20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

A humanitarian tragedy unfolding on the Greek island of Lesbos – we’ll show you the dire situation and what’s being done to help the suffering migrants.

Why the vicar for Catholic schools is urging the parents of public-school kids to enroll in diocesan schools.

Some angels are answering the prayers of a Brooklyn church whose statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was desecrated.

And in the wake of Hurricane Maria – four dioceses in Puerto Rico are now getting tens of millions of dollars from the federal government.

Following Fire at Lesbos Refugees Camp, Thousands Are Still Without Shelter

By Emily Drooby

After the fire in Moria, Lesbos, refugees were left with practically nothing. Many are sleeping on the streets. There are thousands of families who have been waiting for a new camp for days.

This, after a fire ravaged the largest refugee camp in Greece called, Moria, located on the island of Lesbos.

One refugee, who is unnamed, said, “You can see our situation. We don’t have any place to – there isn’t any toilet. There is not enough water, no food.”

Pope Francis does not forget his 2016 visit to the now vanished Moria camp. That is why when the fire broke out, he recalled that those who flee from war or hunger deserve a dignified hospitality.

“That a humane and dignified hospitality be assured to migrant women and men, refugees, and those who seek asylum in Europe,” he said. “I express my solidarity and closeness to all the victims of these dramatic experiences.”

Long before the fire, the camp has been plagued with reports of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions

About 12,000 people were living there before the fire, at least 4,000 of them children. Many were there after risking everything to leave countries like Afghanistan and Syria.

“We put our lives in danger to come here. We didn’t know if we were going to live or die when we went into the sea. We thought we were going to die. We crossed the border. We had heard that there was respect for human rights here, but since we arrived, nobody has helped us,” explained another unnamed refugee.

Six people have been arrested for starting the fires including two minors, all are Afghan nationals.

It has been over a week, and still thousands are left without shelter.

Footage shows hundreds of temporary tents set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council in an effort to help.

“What is needed? Access to water, sanitation, hygiene. Access to medical assistance, and all the immediate relief items,” explained Astrid Castelein, High Commissioner for Refugees for the United Nations.

Police are moving refugees into a new camp, but many are afraid to go, allegedly fearing more bad conditions.

Medical attention is also essential especially as the area continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.

A group from Doctors Without Borders, on the ground in Moria, say the fire made conditions much worse for their patients. They’re warning that people shouldn’t be put in another camp.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the president of Greece, acknowledges the overcrowding and is calling for help.

Germany has vowed to take in 1,500 refugees, while 400 unaccompanied children have been flown to shelters in northern Greece.

Early Voting Begins as Biden, Trump Hit the Campaign Trail

Currents News Staff

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden were both on the campaign trail Thursday, Sept. 18.

“This is the most important election in the history of our country,” said Trump.

“I’m going to be America’s president, not a Democratic president,” Biden said. “I’m a Democrat, proud of it, but America’s president.”

The race for the White House escalates as early in-person voting and absentee voting begin in several states.

Most mail-in ballot application deadlines are in October. It’s a process the Trump administration has repeatedly blasted, making unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

“Everyone knows mail-in ballots are a disaster,” said Trump.

Attorney General Bill Barr spoke about the mail-in ballots.

“‘Oh wait a minute, we just discovered 100,000 ballots. Every vote must be counted.’ You know, we don’t know where these freaking votes came from,” Barr said.

Biden calls such comments an attempt to delegitimize the election.

“Look, if the president had even remote confidence that he was likely to win the election, he wouldn’t be doing this,” he said.

But there’s greater interest in absentee and mail-in ballots nationwide this year, due to COVID-19.

Some fear the fraud claims could lead to problems. The president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Kristen Clarke says the pandemic is playing a part.

“We started 2020 seeing intense levels of voter suppression and voting discrimination, and that picture has been compounded by the pandemic,” Clarke said.

Currents News full broadcast for Thurs, 9/17/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

President Trump is not seeing eye to eye with his top health officials over face masks and the timing of a vaccine.

We check in with Catholic churches in the hurricane zone after Sally ravaged so many communities down south.

