Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
Some of the top stories on this newscast:
Record highs for coronavirus infections and hospitalizations around the globe.
Pope Francis calls to congratulate Joe Biden on his projected win – what the two men spoke about.
Why Saint Francis College in Brooklyn Heights is attracting so many new students.
Meet the nine-year-old entrepreneur from Saint Ephrem in Bay Ridge who is teaching a lesson in charity.
By Jessica Easthope
There’s nothing nine-year-old Gigi Solitario wanted more than a puppy.
“I started making bracelets so I could earn money for a puppy so I could get a puppy,” Gigi said.
Gigi’s mom Jill suggested she use her creativity to raise money for a dog, but Gigi’s goal quickly developed into something more.
“That one idea turned into ‘I want to raise enough money to adopt a dog.’ And that turned into ‘I have enough money to adopt a dog, now I want to help others,'” Jill explained.
With some colorful beads and time on their hands during the pandemic Gigi and Jill started Gigi’s Creations, a business on Instagram selling handmade bracelets, anklets and something Gigi knew people would really need.
“My mom keeps losing her mask a lot so me and my mom decided to make a mask holder so you can hold your mask around your neck,” Gigi said.
As the business grew, Gigi began giving the money to charities. She picks a different one every month and has donated more than $1,000. Gigi’s favorite charity is Save the Turtles, so it was an easy pick for her first donation.
“I like turtles and I like helping them because all the turtles keep getting stuck in plastic and getting hurt and stuff,” Gigi said.
If Gigi’s giving spirit wasn’t inspiring enough, Jill says there was a time when she thought her daughter would never be able to make something so intricate. In 2016 Gigi was diagnosed with the eye disorder exotropia.
“Her eyes doubled at one point, her eyes went outward, sometimes she was seeing blurry vision,” Jill said.
After months of intensive eye therapy didn’t work, the only option was surgery, but Gigi came out on top and is now defying the odds bead-by-bead.
“Especially, we use clear string,” said Jill. “For her to bead through the clear string is amazing to see.”
Tied in to every one of Gigi’s creations is faith. Jill says she’s taken what she’s learned at home and at her school, St. Ephrem’s Catholic Academy, and is wearing it right on her sleeve.
“She’s always thinking of others and helping others, so I think our Catholic faith is tying it all together,” Jill said.
With the same care and consideration she puts into picking every bead, Gigi’s in the process of picking a great shelter to find her dog. She started out raising money to get something she wanted. Now, Gigi is more focused on what she can give and spreading happiness — one bracelet at a time.
Currents News Staff
There are more than 10 million known COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and nearly every state is seeing a rise in week-to-week infections. That’s according to Johns Hopkins University.
“I’m really frightened with the spike we’re seeing in cases right now,” doctor and medical analyst Celine Gounder told Currents News.
However, drug-makers like Pfizer and Moderna are making medical strides.
“Vaccination is not going to be a fairy tale ending to the pandemic,” said Tom Frieden, the former director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’re still going to be dealing with it at least through most or all of 2021, and quite possibly beyond that.”
Meanwhile, China says it is moving full steam ahead in the race for a vaccine. Reports say cases in the communist country are increasingly rare, due to strict lockdowns and mass testing.
This is a testing site in Japan, which is facing a third wave of infections. India’s capital region is also seeing it’s highest daily increase in cases. Doctors blame the rise on people not following social distancing rules.
That could be the case in Sweden too. The country plans to ban alcohol sales after 10 p.m. and close bars and restaurants at 10:30 p.m. Spain is putting restrictions on visitors from high-risk countries. Now requiring travelers to show proof of a negative test.
In Italy, a grim milestone has been reached. The country’s ministry of health says Italy has just passed one million cases. Back in the U.S., until a vaccine is available, health officials say we should take action to prevent the virus from spreading even faster.
“Wear a mask,” says President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board Member Michael Osterholm. “Also make note that if you are sick, don’t go into the public. If you have symptoms that are similar to what might be COVID, be sure and get tested. Then isolate yourself and quarantine away.”
Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
Some of the top stories on this newscast:
It’s Veteran’s Day and we have the story of a Catholic priest who is serving God and country.
The Holy Father makes a vow to end abuse in the Catholic Church.
Coronavirus infections are creeping up in New York City – will schools be forced to close down again?
