St Brigid-St Frances Cabrini Catholic Academy Creates Tech Savvy Kids With Game Coding Project

By Emily Drooby

Most kids play games, but Eli Perez builds them.

“I’m proud of it, I like to see people enjoy the game,” she told Currents News.

From a game where players rescue gifts from the Grinch, to a maze where players have to escape before the clock runs out, Eli has thought up, designed, drawn out and coded four games into existence.

“I feel like through my coding, I can express myself, my creativity, and it just helps me relax,” she said of her newfound hobby.

She learned how to do it at St. Brigid-St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Academy in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and she’s not the only one.

The program idea came from math and technology teacher José Martinez. He wanted to bring coding to the school, but knew he needed to find a way to make it interesting to his young students.

“I know they play games,” he explained. “I thought that making games is something that could really get them excited.”

For years, educators have pushed to teach coding in schools — it’s said to improve problem solving and logical thinking.

It has become an important skill in the job market, and it pays. A study by job market analytics firm Burning Glass found jobs that use coding skills paid an average of $22,000 more a year.

The nonprofit code.org says that while 90% of parents wanted their kids to study computer science, only 47% of high schools actually teach it.

That puts St. Brigid, a nursery through 8th grade school, ahead of the curve.

“As a teacher I feel excited. I’m thinking about their future,” José said. “I want them to get the most out of this school that they can get.”

Through this program students not only build the games, but publish them for anyone to play.

The code is even made public, helping other students learn.

Eli will continue coding — now a beloved hobby — and José says he plans to grow the program next year.

NYS Catholic Conference Director Shares How Pro-Life Advocates Can Protect the Sanctity of Life

Currents News Staff

One woman who’s leading the fight for the unborn in New York says we are facing some additional challenges, due to changes in the White House and Congress.

Kathleen Gallagher, the director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference joined Currents News to share what progress pro-life advocates can make legislatively and from home.

WYD Organizers Release Official Theme Song for Lisbon 2023 Gathering

By Currents News Staff and Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — World Youth Day organizers released the winning theme song for the international gathering in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2023.

The official song is titled “Ha Pressa no Ar” (There Is Urgency in the Air). The lyrics were written by a 51-year-old priest, Father Joao Paulo Vaz, and the music was composed by 41-year-old Pedro Ferreira, both of the Diocese of Coimbra, Portugal. The musical arrangement was by Carlos Garcia.

The winning song was officially presented online Jan. 27 on the websites of the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life (www.laityfamilylife.va) and the local organizing committee at www.lisboa2023.org.

People from all over Portugal submitted more than 100 potential theme songs, and they were evaluated by a jury made up of musical and artistic professionals, according to a press release from the organizers.

The song’s lyrics reflect the theme chosen for WYD Lisbon by Pope Francis, “Mary arose and went with haste” — a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke about Mary going to see her cousin Elizabeth after Mary had been visited by an angel who told her she would bear the son of God.

The theme song is meant to inspire and invite young people “to identify themselves with Mary” and be eager to serve in a missionary spirit and to transform the world, the press release said.

A logo, which had been released in October, depicts the cross, a path, the rosary and Mary as a young woman. The rosary is meant to symbolize the devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, and it is placed on the path to recall the experience of pilgrimage.

The World Youth Day cross was handed to young people from Lisbon by young people from Panama, the host country of World Youth Day 2019, after a Mass with Pope Francis on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 22, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The handoff originally was scheduled for April 5, 2020, Palm Sunday, but was postponed because of the lockdowns and travel bans in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Because of the global pandemic, Pope Francis also agreed with a recommendation by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life to postpone World Youth Day until August 2023 rather than as originally scheduled in 2022.

Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 1/27/21 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Sending the word of God to hundreds of people at home and across the world – but in a click, big tech took it away. How one Brooklyn parish is standing up to Facebook.

More vaccine doses are heading to New York as the Empire State slowly starts to reopen – but when will the Big Apple loosen restrictions?

The Department of Homeland Security warning of potential homegrown violence since President Biden took office.

