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Father Christopher Heanue Leaves his First Parish at Holy Child Jesus

By Jessica Easthope

It’s hard to leave home, but moving on from the comfort and the familiar to start a new chapter is part of life. For priests, home is their first parish.

For Father Christopher Heanue, he’s experiencing that bittersweet goodbye at Holy Child Jesus-St. Benedict Joseph Labre Parish in Richmond Hill. He’s hoping he made a mark over the last six years.

“The boy scouts say when you leave, leave it the way you found it, but for priests we hope to leave things better than when we found them and most importantly have people become holier,” Father Heanue said. “That’s really the gift we hope to give.”

After building relationships in Queens, Father Heanue will be joining a new community as the rector-pastor of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights.

“The connections that a priest should be making are connections that help not just the priest but help the people to grow,” he said, “and I find the people here to be so loving and generous. It’s been an awesome six years.”

But parting ways is tough for parishioners too. That’s because they bond with their priest and sometimes even become friends.

“I fell in love with the Jesus in him,” said Marine Rodriguez “We love him. We have to share him. He’s too good for us to keep to ourselves.”

“He really reflects Christ to us but he does challenge us to look deeper and I have,” said Lou Gazzale.

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros has known Father Heanue since he was a kid. Their relationship has grown over the years and now he says it’s time for Father Heanue, and other priests who may be feeling the same way, to grow in their ministry.

“We are all one family working together,” said Bishop Cisneros. “We move from one place to another just like any family at home, because of work, because of other pursuits, but we’re always together.”

Now the next challenge awaits. Like all priests leaving their first parish, Father Heanue can’t take the church or the people when he goes. But the connections, the lessons and the faith will stay with him.

How The Little Sisters of The Poor Fought For Religious Liberty In the Supreme Court And Won

Currents News Staff

The Little Sisters of the Poor brought their religious freedom fight to the highest court in the land – The Supreme Court of the United States. The High Court sided with them in their case against the HHS mandate that would have required them to provide contraception to their workers. 

Sister Constance Veit, Director of Communications for the Little Sisters of the Poor, joined Currents News to discuss the ruling and what it meant for religious organizations that serve vulnerable populations around the country.

 

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday, 6/29/21

Dedicating the newest church in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

The desperate search for survivors in Florida as community members demand to know why the building collapsed.

New York City releases the results of ranked-choice voting but we still may not have a winner for weeks.

Saying goodbye — what it’s like for priests to leave their home churches for new ones.

Makeshift Memorial Near Collapsed Condo Tower Is Reflection of Humanity

By Tom Tracy and Currents News Staff

SURFSIDE, Fla. (CNS) — There are pictures of children’s faces, retired couples at elegant dinners, a father and son moment, a young married couple, crosses, candles and handwritten prayers on yellow Post-it notes and drugstore greeting cards.

Surfside’s informal Wall of Remembrance memorial sprung up following the tragic partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building near Miami Beach. It has been so popular since it appeared late last week that the local law enforcement had to close the area due to hundreds gathering on the streets there.

“God is ‘El Roi,’ the God Who Sees — Help the First Responders find their bodies,” reads on note, using a reference to one of God’s names found in the Book of Genesis.

Another note, posted beneath a photo of a Hispanic father and son, reads: “Be with their family, Lord. Let them know they are not alone, Jesus. We are praying.”

The area was devoid of visitors the afternoon of June 26, and Tina Paul, vice mayor of the town of Sunrise, Florida, came to take pictures of the wall and pay respects to several of the missing persons she said she knows personally.

“It is my second visit; last night we visited the (ground zero) site with our building officials and structural engineers, and on our way home we saw the site — it was just being set up and I wanted to come back and see it again,” Paul said. “I really look at everybody.”

“It has grown a lot since last night, and I just feel so bad,” she told the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Miami Archdiocese. “My friend is right up there,” she said, pointing to a picture of a missing couple Miriam and Arnie Notkin.

Some of the missing Catholic families and parishioners of St. Joseph Church, a short walk away, are represented as well, including Juan Mora Jr., seen wearing a tuxedo, possibly at a friend’s wedding celebration. His parents, Juan and Ana Mora, also are officially missing. The family belongs to St. Joseph Parish.

After spending time at the Surfside family reunification center, a kind of gathering place for briefings from civic authorities and the coordination of volunteer activities, a visiting clergyman and a National Guard-trained crisis responder in terrorism and disaster response from Tampa, Florida, tried, but failed, to come see the remembrance wall firsthand.

Pastor Moses Brown, a senior chaplain and evangelical minister at Advent Health in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, and a native of Broward County said he met with some of the family members waiting for the daily updates.

“There are not many words to say in something this catastrophic but ‘God be with you,’” Brown said.