The Affordable Care Act may have survived another challenge in the Supreme Court.
By Emily Drooby
Father Andrew De Silva lives between two worlds.
He serves God and his parishioners as the parochial vicar at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Clark, N.J. He also serves his country as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves.
“I do feel blessed that I’m able to help out a little bit,” said Father De Silva, “I benefit tremendously from my contact with soldiers, others who I can emulate.”
It’s a ministry that was made especially difficult this year. As the head chaplain for the 8th medical brigade on Staten Island, he was there as the Reserves navigated their role in fighting the pandemic.
“Usually medical brigade supports the forward components,” he explained. “Whereas all of a sudden, medical brigade is going to lead the way.”
Father De Silva got his first taste of army life while in college at Virginia Military Institute.
“I remember thinking at the time, I don’t want to be in the Army,” he said, “and look at me now.”
As the descendent of a long line of American heroes, the military was in his blood. His father and grandfather are both veterans.
Once he was out of college and working in the wine industry, Father De Silva says he was living for three purposes: marriage, money, and the freedom to travel. Then he came across the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
“These monks were way happier and more fulfilled than I was and they had the three opposite values,” he explained. That’s where his new path began.
He joined the Brothers of Saint John, he was sent to Seton Hall University where he worked with ROTC students, which led him to the Reserves.
After eight years as a religious brother, he felt the calling to become a priest and was ordained in 2019.
Now, he’s on his second year as a priest, and his seventh with the Chaplain Corps. He juggles both of his callings, ministering to his parishioners, while always keeping a packed to-go Army Chaplain bag nearby.
“I’ve kind of found this important niche where a lot of the soldiers, citizen soldiers are working two jobs,” Father De Silva said. “They don’t have the same structure. They’ve got a lot of stress a lot of difficulties, so there is a tremendous of need for people to be there for them, support them, to walk with them.”
This past year, as hospitals were overflowing and overwhelmed with COVID patients, being a chaplain meant supporting soldiers who were learning to set up field hospitals. Men and women fearlessly facing the coronavirus, a terrifying and deadly opponent, to protect their fellow Americans. Father De Silva’s help and guidance was greatly needed.
Now, he’s urging fellow clergy to follow on his path.
“I would recommend that all of us be ready to wear a hat that we didn’t expect to wear,” said Father De Silva. “I think that’s something that 2020 has taught us.”
By Jessica Easthope
The Holy Father is leading the charge in seeking to erase former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s mark on the Catholic Church. After a report on the decades of misconduct at the hands of McCarrick was released by the Vatican, Nov. 10, Pope Francis is emphasizing the Church’s commitment to stamping out abuse.
“Yesterday the report on the painful case of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was published,” the Holy Father said on Nov. 11. “I renew my closeness to victims of all forms of abuse, and the Church’s commitment to eradicate this evil.”
Pope Francis has done more than any of his predecessors to stand with victims and eliminate abuse in the Catholic Church.
In addition to ordering the report on evidence of McCarrick’s abuse and laicizing the now 90-year-old former Cardinal, to date, Pope Francis has established the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, holding a meeting with the world’s Bishops following the allegations against McCarrick. The pontiff also created a task force to help religious entities revise guidelines to further protect minors from abuse. In December of 2019 he waived the obligation of secrecy for those who have been abused by a priest or church leader and issued a document clarifying procedures on how to hold bishops and religious leaders accountable.
Though he has made many big strides, Pope Francis said we cannot move forward without confident prayer.
“If we do not pray, we will not have the strength to go forward in life,” he said. “Prayer is like the oxygen of life. Prayer draws the presence of the Holy Spirit, who leads us forward. There are dark moments in life, in which faith may seem to be an illusion. However, practicing prayer means accepting even this struggle.”
McCarrick has not been arrested or charged with any crimes. He is reported to be living in an undisclosed community of priests who have been removed from ministry.
Currents News Staff
Father Vincent Capodanno was a young priest who walked New York’s streets. So how did he end up on the battlefield in Vietnam, on the other side of the world?
The Staten Island born priest is in line for sainthood and he’s being remembered in a big way this Veterans Day.
NET-TV is airing an award-winning documentary on his life. Tim Moriarty, the executive director of that documentary, The Field Afar, joins Currents News.
