one time and I thought, ‘Maybe I can help out one or two days a week,'” he explained.
One or two days quickly grew into more.
“Started out with that and that turned into going to a retreat, and that turned into wanting to do more, wanting to know more and wanting to live my faith deeper,” said Anthony.
Now together as a family, their faith has grown.
“A family that stays together, prays together,” said the eldest daughter, Maggie.
“I’ve had my communion, I’ve had my confession, I’ve had confirmation and now it’s the little one’s turn,” added their brother, Anthony Jr.
The Montalvos are showing that sometimes, faith comes from the youngest.
Currents News Staff
One of the bishops who spoke out about the Mass attendance restrictions going on in France was the Bishop of Nanterre.
Bishop Matthieu Rogue joined Currents News to discuss the latest situation in his diocese and what parishes are doing so their parishioners feel safe.
Currents News Staff
From lost jobs to medical bills, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a major, unexpected strain on the finances of millions of Americans.
And as the end of the year approaches, some financial lifelines are set to expire.
Some members of Congress want to see more aid approved and distributed before Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The projected winner introduced a diverse team of experienced economic experts he says will chart his administration’s course for the U.S. recovery.
“The team I’m announcing today will play a critical role in shaping our plan for actions starting on day one, and move fast to revive this economy,” said Biden
Those close to Biden say his plans for his first 100 days in office include an expansive stimulus plan.
But a group of bipartisan senators who unveiled their own $908 billion proposal Dec. 1 say Americans need help before January 20.
“We’ve worked night and day throughout the Thanksgiving recess because we recognize that families all across America are struggling,” said Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine.
Relief measures put in place earlier in the year — like a moratorium on evictions and a federal student loan payment freeze — are set to expire within weeks, leaving millions hoping Republicans and Democrats will put aside the politics and make a deal before year’s end.
“Let’s hope our Democratic colleagues will finally let us make law in all the enormously important areas where we do not even disagree,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“The Republican leader’s idea of action on COVID has been to bring partisan legislation to the floor and then demand everyone accept it,” said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had their first talk since the November 3 election, though Mnuchin said it was more about the December 11 government funding deadline.
By Emily Drooby
The Diocese of Brooklyn received a majority victory when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s restrictions on attendance at religious services violates the First Amendment.
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that Cuomo’s executive order limiting the number of worshipers allowed to attend religious services in houses of worship in COVID-19 hot spots — in some cases as few as 10 people — is a violation of religious freedom.
The court ruled on lawsuits brought by the Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America, an orthodox Jewish organization.
“It’s significant, I think even a landmark decision,” said attorney Akiva Shapiro, part of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s legal team.
He added that the Supreme Court’s injunction could have far reaching effects; not just for New York, but for religious institutions around the country.
“They were not treating us equally, as others, we became non-essential so that became the problem,” said Bishop Nicolas DiMarzio of the Brooklyn Diocese.
The ruling specifically pertains to restrictions in red and orange COVID hot spot zones where houses of worship were capped at 10 or 25 people. They say many more could safely fit inside.
“We did try to negotiate with the State before we did this,” added Bishop DiMarzio. “We asked them, ‘Look take into account the size of our buildings, then we limited it on that basis.’ But they refused even to negotiate or talk about that, so we had no choice.”
Next, the lawsuit goes back to the appeals court. A hearing is scheduled for December 18.
Governor Andrew Cuomo claims the ruling is irrelevant because the Brooklyn Diocese no longer has churches in the red or orange zones.
During a press conference phone call, he said, “the zone that they were talking about has already been moot. It expired last week, so I think this was really just an opportunity for the court to express its philosophy in politics…”
However, Bishop DiMarzio said that could change at any time and this ruling protects them if it does.
“Although as the Governor said, it was moot because they changed the zones,” he explained, “but they could put the zones in tomorrow.”
It was a 5-4 ruling. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was in the majority. Several similar cases did not have the majority ruling at the Supreme Court earlier this year.
Shapiro explained the significance of this ruling: “Up until this moment, the court, the Supreme Court and therefore the lower courts had been entirely deferential to state and local governments, no matter how severe the restrictions were on religious liberties.”