We’ll show you how Catholic Charities is working to boost the census in New York neighborhoods where it is vital that everyone is counted.

Mayor Bill de Blasio Announces Another Delay to In-Person Learning for NYC Public Schools

By Jessica Easthope

September 21 was the day many students, parents and teachers had been waiting for. After six months, New York City’s public schools would have their first day of in person learning. But, it was once again delayed.

“Real concerns have been raised by my colleagues. They reached out to me and said they had specific concerns about things that had to be done to make sure our schools could start effectively and safely,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

This is the second delay for in-school learning for the Department of Education. This time it was safety and efficiency issues raised by the teachers’ union and Schools Chancellor, Richard Carranza.

“We’re giving schools more time, more staff and more support and this helps us to have the strongest possible start to the most unconventional school year any one of us have experienced,” Carranza said.

The re-opening will now happen in phases. Pre-K and special needs students will start on Monday as planned, elementary school students start on September 29, and middle and high school students on October 1.

“We need to step back and figure out some things. We now have seen after a 10 day period that there are some blanks we need to fill in, and we’re going to do that,” said Michael Mulgrew, the President of the United Federation of Teachers.

Though 42 percent of all public school students opted for an all-virtual school year, the DOE needs 10,000 teachers to successfully manage a hybrid model. The city is still 5,500 short.

Catholic schools throughout the city also recognized the need for more staff immediately. At Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy in Corona, Queens they’ve added teachers to every classroom.

“We have a teacher assistant in the overflow room, so when she’s teaching a lesson on any given day, the teacher assistant is actually walking around ensuring the kids are learning exactly what she’s teaching,” said Cristina Tancredi-Cruz, Principal of Our Lady of Sorrows.

This delay comes as the DOE announces that at least 56 schools have had one or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 among staff.

In Wake of Hurricane Sally, Alabama and Florida Parishes Face Building Damages, Power Outages

By Emily Drooby

At least one person is dead and another missing after Hurricane Sally ripped through Alabama and Florida.

“The winds were high. It was whistling like I’ve never heard before,” one Gulf Shores, Alabama resident, told a Currents News.

Areas are still plagued by downed trees and powerlines, and many homes are still floating in flood waters caused by record-breaking rainfall.

In Alabama, rescue and recovery continued on Sept. 17, with many roads and bridges still impassable.

“Our state is reeling, just as our people are hurting,” said the state’s Governor, Kay Ivey.

The Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama closed their schools and offices in preparation for the storm, leaving them unreachable.

In Florida, the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee had some damage to some of their structures, including Little Flower Catholic Church and the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel.

Many areas in their diocese have been left without power, and several of their parishes have suspended Masses and services until they can reopen.

The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee is trying to regroup, while still being left in the dark. While plans have yet to be formalized, they’ll be helping their local churches as soon as they can.

Also in Florida, hundreds were rescued from high waters with aid from 500 Florida National Guard soldiers.

“We had 30 inches of rain, 30-plus inches of rain, which is four months of rain in four hours at some point, so it is very bad and severe,” explained Chief Ginny Cranor of the Pensacola, Fl. Fire Department.

Sally may have passed through, but the danger isn’t over, Florida’s governor warning any body of water in Northwest Florida could see a rise in levels over the next few days.

Catholic Charities of New York Boosts NYC Census Turnout in What They Say Is a Matter of ‘Fairness’

By Jessica Easthope

Every 10 years the census aims to count the entire U.S. population, but it’s not an easy task.

It’s estimated that four million Americans won’t be counted in the 2020 census. Even though legislative representation and billions of dollars in federal funding are at stake, Catholic Charities of New York is looking to close that gap.

“This is the way government structures are funded and now more than ever the way New York was hit, we want to make sure we get the COVID support three, five, 10 years down the line,” said Eddie Silverio, the Division Director of Communities Services for Catholic Charities of New York.

On Sept. 16 Catholic Charities joined forces with several community organizations in the Highbridge section of the Bronx to boost census turn out. In the Bronx, just over 60 percent of households have filled out the census. Organizers say that’s a failing grade, but by making their presence known they drew in people like Kelly Woods.