“I went down to the Haiti earthquake, and that was something to see — the reliance of those people. Some things you can’t be trained on but being there trains me. Haiti showed me that it could happen,” he said.

“Sometimes these things are unbelievable until you see it yourself. All of us living in high rises are thinking, ‘Could it be me?’” Brown said.

He said he was encouraged that St. Joseph Church is part of the Surfside community; he said he was directed there by a police officer in Surfside who said it was a place to come pray.

“That means it’s relevant in this community — I found the church by talking to a police officer who is sending people over there, so I said to myself, that must be a church that is really doing something.”

The pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Father Juan Sosa, and a group of parish clergy and parishioners concluded an evening prayer vigil and eucharistic adoration June 26 by walking several blocks over to the wall of remembrance.

But they were, like others had been, informed the area was not open due to public safety concerns. Still, they were close enough to see the ground zero site and so illuminated their cellphone lights, sang a few hymns and prayed for a few minutes before leaving.

Tracy writes for the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Miami.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday, 6/28/21

The death toll rises from a condo complex collapse – one Catholic church in the area has ten families missing in the rubble.

For the second time in two months a tourist is hit by gunfire in the middle of Times Square – police will flood the area to keep people safe.

Religious Freedom Week sets its sights on Christians in Iraq – we speak with groups working to free them from religious persecution.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has a lengthy meeting with Pope Francis.

Aid to the Church in Need Highlights Persecution of Iraqi Christians During Religious Freedom Week

By Jessica Easthope

Around the globe, hundreds of millions of Christians live in places where persecution is considered extreme, where believing in Christ is dangerous – and few are more hostile than Iraq.

“The Christians have been in Iraq since the apostles and Christians in Iraq have suffered greatly in the last 20th century and it’s shown by the number of people who have left,” said Ed Clancy, the director of outreach for the papal organization, Aid to the Church in Need.

At the turn of century, Christians made up nearly 13 percent of the population in Iraq at more than one million. Today, they’re under one percent with only about 270,000 left.

Aid to the Church in Need says the United States’ influence in Iraq caused a major shift.

“The situation in Iraq was not good under Saddam Hussein but the Christian population was surviving, since then it’s been decimated and that’s because of the instability and the problems,” said Clancy.

Christians and church leaders in Iraq were hopeful after Pope Francis’ historic visit to the country in March, but Clancy says government control of economic and employment opportunities keep Christians down.

“As their numbers decrease they lose a certain ability to support themselves and they become more and more reliant on the government to support them and the government is not,” he said.

Aid to the Church in Need has rebuilt thousands of Christian homes destroyed during the ISIS genocide which ended in 2017, but terrorism and extremists are still the biggest threat to Iraqi Christians. Clancy says people can still return, but that first requires helping the Christians currently in Iraq stay there.

“A dedicated few can have an effect, the importance ideally is we have to support those dedicated few, to make sure they’re protected, represented and that we as a country speak up for them and we as Christians and Catholics do the same,” said Clancy.

If the threats Iraqi Christians face persist more will leave and language, liturgy and history will be lost.

Miami Catholic Parish Says 10 of its Families Still Missing After Collapse

By Tom Tracy, Catholic News Service

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (CNS) — It is an understatement to say the people and staff of St. Joseph Parish will be living the crisis of the Surfside condominium collapse in a most intimate way for some time to come.

No other Christian house of worship is so close to the ground zero of Champlain Towers South as St. Joseph. The remains of the tower that went down and the still-standing tower can be easily seen in the distance from the church grounds.

Then there is the human connection: The parish pastor, Father Juan Sosa, has reported that 10 of its registered families remain missing following the collapse and two families who were not in the building at the time are safe.

It is possible, Father Sosa said, that other families who lived in Champlain Towers South and who worshipped at St. Joseph informally may be among the missing, since the area is known as a vacation spot full of short-term rentals and international visitors from South America and beyond.

“Plus there are the many who used to come on weekends from other parts of Miami who have worshipped with us, and so we are very touched by the idea of the whole community being bound together and praying together,” Father Sosa told the media June 25, just before celebrating a morning Mass for the missing, their family and friends.

“For us it is very important to have something to do at this time to bring hope to those people,” said the priest, who has been pastor of St. Joseph for 11 years and was familiar with Champlain Towers.

“I have visited the place many times and I have been to dinner with some of those members that are missing,” Father Sosa said, recalling when he first realized the buildings had collapsed.

“It was horrendous because I didn’t know exactly what part of the building many of those families lived in, but apparently the 10 families were in that part of the building that collapsed, and some of those who are OK lived in the standing building.”

He added that he hopes some of the 10 families unaccounted for were away on vacation at the time of the collapse.

