Vandals Strike With Graffiti at Howard Beach Catholic Academy

By Jessica Easthope

The Catholic community in Howard Beach is outraged.

According to the NYPD, Sunday night around 9 p.m. the ground along Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy’s fence line was spray painted, the graffiti read, “most segregated schools in the country,” and “Desegregate NYC.” Similar graffiti was found on the other side the school saying “get cops out of schools” and “Abolish NYPD.”

“The message was one that tries to harp on different anti-cop and racial characterizations that I don’t think are very true at least of the school and the parish community,” said Father Marc Swartvagher, the pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church.

Father Marc says the school is immensely diverse, in fact, students of color make up half of the Catholic academy.

Parishioners of the church decided to clean the graffiti themselves with power washers and paint remover. Like the rest of the community, PJ Marcel was shocked to see the graffiti, he went to the school and until the announcement the school was closing earlier this month, sent his two daughters to Our Lady of Grace.

“There’s no better nurturing, loving and caring environment than to have a child attend a Catholic school,” Marcel said.

Marcel says the school is full of diverse families who have one thing in common, they want their children to have a Catholic education.

“There’s people from all walks of life attending these schools and these programs, getting an education, having a better quality of life, it’s an attack directly on any religious institution,” said Marcel.

Father Marc says if he were to sit down with the people responsible for the vandalism, faith would motivate him to offer help.

“What can we put into play, what are the policies we can ask our politicians to advocate for, I also think our faith has some of the answers to some of the hurt and difficulty you’re experiencing in our culture and society,” said Father Marc.

The police are investigating the incident and have been reviewing surveillance cameras from homes in the area. No arrests have been made.

Historic Day in Medicine As First U.S. Participant Tests COVID-19 Vaccine

Currents News Staff

Dawn Baker usually delivers the news as a television anchor. But on July 27, this television anchor in Savannah, Georgia, made news and made history as the first person in the United States to participate in a Phase three clinical trial for a vaccine against COVID-19.

“It’s really exciting to me that I could be a part of saving lives eventually, instead of just being scared and praying,” said Baker.

The National Institutes of Health is collaborating on the trial. After Baker’s injection, vaccine study leader Dr. Paul Bradley called Moderna, the company that makes the vaccine and told them,“I have amazing news. We dosed the first patient.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci marked the day on a call with the media.

“I can tell you absolutely that the first one was at 6:45 this morning in Savannah, Georgia. Indeed we are participating today in the launching of a truly historic event in the history of vaccinology,” he said.

There are 89 study sites across the country for this vaccine and Phase three trials are underway for four other vaccines, three of those in China and one in the U.K.

Scientists hope that results of Moderna’s trial will be clear in a few months and that a vaccine will be on the market by the end of this year, or the beginning of 2021.

But that’s if the vaccine is proven safe and effective, which is not a given. Two different types of trials are taking place. About 15,000 people nationwide are going to get injected with the prototype during the clinical trial. But another 15,000 people will be injected with something that looks similar to the vaccine, but is actually a placebo that’s just saline. Afterwards, doctors will compare who gets sick with COVID-19 and who doesn’t

Doctors are recruiting study subjects who live in communities where they are most likely to get the coronavirus, so they can see if the vaccine truly works. Study leader Dr. Bradley seeks people who might have high exposure.

“We want people who are going to be exposed out there in the community living their lives,” he said. “Whether they’re a health care worker, where unfortunately they get exposed frequently. Maybe they work in a grocery store, but we want people that are unfortunately at risk.”

That’s why doctors are recruiting heavily among the African-American and Latino communities, where COVID-19 rates are especially high. But it’s a challenge because, historically, these communities have been abused in medical research.

“They’re very suspicious, so maybe you know, since I was at least bold enough to come forward right now, that might change that,” said Baker.

When asked about being the first person in the U.S. to get a shot in a Phase three COVID-19 trial, Baker said she had an array of emotions.

“It’s exciting. I’m anxious about it. I hope there are good results. A lot of people are doing different vaccine trials. I feel good. I feel so proud.”

The Phase three trial is the last stop before the FDA decides whether it can go on the market.

With the Coronavirus Threat Still Looming, NYC Restaurant Employees Say They’re Struggling to Find Jobs

By Emily Drooby

“Everyone who is looking for a job is using this is applying for the same twenty-six things,” explained line cook, Gwynne Spencer.

