St. John’s Bread & Life Feeds Thousands Ahead of Thanksgiving

By Jessica Easthope

At St. John’s Bread & Life, feeding those in need is a numbers game.

70,000 — that’s the number of pounds of food that has been given out ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. 3,000 — the number of meals served every single day — has been quadrupled during the pandemic.

“A lot of people who never expected to be on our lines are on our lines asking for help and you see the fear in people’s faces, like ‘What do I do? I have to pay my rent, I have to feed my kids.’ So if we can be that support for them, we feel like we’ve accomplished a lot,” said Sister Caroline Tweedy, the Executive Director of St. John’s Bread & Life.

For Sister Caroline says staying ahead of the numbers and the need is what makes the soup kitchen successful. When it comes to the “bread,” they have it covered. But in recent months, the “life” part of their mission has been challenging.

“The one thing that really is missing for us is that sense of community. Bread & Life has always been that place, that refuge for people. Come in, have a meal, see a movie, go to crocheting class, we can’t do any of that,” Sister Caroline explained.

The day before Thanksgiving, staff and volunteers — a team that’s been severely cut down for social distancing — is working double time.

“I have social workers who are on this line handing out food, case managers who are stuffing bags, directors who are running out in the street, everybody is doing their part,” Sister Caroline said.

They all have the same goal: to help people like Rebecca Crowley.

“It’s a blessing to make sure my children don’t go to bed hungry,” said Rebecca, a client at the soup kitchen.

Rebecca and her veteran husband both lost their jobs during the pandemic. With three young kids at home, Rebecca relies on St. John’s Bread & Life to make Thanksgiving special.

“It’s the best feeling in the world to be able to make a meal knowing you came here and put it down in front of my family just the look in their eyes,” she said.

This Thanksgiving, the pandemic isn’t stopping St. John’s Bread & Life from showing people they still care. 6,000 is the number of people they’ll feed, and the number of reasons to have hope.

Operation Santa: How This Teen Is Making Sure Soldiers Abroad Have a Merry Christmas Amid Pandemic

Currents News Staff

Pandemic travel restrictions have been tough on everyone who’s away from their family during the holidays, but it’s been especially tough on a teen in Rockland County, New York, who hasn’t seen his older sister Sam in over a year.

She’s in the U.S. Army stationed in Italy, and they don’t know when she’ll be able to come home next.

Trey Rolnick joins Currents News now to share how he’s trying to make sure Sam and her fellow soldiers still have a Merry Christmas.

If you’d like to donate to the soldiers stationed in Italy, head on over to gofundme.com and search for “Operation Santa, Sam’s Soldiers.” The deadline to donate is Sunday, November 29.

Enrollment at St. Francis College Grows as Other Schools See Declines During Pandemic

By Emily Drooby

As she steps through the doors of St. Francis College, Gabrielle Lora also steps towards her future. The freshman is studying for a career in education.

“This is a great school, and I love it so much,” she said.

Gabrielle is part of the largest freshman class in the history of the school. For the 2020 school year, St. Francis had 747 incoming freshmen, a 22 percent jump from 2019.

This means the school bucks a national trend. This fall, freshman enrollment dropped 13 percent in the U.S.

Community colleges had the steepest drop off, at almost 19 percent.

While the pandemic financial woes and learning from home is likely to blame for some of the drop, it has actually been an ongoing trend. Enrollment numbers have dropped 11 percent over the past eights years. Experts say it’s due to more immediate job opportunities and the high cost of college.

So how did St. Francis College grow? Alumnus and Director of Recruitment Rob Oliva says it’s because they got creative and personal with recruiting.

“We increased our communication with students by hosting numerous virtual visit sessions, personal visits with high schools and we were able to connect with our students in very personal ways,”he explained. “We know our students’ names, they know us.”

That recruitment style is what drew in Gabrielle.

“St. Francis came to my high school. The president, Miguel, was able to basically talk about the core values: dream, serve, achieve, and something was telling me this was the school,” she told Currents News.

Her decision was solidified by the people.

“I saw how everyone was like, ‘Hi, hi, welcome, welcome,’ and I wanted to be a part of that,” she said.

Money was also at play, as many families have struggled financially because of the pandemic.

An average four-year private college in New York City costs 32,500 dollars. Tuition at St. Francis College is 26,688 dollars but an average student pays 13,500 dollars after institutional aid, and under 10,000 dollars after the government aid kicks in too.

Ninety-nine percent of their students get institutional aid.

This year, the school even offered extra help through an emergency relief fund for students struggling from pandemic financial woes.