Pope Francis with a message of hope as he remembers the victims of the Holocaust.

Facebook Blocks Brooklyn Parish From Livestreaming Masses

By Jessica Easthope

José San Juan has worked in technology for 30 years, and he says he’s never seen anything like this: Sacred Heart-St. Stephens Mass, live streamed daily to hundreds, was ripped off from the web on January 22. The parish still remains blocked from broadcasting by Facebook.

Why? Their pastor, Monsignor Guy Massie, isn’t so sure.

“It was needless to say a little bit annoying and my question was, what did we do wrong to get ourselves into this situation,” he asked.

The livestream began as a simple and seamless solution to the pandemic. DeSales Media, the communication and technology arm of the diocese of Brooklyn that operates NET-TV, came in to install several new cameras that allowed people to hear the Word of God in just a click.

“They allowed us through DeSales’ program to stream simultaneously through Facebook Live, YouTube and our website,” José said.

But all that effort was gone in an instant when big tech blocked every single one of the parish’s accounts from live streaming.

“It’s taken away from our parishioners who have found this connection with religion, with God and they’ve already had so much taken away from them in the past year,” José explained.

Currents News reached out to Facebook to ask why this connection has been banned, and were told their investigations team would be looking into it.

Monsignor Massie is so proud when he talks about the church’s presence online, and the team that made it all possible.

“I am indebted to them. They have made this parish look very good and helped the leadership of this parish to still present the Gospel, still present Mass,” he said.

But why would a tech giant target a local church practicing their simple right to religious freedom? For José, until he knows the real reason, he is sticking with censorship.

“There’s nothing that we feel has stepped over any bounds except for maybe the amount of time we’ve broadcast, but even then there are no guidelines, no stipulations so if there are now please tell us,” he said.

A Heavenly Sound at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Brooklyn as Nearly Million Dollar Organ Is Restored

By Emily Drooby

Angie Hemulgada has spent over 40 years sitting in the pews of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church listening to the church’s organ.

“The organ is a big difference for the community, the sound is totally different,” she told Currents News.

The organ was repaired for the first time since 1968.

“It feels great compared to playing the old one, because it was very worn out and very out of tune,” said organ player Connor Whelan, the church’s music director.

“Music is essential to a good liturgy and the organ plays a huge part in having good music, music that people feel,” explained Deacon John Cantirino, “music that people experience, music that resonates with people’s souls.”

Their Pastor, Father Ilyas Gill, made the restoration a priority.

The restoration was done by Peragallo Pipe Organ Company, a company that operates out of New Jersey. It was quite an undertaking, but important for the parish.

Two of the three organ bellows, which generate the wind, were not working.

1,400 pipes had to be reshaped, replaced or cleaned up. Pieces were removed one by one, and taken up and down a steep ladder through a tiny opening in the ceiling.

They also repaired the room the organ was in, and added new electronics. It took a year and $350,000 dollars. The money came from several places, including collections and parishioners.

“People are very generous, since I am here I have never seen them put the church down,” said Father Gill. “They always support the church.”

The community is coming together and being there for their church, just like the church and clergy are always there for them.

Parishioners went almost a full year without the organ while it was being repaired, but now heavenly music will be heard again.

President Biden Pledges to Speed Up COVID Vaccine Delivery in the U.S.

Currents News Staff

January has become the worst month for U.S. COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

According to Johns Hopkins University, as of Jan. 26, nearly 80,000 people have died from coronavirus.

The grim milestone highlights the growing demand from state officials for more vaccines to inoculate americans.

On Tuesday, President Biden announced plans to expedite vaccine distribution and have nearly the entire U.S. population vaccinated by the end of summer.

Shortages and long lines have been fueling frustration across the country.

“The end goal is to beat COVID-19, and the way we do that is get more people vaccinated,” said Biden, adding that the U.S. will buy an additional 200 million vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna, increasing the nation’s supply to 600 million.

Since both vaccines require two doses, that’s enough to protect 300 million Americans against COVID-19, that’s more than the U.S.’ entire adult population.