Shapiro added that now the Supreme Court is saying the Constitution must be considered when states put restrictions into place.
“If there are other states out there that are doing the same thing, imposing stricter requirements on houses of worship those restrictions are now subject to challenge under this ruling,” he said.
Since the pandemic began, religious institutions in states across the country have brought up lawsuits pertaining to COVID restrictions.
In California, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco has already voiced strong concern against new restrictions in their state that ban indoor worship services, and mentioned the New York ruling.
In New Jersey, the Supreme Court has intervened in a similar situation, demanding that the state respond to a lawsuit brought by a synagogue and a church.
Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
Some of the top stories on this newscast:
The fight for religious freedom is far from over – what’s next for the Diocese of Brooklyn and beyond.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory becomes the first African American prelate to receive the red hat.
Another drug maker applies for emergency authorization – could millions of doses of COVID vaccines be available in time for Christmas?
Currents News
It’s been called the “light at the end of the tunnel”: a potential vaccine for COVID-19 and the race to the finish line is ramping up.
Nov. 30 is when White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx says she hopes to brief projected winner Joe Biden’s administration on America’s response to the pandemic.
It’ll be critical for moving forward.
“We’ve spent that last nine months really developing sophisticated databases that are bringing together information from across the country down to the county level,” said Deborah. “We can see who’s being admitted, we can see who’s getting sick, we can see where this virus is moving in communities.”
On Dec.1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee On Vaccines will hold an emergency meeting.
Rick Bright, a Biden COVID-19 advisory board member, says it’s a good sign.
“They will have further discussions on how to prioritize that vaccine primarily because we know that the vaccine will be available in very limited doses,” said Rick.
On Dec. 10, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccine Advisory Committee will consider Pfizer’s vaccine for emergency use authorization. The FDA says approval could take days or even weeks. Some experts say, at the earliest, vaccinations for those deemed priority could begin by Dec. 12 or 13.
By the end of the year, health experts say there should be enough doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for 20 million people.
By Jessica Easthope and Cindy Wooden
One by one 11 senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens — Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat — knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal’s ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status and assigning them a “titular” church in Rome.
But with the consistory Nov. 28 occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis actually created 13 new cardinals.
Cardinals Jose F. Advincula of Capiz, Philippines, and Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, did not attend the consistory because of COVID-19 travel restrictions; however, they are officially cardinals and will receive their birettas and rings at a later date, the Vatican said.
In his homily at the prayer service, Pope Francis told the new cardinals that “the scarlet of a cardinal’s robes, which is the color of blood, can, for a worldly spirit, become the color of a secular ’eminence,’” the traditional title of respect for a cardinal.
If that happens, he said, “you will no longer be a pastor close to your people. You will think of yourself only as ‘His Eminence.’ If you feel that, you are off the path.”
For the cardinals, the pope said, the red must symbolize a wholehearted following of Jesus, who willingly gave his life on the cross to save humanity.
The Gospel reading at the service, Mark 10:32-45, included the account of James and John asking Jesus for special honors. “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left,” they said. But Jesus reproaches them.
“We, too, pope and cardinals, must always see ourselves reflected in this word of truth,” Pope Francis said. “It is a sharpened sword; it cuts, it proves painful, but it also heals, liberates and converts us.”
According to canon law, cardinals are created when their names are made public “in the presence of the College of Cardinals.” While many Rome-based cardinals attended the consistory, more members of the college were “present” online.
The pandemic also meant the gathering was unusually small; each cardinal was accompanied by a priest-secretary and could invite a handful of guests, so there were only about 100 people in the congregation at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Also missing were the “courtesy visits,” a reception lasting several hours in the early evening when the general public was invited into the Vatican to greet the new cardinals.
In addition to some Rome-based cardinals, the congregation at the consistory included the pastors or rectors of the 13 Rome churches to which the new cardinals were associated. Cardinals are given a “titular” church in Rome, formally making them members of the Rome diocesan clergy, which is what the church’s first cardinals were.
In fact, the formula for the creation of cardinals, recited in Latin by Pope Francis, says, “It chiefly concerns the church of Rome, but it also affects the entire ecclesial community: We will call certain of our brethren to enter the College of Cardinals, so that they may be united to the Chair of Peter by a closer bond to our apostolic ministry.”