“But thanks to the generosity of our alumni, friends and benefactors, we were able to offer a very generous scholarship program to our students,” said Rob.

Currents News full broadcast for Tues, 11/24/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

For the first time, Pope Francis is saying millions of Muslims in western China are victims of persecution.

Projected winner Joe Biden gets the green light from the federal government to move ahead with his presidential transition.

A tour of the catacombs beneath Old Saint Patrick’s reveals the amazing history of the Catholic Church in New York City.

Why Saint Francis College in Brooklyn Heights is attracting so many new students.

1,000 Nuns on a Mission With $1,000: How Catholic Extension Is Impacting Communities Across the Country During the Pandemic

Currents News Staff

This holiday season will be different for all of us. It will be really difficult for some who have lost loved ones, their health or their jobs during this pandemic.

But thanks to the papal society Catholic Extension, it’s putting $1,000 in the hands of a thousand nuns, so that they can help those who are most in need.

The Vice President of Mission at Catholic Extension, Joe Boland, joins Currents News to share the goods news about the “Sisters on the Frontlines” initiative.

If you’d like to donate to the Sisters On The Frontlines, head to catholicextension.org, where information on how to give is available on their homepage.

Pope Francis’ Go-To Italian Gelato Shop ‘Padron’ Serves Argentinan Favorites

By Currents News Staff and Inés San Martín

ROSARIO, Argentina – At a time when supporting your local retailers is a way of helping them weather the COVID-19 storm, one ice cream shop hiding in the shade of St. Peter’s Basilica that has one special faithful customer: Pope Francis.

The ice-cream shop Padron is so well known in the Vatican that when Silvia – the wife of the owner, Sebastian Padron – showed up to the gates of the world’s smallest state with a dozen empanadas – a meat-filled dough that is a classic dish in Pope Francis’s native Argentina – no one asked any questions and delivered them directly to the pontiff.

The empanadas are a recent addition to the ice cream shop’s menu, in an attempt to keep the business running during the winter months. The Padrons left a note with the gift: They wanted the Holy Father to know they’re praying for him, and that they wouldn’t mind if he prayed for them.

The treats were delivered on a Saturday, and on Tuesday, Pope Francis made a phone call to personally thank him for the gesture, and to invite him over for a chat.

“I could hardly believe how personal he was being, how approachable, human,” Padron told Crux over the phone, after the 40-minute conversation his family had with Pope Francis in the Casa Santa Marta, the residence within the Vatican grounds where the Francis has lived since his election.

“The Holy Father wanted to know when we could come, based on the store hours, and the routine of the family, when obviously, whenever he could welcome us, we could go!” Padron said.

Despite the family’s shock, it’s not entirely surprising that the pontiff called them: He’s a big fan of ice cream and he often takes the time to thank people personally for their gifts and gestures of good will.

The Padrons’ have two children: Maite, 6, and Luca Marino, 3. They opened the shop in 2018, and the original plan for this year was to open another store, since business was booming- thanks to the quality of the product, the special customer from Santa Marta and an Argentine player at A.S. Roma, the Italian capital’s most popular soccer team.

Yet the pandemic changed those plans.

Cardinals, bishops and friends of the Holy Father are regular customers of Padron [including this chronicler], and all of them know that Dulce de Leche Granizado is the one flavor that cannot be missing for any order headed for Pope Francis.

For those unfamiliar with it, dulce de leche is a brown caramel-like spread, made from milk, sugar and vanilla extract. It has small variations and is consumed in several Latin American countries, but Argentines like to claim they invented it. The ice cream flavor Pope Francis favors includes tiny shreds of bitter chocolate.

The Padron family arrived in the Casa Santa Marta on Oct. 29 with a basket full of their best products, including a bottle of Argentine Malbec wine, that is also available for customers. Much to the joy of the children, the pontiff too had a bag full of gifts in exchange, including rosaries for each member of the family, and a Franciscan crucifix.

Maite had a drawing for him, which at the end of the encounter, Francis carefully took with him, calling it the “most important thing” among the gifts the family had offered.

“To me, it felt like he was ‘unplugging’ for a few minutes from what it means to be the pope,” Padron said. “We were surprised by how welcome he made all of us feel, much as if we were having a chat with an old friend. I think he needed that too, to be among friends.”

Though there has been much speculation as to why Pope Francis decided to live in the Casa Santa Marta instead of the Apostolic Palace when he was elected in 2013, but he has explained it several times: He likes that first-hand contact with people, of all backgrounds, and the freedom to determine some of his appointments, as the one with Padron, which he wrote down in his agenda himself.