He’s referring to a website that is popular with members of the restaurant industry when it comes to finding jobs. Usually there are hundreds posted, but the pandemic has changed that.

Spencer explained, “There’s 30 people hiring front of house staff, servers.”

There’s only 26 line cook positions and he said he has applied to all of them. Spencer hasn’t worked since March 15th. He worked in the industry for over a decade, most recently in fine dining. He has only heard back about three jobs and none of them have materialized.

Spencer said, “so many people are looking for these jobs.”

Spencer says not long ago there was a beacon of hope as restaurants began to post jobs to prepare for indoor dinning in the city. But when that was delayed, so were the jobs.

“All of a sudden these places were no getting back to you or pulling out their applications and you couldn’t find anything anymore,” Spencer told Currents News.

“I think it’s pretty dark clouds on the horizon and everybody is really nervous about what the future looks like,” said Melissa Fleischut, the President and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association.

She said restaurant employment in NYC is a fraction of what it used to be.

Fleischut added, “For right now we have really been focusing on trying to make sure that everyone can stay open at the level that they’re open right now and that we don’t slide backwards.”

With COVID-19 cases spiking in other parts of the country, New York leaders are watching closely, ready to put in new restrictions if necessary

A scrambled situation for big apple restaurants and bars and the people that work in them.

Spencer said, “Being subject to a lot of prediction and having that prediction be wrong every couple of weeks is unsettling.”

He adds that many of his friends in the industry who have jobs aren’t comfortable going back to them, as the industry seems unstable.

He explained, “A lot of people I know are hesitant to go back to work even if they have a guaranteed job because they don’t want to get off of the unemployment, start working again and then find out in 2 weeks that they no longer have a job because the restaurants need to shut down.”

Recently, Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force even suggested closing bars and cutting back on indoor dinning in states that have it, to fight the spike. The comment further instilled fears of sliding backwards here in New York.

Currents News full broadcast for Mon, 7/27/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Unemployed service staff are scrambling to survive.

The end of the pandemic hangs on a vaccine. A milestone is being achieved today.

Civil rights icon John Lewis lies in state at the U.S Capitol, after a moving tribute to him across a famous bridge.

Some residents in Mexico have their doubts about whether COVID-19 really exists.

Why the Edmund Pettus Bridge Played A Significant Role in Rep. John Lewis’ Fight For Civil Rights

Currents News Staff

A week-long celebration honoring the late congressman and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis began July 25 in his hometown of Troy, Alabama.The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma held important significance in his fight for civil rights and equal justice.

Lewis’ skull was broken by white police officers in March 1965 as African American activists advocating for voting rights crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

“This is sacred,” Lewis said. “This is hollow. This is where the people gave some blood. I gave a little blood on this bridge.”

Participants were attempting to march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol of montgomery when 17 people were hospitalized – including Lewis. This would become known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Lewis would always show the same commitment and fight he demonstrated on the bridge that day. CNN reporter Dana Bash asked Lewis why it was so important to come back and to keep coming back every year.

“This is the place that gave us the voting rights act,” Lewis said, “made it possible for hundreds and thousands and millions of people to be able to participate in the Democratic process. You cannot give up. You cannot give in. You will make it. They will lead us.”

This past March, while suffering from Stage 4 cancer, Lewis was determined as ever to travel to Selma twice to mark the march’s 55th anniversary.

“Fifty five years ago, a few of our children attempted to march across this bridge,” he said. “We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here.We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before.”

Lewis died earlier this month after battling cancer. He was 80. On July 26, more than 55 years after “Bloody Sunday,” his flagged draped casket, pulled by horse and carriage, was carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge one final time.

30,000 Americans Set To Test Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine in U.S. Clinical Trials

Currents News Staff

One of the latest warriors in the fight against COVID-19 is Dawn Baker. She’s the first of an anticipated 30,000 U.S. volunteers expected to participate in the third phase of a clinical trial for a potential vaccine.

At a roundtable in Miami, Vice President Mike Pence praised trial volunteers and spoke about plans to produce a stockpile of the vaccine so it would be ready to go, if and when it’s approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

“We have a goal of literally manufacturing hundreds of millions of doses by this fall and to have them available by next year.”

The biotech firm Moderna and the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) are testing their vaccine at 89 sites across the U.S. Volunteers won’t be told whether they are getting the vaccine or a placebo. The Moderna/N.I.H. vaccine is one of 25 in trials around the world to curtail the pandemic.