Kelly used to be homeless, but after landing on her feet she understands how important the census is, and is participating for the first time.

“It’s important to us, it can better us, our lifestyles, our jobs, our environment, basically everything in life that we’re working on,” Kelly told Currents News.

Low census turnout isn’t only a problem in the Bronx — it’s citywide. In the Diocese of Immigrants, 60.6 percent of Queens households have filled out the census and Brooklyn has the worst numbers in the entire city, with 56.6 percent.

Areas with high numbers of undocumented immigrants have historically low turnouts. Organizers say it’s because they fear it will impact their immigration status. That was the case for Matilde Gonzalez.

“I think it’s very important especially for Spanish people, we’re always behind the door, scared to do things but now is the time that we stand up and we count,” Matilde said.

Not only is the census a matter of getting proper funding, organizers say it’s a Catholic issue.

“For us as Catholics it’s an issue of fairness and participation in civic life,” said Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, the Executive Director of Catholic Charities of New York.

“We as Catholics always want to do right by people and do right by our neighbors, and this is the way to do right by our neighbors,” said Eddie Silverio.

Catholic Charities expected to get 350 new households to fill out the census on Wednesday. The deadline to complete it is September 30.

‘Million Dollar Listing’’s Bianca D’Alessio on Why New Yorkers Are Leaving Manhattan During COVID-19

Currents News Staff

The real estate market in Manhattan took a big hit because of the pandemic with many who decided to move out of such a crowded borough. The trend might be that the coronavirus crisis had the opposite effect on another part of the city- Brooklyn.

Joining Currents News is Bianca D’Alessio, a New York City-based real estate agent. She’s part of the show “Million Dollar Listing” and part of Ryan Serhant’s nest seekers international real estate team.

Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 9/16/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Caught in the act – the search for a man who desecrated a statue of the Blessed Mother at a church in Brooklyn.

How Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy in Corona, Queens is going that extra mile for parents and students adapting to the new way of learning this school year.

The fury of Hurricane Sally – the powerful storm slams into Alabama and Florida bringing widespread damage and flooding.

The remarkable story that began in Brooklyn forty years ago and one this couple says they will never forget their roots.

Diplomatic Pact Between Israel, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain Signals Change, But Impact Unclear

Currents News Staff

Israeli military jets attacked targets in Gaza after Palestianian militants fired rockets from there, injuring two people. This occurred less than 24 hours after leaders from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed a landmark deal at the White House, normalizing relations with the state of Israel.

“These agreements will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive peace across the entire region,” said President Donald Trump.

The so-called “Abraham Accord” establishes ties with much of the Arab world including embassies, enhanced security partnerships, increased business deals and travel.

The agreement is a win for the Trump administration and Israel’s longest serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who marked it as the “dawn of the new Middle East.”

“Let us rise above any political divide. For long after the pandemic has gone, the peace we make today will endure,” Netanyahu said.

The Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani expressed his support for ongoing dialogue, urging other Arab nations to move beyond the divisions of the past.

“For too long, the Middle East has been set back by conflict and mistrust,” says Al Zayani, “I’m convinced we have the opportunity to change that.”

Before the signing, Israel only had diplomatic ties with two other Arab nations, Jordan and Egypt. This agreement opens the door for other countries to come on board.

“As is often the case with complex situations,” Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, president of the National Jewish Center Learning and Leadership, says. “We don’t really know all the angles, but that shouldn’t keep us from trying.”

While many of the details are still unknown, experts say the alliance against Iran has been strengthened – and while the Palestinians have rejected it – the agreement has far reaching implications for the entire Middle East region.

“The implications of new peace between two Gulf states and the state of Israel could be a complete gamechanger for the region,” says Rabbi Brad, “especially if these are the opening two volleys in a larger strategy that include Saudi Arabia, which is the single most important government in the Saudi Arab world.”

For now, Israel will halt plans to annex Palistinian land in the West Bank as the Trump administration tries to bring Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Palestinians are calling the deal a “betrayal.”