“At one point, the pope acknowledged that being with us was good for him, almost as if it helped him keep grounded, feel like he was among friends, in his neighborhood, in his country,” Padron said. The pontiff has yet to go back to Argentina since his election, but he’s never short of Argentines in Rome, even inviting a missionary from Buenos Aires who lives in Mozambique to visit him for a week.

Pope Francis welcomed the family in a “very large room” on the ground floor of the papal residence and was very punctual, arriving with a smile but no face mask. “He told us that it didn’t ‘seem right’ to use the mask in such a large room, in what was supposed to be a personal setting, when he already has to use it ‘all day’.”

How the Catacombs Beneath the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral Reconnect Faith and History

By Jessica Easthope

Time stands still on Mulberry and Prince Streets.

There’s a hidden secret inside the church. Many don’t know there’s an Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which means they definitely don’t know about what lies beneath.

“The tradition started during the Roman Empire when Catholics couldn’t afford burials so Catholic property owners decided to burrow tunnels under their very own properties, and then this tradition carried out all throughout Europe,” explained Tommy Wilkinson, the Tour Director of Tommy’s New York.

Catacombs, the crypts under the now Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, were first built in 1815. Historical figures lie in coffins hermetically sealed within the walls. The details of their lives and deaths are now sealed in Tommy’s mind.

“In this country they’re very reverend places of burial, you’ll usually find trustees and benefactors, so the early families that literally supported the Church,” Wilkinson said.

The catacombs are where Wilkinson spends his days — walking back and forth, giving tours above and below seven days a week.

“This is really an untapped gem that I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to share with the world,” said Tommy.

His tours help sustain the church financially.

“Every parish has to stand on its own legs and find ways to support itself, and what’s unique about the basilica here is it has six properties to maintain, all of them double landmarked, and I don’t think we’re truly at risk because of all the special things that make this church historic,” he said, ‘and definitely the tours have become a very important part of sustaining the church.”

Tommy’s keys unlock a lot of doors, each one opens a new opportunity to connect with the lost history of New York City and the Catholic Church.

“There’s also an evangelizing process,” he noted. “People reconnecting with their faith, people wanting to delve more into their Catholicism, people wanting to become parishioners. I don’t know how many weddings and funerals being scheduled here resulted from the tour, but for me it’s a high honor to have been blessed with the opportunity.”

He experienced that same reconnection: he once strayed from the Church, but deep within the catacombs, he found faith again.

“I became a parishioner the very day I signed the contract,” he recalled. “Being a Catholic myself and just recognizing the importance of what I’ve been given here. It was more than just luck. I felt a tremendous burden of responsibility as well and this has re-anchored me in my faith. This means everything to me that I’ve been given the opportunity to build a business around having the keys to the kingdom here.”

Bishops, priests, politicians and even the man who introduced Italian opera to the United States are all buried down in the catacombs, and the best part is you could be buried with them.

“It’s the only active Catholic cemetery here in Manhattan, so imagine you can choose a niche right down here in the catacombs where you’re going to become a part of history and to me that’s fascinating,” said Tommy.

Surrounded by the walls of the final resting place, each person feels something different during the 90 minute experience. But when all the lights go out, history comes alive.

Currents News full broadcast for Mon, 11/23/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

An annual competition where students at Jesuit schools collect food for the hungry while competing for scholarship dollars.

COVID in New York City – will there be more restrictions and looking ahead at a plan to reopen New York City schools.

Prayers answered for one religious order in Brooklyn – cleanup of the Gowanus Canal has begun!

Hispanic Americans are living longer despite their economic challenges – the power of faith and family helping solve the mystery.

The ‘Hispanic Paradox’ Explained: Faith and Family Key to Longevity Advantage for Latinos

By Franca Braatz

You’re listening to the sounds of the Jornada, a Catholic movement made up of young people who come together to celebrate their faith as they navigate their lives.

Their journey may help to solve a mystery known as the “Hispanic Paradox.” Princeton University Professor Noreen Goldman studies it.

‘It represents the fact that Hispanics live longer than whites in the United States,” she explains.

They will live 3.3 years longer than those who are white according to the CDC, and seven years longer than Black Americans, even though they face more socioeconomic challenges and have less access to quality health care.

“Hispanics have better health related behaviors than whites, predominantly they are less likely to smoke than whites, but some have also argued that better diets are part of the differential that we see,” Goldman told Currents News.

Experts are also looking at the power of prayer. An American Heart Journal study found that prayer triggers a relaxation response that can help prevent chronic diseases.