“The brutal truth is, it’s going to take months before we get the majority of Americans vaccinated, months,” the president said.

The announcement comes one day after he raised his daily vaccination target to 1.5 million people a day, all part of his plan to give 100 million shots in his first 100 days.

“The president said, ‘I hope we can do even more than that,’” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “Of course that’s a hope. He is continuing to push our team to get as many Americans vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

The president began his term focused on speeding a messy vaccine rollout in the U.S, signing an executive order pledging to boost vaccine supplies on his first full day in office.

On Tuesday, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator told governors vaccine allocations will increase by about 16% starting next week.

“Until now we’ve had to guess how much vaccine to expect for the next week, and that’s what the governors had to do: ‘How much am I getting next week?’ This is unacceptable,” said Biden, “lives are at stake here.”

The weekly vaccine supply to states, tribes and territories will grow to a minimum of 10 million doses, up from 8.6 million.

“At least now we can do a schedule for three weeks, and we can schedule appointments and start to run on an efficient basis rather than what’s been going on,” said New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“The fact that there is a plan to ramp up gives me great peace,” said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Of course, it is not as fast as we all want, but we are feeling better about where we are headed as a nation.”

The White House coronavirus response team also says it’s committed to making sure vaccines are given fairly.

“That means we’ll send vaccines to churches and mobile clinics and may take a couple days longer to get into people’s arms but it will also mean people of color and people in rural communities will have access too,” Andy Slavitt, Senior White House Adviser for Coronavirus response, told Currents News.

Vice President Kamala Harris received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine Wednesday, encouraging everyone to do the same when they can.

Currents News full broadcast for Tues, 1/26/21 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

A beloved and successful pre-k program in Brooklyn hangs in the balance as the school waits to hear back about their city contract.

President Biden is pushing through piles of executive orders – but not without some pushback from both sides of the aisle.

One family’s emotional journey that delayed, but did not deter, their adoption plans.

St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy Awaits Answers on Renewal of NYC Pre-K Contract

By Emily Drooby

Nourishing kids’ minds and their imagination is one reason why parents love the pre-k3 and pre-k4 programs at St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

But now, the program is in limbo.

Donna DeLuca, the director of the school’s pre-k for all program said, “I still don’t know what to tell parents, and it’s just an awful situation.”

Their pre-k3 is private, but since 2016 their pre-k4 has been funded through the city. 105 of those pre-k for all programs have been cancelled for the 2021 school year.

St. Stanislaus Kostka was originally one of them, but they’ve appealed. Now, they’re still waiting to hear back about their appeal to see if their contract will be cut and they’re running out of time.

They haven’t announced the window yet, but it [registration] usually opens around the first week of February,” Donna explained.

School officials are confused, because they’ve been at maximum capacity for the past six years with a 30 person wait list. They have high scores, and great reviews from parents. Last year, they were even asked to expand.

The free program is also crucial as it serves Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Long Island City, all areas where rents have skyrocketed.

“Parents rely on it. It saves them a ton of money, and I think it’s kind of unfair to pull out the rug from all of these parents during a pandemic where they really can’t get into schools, schools are closed right now,” Donna added.

Now, they’re just looking for a response either way.

“Whether it’s positive or negative, just give us an answer so that we know,” said Frank Carbone, president of the school. “We can plan and help ease the tension and help ease some of the pressures that our families are experiencing right now, which is important to us.”

They’ve been asking for help, setting up a petition and urging their community to email the Department of Education, but still have heard nothing.

Currents News reached out to the Department of Education — they say the appeals process is ongoing and that the school should hear back in the next few weeks.

The school is planning on exploring the option of taking the program private if they lose their appeal.

Faith Is Helping Woman Who Woke From Coma and Survived COVID Through Recovery

Currents News Staff

After Lisa Martin spent 59 days on a ventilator, 40 days in an induced coma and suffered a frontal lobe stroke, the Georgia-based mother of four is now home. The family was about to let her go, but says God had other plans.

Lisa joined Currents News to share her incredible story and how her faith has been helping her during recovery.