Over the years, he said he has encountered residents of Champlain Towers while out walking and exercising. The walking paths along the ocean behind Champlain Towers and other buildings in the area are highly utilized for morning and evening hikes.

“It is like a community formed out of the need to exercise, and some of the people would stop me and ask for a blessing,” he said.

Father Sosa visited the family reunification center at the nearby Surfside Community Center twice on the day following the catastrophe, and he had an opportunity to counsel some of the Catholic families there.

He also has opened his parish parking lot for the visiting search and rescue and volunteer teams who continue working on the site. From Kendall, Florida, St. Agatha’s ministry to the homeless arrived at the parish early June 26 with water and other supplies for the search and rescue teams and their dogs.

Wind, rain and fires at the demolition site have hampered search and rescue efforts. As of June 28, the missing persons list stood at 152, with nine confirmed deaths.

Some of the surviving families have told the media that this crisis won’t be over for them until they receive word of their loved one’s status.

“I am an optimist but sad about this horrible situation. It reminds me of Sept. 11, 2001, but I want to keep hope alive that they will rescue more like they rescued that boy we saw on television,” Father Sosa said.

His message to those affected by the crisis is to keep up hope and “keep your heart on the one who can grant us the opportunity to see our loved ones, and that is God. Keep your hearts open so you will be able to feel and experience, in the midst of grief, the healing presence of the Lord,” Father Sosa said.

“May we continue to work together to help the needy and support our rescue teams and searchers as well as the many at the Surfside center and other places who are relating to each other in ways they didn’t relate before,” he added. “Now, somehow, we are all together trying to alleviate the situation and pain caused by this.”

Catholic News Headlines for Friday, 6/25/21

On a special edition of Currents News: Religious Freedom Week sets its sights on church vandalism. Something that’s been a problem in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Vice President Kamala Harris visits the U.S.- Mexico border, after numerous calls from lawmakers.

The death toll from a Miami building collapse rises as crews work tirelessly to find survivors.

An arrest is made in a terrifying shooting that had two children caught in the crossfire.

Catholics Respond to Vandalism with Compassion After Fearing Attacks on Religious Freedom

By Jessica Easthope

Father Miroslaw Podymniak can give a tour of all the places around St. Adalbert’s that have been vandalized. Graffiti on two walls and the latest incident – a statue of Our Lady of Angels destroyed.

“People are looking for consolation and are looking to support the Church and the Church itself is being hit by envy, by people who are looking to make the situation worse,” said Fr. Miroslaw.

The statue was repaired for free, but not every church that’s had a sacred object damaged has been so lucky. A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Solace Church in Coney Island, Brooklyn had to be replaced. Last September a man was caught on surveillance video, hurling this $7,000 original to the ground. And at St. Athanasius in Bensonhurst someone tore down a crucifix.

These are just a few examples of the vandalism that’s happened not only in the Diocese of Brooklyn, but across the country. The harmful acts – attacks on the objects themselves, but now many fear it’s part of a larger attack on religious freedom.

“We have statues outside, beautiful buildings to show our faith and have a space for people to come and worship together and that is being taken from us,” said Fr. Miroslaw.

During Religious Freedom Week, Catholics are called to respond to aggression with compassion – something parishioners at St. Adalbert’s are finding in their hearts.

“I said please enlighten the mind of the person who did this because whatever he did he didn’t know that it is wrong,” said Lita Santiago.

St. Adalbert’s is having cameras installed around the statue in the garden this weekend, hoping it prevents another attack.

Miami’s Archbishop on Building Collapse: “Our Hearts Go Out to All Those Affected”

WINDSOR TERRACE — At least 159 people are still unaccounted for in Surfside, Florida, after a partial collapse of a residential condominium.

As the search for signs of life entered a second day, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami issued a statement saying in part, “Search and rescue teams continue to sift through the rubble to find survivors and to recover the bodies of those who did not. Our hearts go out to all those affected by the tragedy.”

Wenski’s statement continued, “Our Catholic Charities and local clergy have joined with other voluntary agencies and faith leaders to assist in whatever way they can. We also pledge our prayers for the victims, their families, and first responders.”

The community, located just north of Miami Beach, is waiting and praying for any positive news from rescue workers as they comb through debris.

“We are going to work as hard as we can to continue our search and rescue effort. That is our priority,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.

The 12-story building, which was built in 1981 and contained 136 units, partially collapsed early Thursday morning.

“The search and rescue team worked throughout the night and it was a very active scene,” Cava said. “From above and below. And we also brought heavy machinery onto the site to assist with the operation.”

Meanwhile, those with loved ones still unaccounted for are hoping for a miracle.

“Right now, we’re just hoping for the best,” said Jeffrey Rose, whose parents own a unit in the building. “They are obviously searching through the rubble to see if they can, hopefully, find some survivors.”