“Another argument is that Hispanics have more extensive social networks, better social support through family, friends, or church than whites,” added Goldman.

That’s no surprise to Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, who leads the Health Justice team at the National Partnership for Women and Families in Washington D.C.

“That social connectivity which churches are very good at promoting is very important for any one, any family in any community to be able to navigate all of the challenges of living in the United States,” she explained.

Father Manuel de Jesus Rodríguez knows those challenges first hand as the new pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows church in Corona, Queens, a predominantly Hispanic parish.

“They are spiritually united with their family because of our faith,” he said. “You might have heard Latinos have a lot of health issues, not too much money, they struggle in many ways but Latinos got something. Latinos got a big heart”

“They’ve got a big, wonderful approach to joy and enjoying life, too.”

Another explanation, Hernández-Cancio argues, may have more to do with immigration than with the Hispanic population specifically.

“When people come to this country, Hispanic or otherwise, they’re coming in generally healthier with better diets. Being an immigrant is a self-selective thing. You have to have a lot of get up and go and energy and health to come to this country to start a new life,” she explained.

Those newly arrived immigrants – especially Hispanics – are using faith and family to help them overcome the challenges of their newcomer status.

‘Latinos in general tend to be much more focused on family no matter what,” says Hernández-Cancio. “You know, hate the sin but love the sinner. Latinos very much tend to be known for supporting their young people, in whatever situations they may be in.”

The community supports young people like the members of the Jornada movement, who choose to strengthen their faith through fellowship and cultural expression.

“It’s that fellowship. It’s that Latino culture in us, family-oriented, that we have. So no matter who comes, we already welcome them with open arms,” noted Juan Rosa, a member of the movement.

“It reels them in,” added member Joey Ortega, “whether it be through music, whether it be through performance art, whether it be through dance.”

“To be able to bond, especially with the faith that we have,” is important, Eliza Bermejo, a member of the Jornada movement explained. “We bond with our religion, we bond with our love for God, and it’s something beautiful.

“It helps us grow as a family, especially because we’re a Latino community,” added Ignacio Valdez,, another member.

The Latino community has been especially hard hit by the ongoing pandemic, and their mortality advantage has suffered because of it. But, there’s hope the effects will be temporary.

“Faith makes us joyful and hopeful,” reminds Fr. Rodríguez. “I think that makes life a little bit better & happier.”

Catholic School Students Collect Tens of Thousands of Pounds of Food for Pantries as Need Increases

By Emily Drooby

Stacking cans might be a small task, but it has a big meaning for some Loyola High School students. By doing it, they’re helping those who can’t afford their Thanksgiving meal, especially after the pandemic wreaked financial havoc for many. Many of these students have seen the increased poverty first hand.

“I’ve seen it on Metro North, which I take. I’ve seen it one the subways, I’ve seen it walking to school, and I think that even encourages us more that we have to help out, do everything we can,” said Loyola senior Regina Potenza.

The Great Ignatian Challenge is an annual competition where nine Jesuit schools from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship money by collecting food.

It’s mostly funded by one Jesuit school alumnus, Jim Rowen.

It’s brought in over 200 tons of food in just five years, but this year, the competition is more essential than ever.

The number of New Yorkers who say they have food insecurity fears is up 20 percent since before the pandemic, making food pantries not just a need but a lifeline for many.

These students are helping. Last year’s winner, Loyola, has already sent almost 12,000 pounds of food to City Harvest.

“Our focus is on fresh produce instead of just canned goods, because we find that most donations that go to soup kitchens and food pantries are often canned goods that are non-perishable,” said Loyola senior Christina Landau.

Their challenge, run by an all-women board, is unique since Loyola is the only co-ed school taking up the challenge. This year, they collected most items online instead of in person for maximum social distancing.

The challenge is also going strong just about 70 blocks away, at Xavier High School.

Helping people right in their own backyard, donations going to the Xavier Mission. Their need has increased by 20 percent this year.

Xavier is already thousands past their 15,000-item goal, meaning the mission will be able to give out 200 thanksgiving meals and still be stacked up for winter.

“It feels great, just again the work paid off and it’s worth it for all of the people who need it,” said Xavier sophomore, C.J. Marlin, “It feels good to know that there’s going to be one less person that’s hungry.”

Other schools participating this year are Canisius High School in Buffalo, McQuaid Jesuit in Rochester, Fairfield College Preparatory School in Fairfield, Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, Regis High School in Manhattan, St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City and St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia.

To donate to some of the schools, including Xavier High School, click here.

To donate to Loyola, click here.