Cardinal Gregory’s titular church is Immaculate Conception parish on the ancient Via Flaminia in the Grottarossa neighborhood of northern Rome. The church was built in 1935 and became a titular church for cardinals in 1985.
Cardinal Tomasi’s titular church is the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Prison, a 12th-century church with a 16th-century facade built on the site of an earlier church that was constructed over the ruins of an ancient temple.
Mexican Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, retired bishop of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico, told Vatican News Nov. 27 that the new cardinals are called to reconfirm their commitment to making Christ the center of their lives and “to collaborate with the pope in his ministry as bishop of Rome, and so we are assigned a parish in this city, as a sign of communion between that community and the one who presides over this local church, which is the pope.”
Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, was the first mentioned by the pope Oct. 25 when he announced he was creating new cardinals. As such, it fell to Cardinal Grech to address the pope on behalf of the new cardinals.
“Convoked in consistory at such a serious time for all humanity because of the pandemic, we want to turn our thoughts to all our brothers and sisters enduring hardship,” the cardinal said. He prayed that people would react to the pandemic as an “opportunity to rethink our lifestyles, our relationships, the organization of our societies and, especially, the meaning of our lives.”
Cardinal Grech also led the others in the recitation of the Creed and of an oath of fidelity and obedience to Christ and his church and to Pope Francis and his successors.
The new cardinals came from eight countries: Italy, Malta, the United States, Brunei, the Philippines, Mexico, Rwanda and Chile.
Cardinal Gregory, like the other new cardinals coming from outside Europe, was tested for COVID-19 before flying to Rome and again upon arrival. Even after testing negative, he and the others were required to quarantine for 10 days and were tested again immediately before the consistory. Cardinal Gregory stayed at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lives, and his meals were left outside his door.
In an interview with Catholic News Service, the cardinal said he hopes Pope Francis will find him to be “supportive, encouraging and trustworthy” in his role as a cardinal, but his primary ministry is still to be the archbishop of Washington.
Of course, he said, he regrets that “my two sisters are not here, and the many people I know and love from Chicago and Belleville (Illinois) and Atlanta and Washington,” who were watching the livestream instead.
One of Cardinal Tomasi’s guests was the pastor of his boyhood parish, San Rocco in Casoni di Mussolente, a town of fewer than 8,000 people in northern Italy. In the past 80 years, the cardinal told CNS, the parish has produced more than 100 priests and religious sisters, “and now also a cardinal. I hope it will help to continue the flourishing of vocations from the parish.”
With the consistory the College of Cardinals now has 229 members, 128 of whom are under the age of 80 and eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. Pope Francis has given the red hat to 57% of electors.
With Cardinals Gregory and Tomasi, who was born in Italy but is a U.S. citizen, the number of U.S. cardinals rose to 16; nine of them are cardinal electors.
Entering the college Nov. 28 were Cardinals:
— Grech, 63.
— Marcello Semeraro, an Italian who is prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, 72.
— Antoine Kambanda of Kigali, Rwanda, 62.
— Gregory, 72.
— Advincula, 68.
— Celestino Aos Braco of Santiago, Chile, 75.
— Sim, 69.
— Paolo Lojudice of Siena, Italy, 56.
— Mauro Gambetti, custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi in Assisi, 55.
— Arizmendi, 80.
— Tomasi, 80.
— Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, 86.
— Enrico Feroci, 80, former director of Rome’s Caritas.
Currents News Staff
Earlier this month, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) elected a new Chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education who hopes to help Catholic schools focus on their mission to strengthen the faith foundation, especially during this pandemic.
Bishop Thomas Daly from the Diocese of Spokane joined Currents News to discuss his new role and the Church’s mission for Catholic schools.
Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
Some of the top stories on this newscast:
Help could soon be on the way for people in public housing living without heat or a way to cook for their families.
This weekend, Cardinal-designate Wilton Gregory of Washington D.C. will be the first African American to ever be given the red hat.
Kicking off The Tablet’s annual Bright Christmas Campaign to help kids in the Brooklyn Diocese.