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After the Vatican released its extensive report on Theodore E. McCarrick, Pope Francis renewed the Catholic Church’s pledge to uproot the scourge of sexual abuse.
Before concluding his weekly general audience Nov. 11, the pontiff made his first public statement on the release of the report regarding the “painful case” of the former cardinal.
“I renew my closeness to all victims of every form of abuse and the church’s commitment to eradicate this evil,” he said.
After reading his brief comment on the report, the Holy Father bowed his head and closed his eyes in silent prayer.
The 460-page report, which was published by the Vatican Nov. 10, chronicled McCarrick’s rise through the church’s hierarchal ranks despite decades of accusations of sexual abuse and abuse of power.
Before his comment on the report, the pontiff continued his series of audience talks on prayer, reflecting on the importance of perseverance.
He began by saying he was told by someone that he “speaks too much about prayer” and that it was unnecessary.
However, he said, “it is necessary, because if we do not pray, we will not have the strength to go forward in life. Prayer is like the oxygen of life; prayer draws upon us the Holy Spirit who always carries us forward. That is why I speak so much about prayer.”
Jesus taught people to engage in “constant dialogue” with God not only with the example of his own prayer, but also with parables that highlighted the importance of perseverance in prayer.
Reflecting on Jesus’ parable of the tenacious person who knocks unceasingly at his friend’s door asking for bread, Pope Francis said that unlike the friend who relents after constant insistence, God “is more patient with us and the person who knocks with faith and perseverance on the door of his heart will not be disappointed.”
“Our Father knows well what we need; insistence is necessary not to inform him or to convince him, but it is necessary to nurture the desire and expectation in us,” the Holy Father said.
Jesus’ parable of the widow who persistently sought and eventually obtained justice from an unscrupulous judge, he continued, serves as a reminder that faith “is not a momentary choice but a courageous disposition to call on God, even to ‘argue’ with him, without resigning oneself to evil and injustice.”
Finally, the parable of the Pharisee who boasted his merits during prayer while the publican feels unworthy to enter the temple reveals that “there is no true prayer without humility,” he said.
Pope Francis said the Gospel encourages Christians to pray always, “even when everything seems in vain, when God appears to be deaf and mute and it seems we are wasting time.”
“There are many days of our life when faith seems to be an illusion, a sterile exertion,” the Holy Father said. “But the practice of prayer means accepting even this exertion. Many saints experienced the night of faith and God’s silence, and they were persevering.”
True Christians, Pope Francis added, do not fear anything but instead “entrust themselves to the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us a gift and who prays with us.”
Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
Some of the top stories on this newscast:
He was one of the most powerful leaders in the Catholic Church in America – now a long-awaited Vatican report on the fall of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been released.
It looks like the Affordable Care Act isn’t going anywhere for now – the Supreme Court signaling its unlikely to strike down the law.
Then, as the Trump campaign moves ahead with legal challenges, the Attorney General wants federal prosecutors to look into voting irregularities.
By Emily Drooby
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Nov. 10 on the latest suit against the Affordable Care Act. Conservative states, led by Texas and supported by the Trump administration, asked the court to strike down the entire 2010 law due to an amendment added in 2017, which got rid of the penalty for not having health insurance.
They argue that because a key provision is now unconstitutional, the whole law should go away.
It was believed the conservative majority on the court would make this a shoe-in.
However, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to signal they could cast aside the challenged mandate, but leave the rest of the act standing.
“I think it’s hard for you to argue that Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate was struck down,” said Chief Justice Roberts.
While Justice Kavanaugh, speaking later in the oral arguments said, “I tend to agree with you on this, a very straightforward case for severability under our precedents, meaning that we would exercise the mandate and leave the rest of the act in place.”
The law has survived two previous challenges: one in 2012 and one in 2015. But since then, three new conservative judges have been added to the bench. That includes President Trump’s latest pick, Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Speaking on Tuesday during the arguments, Justice Barrett said, “You’re asking us to treat it as it functionally has been repealed. But that’s not what Congress did, does that matter?”
President Donald Trump has been outspoken in his desire to get rid of the act – also known as ObamaCare.
Former Vice President and projected winner of the 2020 election, Joe Biden, has been a staunch defender of the ACA. While holding a press conference Tuesday, he promised to protect Americans’ health care.
There is no way of knowing for sure how the vote will go until the official decision is handed down, which is expected to happen towards the end of June.