Meanwhile in Washington, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for COVID-19. As virus cases rise in many states, Google announced that its employees may work from home until at least July 2021, just as Congress negotiates a new stimulus package.

Currents News full broadcast for Fri, 7/24/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

What’s the church’s role in curbing gun violence?

Bevelyn Beatty defaced 3 black lives matter murals, but she says you have to hear her side of the story.

Why is the faith being targeted, and where’s the outrage?

Rome’s Famed Piazza Navona Was Once a Site of Christian Persecution

By Melissa Butz

Rome’s Piazza Navona is a favorite of both tourists and city dwellers alike. The cobblestone streets are normally full of sightseers, artists and musicians, but before the fifteenth century, they had a completely different use.

Since the first century, the square was a center for trading and bartering, a circus and sports venue dedicated to the emperor Domitian that could hold 30,000 spectators. Yet, there was also a much darker side to the iconic piazza.

“During this time, it was also the place for persecution of the Christians,” explained tour guide John Noronha. “So, if you can imagine, so many martyrs shed their blood and consecrated this ground, right here. It’s right here where Saint Agnes would have also been one of the many saints who was martyred for the faith.”

In fact, her sacrifice is honored with a church dedicated to her, St. Agnes. It houses a relic of her skull. The stairs leading up to it are strategically placed to avoid water damage when Pope Innocent X’s sister-in-law would flood the square.

“Imagine, the end of seventeenth century technology managed to flood this entire piazza – about three and a half feet – in order to recreate naval battle scenes,” said John.

Today, Piazza Navona’s main attraction is the obelisk and the Fountain of the Four Rivers, commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1650.

“People could not believe this fountain could actually support the weight of this amazing obelisk, which is not from here,” said John. “It comes all the way from Egypt and goes back to around 1500 b.c. It’s called ‘a silent witness’ because it witnessed the Israelites before and during the exodus.”

Once in Rome, the obelisk bore witness to the martyrdom of Christians, the raising of the entire square by 70 feet at the end of the nineteenth century and the onslaught of millions of tourists that normally fill Piazza Navona today.

In this historic place, artists, magicians and musicians intermingle with tourists all the time, giving this square a friendly, yet traditional Italian feel. It’s the perfect place to take a “passeggiata” or stroll while being surrounded by Rome’s rich history and culture.

Currents News full broadcast for Thurs, 7/23/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

A Queens priest is hitting the ground running taking over a new parish devastated by the COVID crisis.

Politicians putting together a new deal to help the millions who are suffering, yet there won’t be a tax cut.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says federal agents shouldn’t patrol city streets, not in the Big Apple, or anywhere else.

International Virtual Choir Sings ‘Salve Regina,’ Inviting Others to Meet God Through Song

By Melissa Butz

The Chilean foundation Canto Católico have released their version of the “Salve Regina” online. The hymn was sung by 450 choir members from 33 countries.

“We wanted to invite everyone who wished to unite their voices with heaven and entrust themselves to the Blessed Virgin,” said Canto Católico singer Francisco Val Jiménez, “so we chose this song.”

The song’s lyrics have been attributed to Bernardo de Claraval, but the melody was composed in the thirteenth century.

Elena Marraccini was chosen to be the soloist for this version of the song. She explains while “Salve Regina” has a simple melody, it is technically difficult to execute it without breaks.

“It is easy, but when you want to maintain a consistent depth of tone, without breaking between consonants, vowels, syllables and making slight inflections, joining phrases that you did not want to cut, it becomes complicated,” she said.

Canto Católico did not want to just make a beautiful video. They wanted to transmit a profound message in response to the current pain and fear of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

“We also wanted to share that feeling, that pain, that can only be understood from the cross,” said Francisco. “We, as Christians, give meaning to that pain. We are suffering and are having a hard time, but it is to be able to leave it in the hands of God. To look back to Him so that He may give us hope in this difficult moment.”

The idea of producing this melody was inspired by the Holy Father’s special “Urbi et Orbi” speech delivered on March 27. Pope Francis gave his extraordinary blessing, “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world), in an empty St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican last March. The blessing was livestreamed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was impressive. I came thinking only of my own part,” said Elena. “Then, when I watched the entire video, without knowing what happens next or the final result, it was like a shock: Wow, how impressive!”

In addition to songs like this, the Canto Católico foundation has materials on the role of music in the Church on its website and on its YouTube channel. Their idea is to help people meet God through singing in church or on social media.