Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
Some of the top stories on this newscast:
The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is setting the scene for a new politically charged battle in what has already been a divisive campaign.
The Brooklyn Diocese is making an appeal to the parents of public school students.
And a Catholic protest led by the Archbishop in a city that still hasn’t allowed the faithful back inside churches to worship.
Currents News Staff
The continuing delays in opening the city’s public schools are prompting the vicar for Catholic schools in the Brooklyn Diocese to speak out. The 66 schools in the diocese opened for in-person learning nearly two weeks ago.
Joining Currents News is Monsignor David Cassato, pastor of St. Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst, who has a message for public school parents.
By Emily Drooby
Backpacks and buses were seen around New York City Sept. 21, as public schools began their staggered rollout. Kids in 3-k, pre-k and district 75 special education started in-person learning. The rest of the city’s 1.1 million students started virtually.
It’s a far cry from the city’s original plan, which had all students starting in-person Monday. That was changed last-minute, less than a week ago.
Still, parents of the Big Apple’s youngest students told Currents News they were thrilled to get their kids back into a classroom.
With the new plan, 90,000 students start in-person learning this week at 734 schools and 1,050 community based early childhood programs.
Mousumi Islam said her daughter could not wait to go to school this morning.
Imitating her daughter, she said, “‘Mommy lets go, lets go.’ Wait, wait, 8:30 your class is opening. Hold on hold on. ‘No let’s go.’”
Mayor Bill de Blasio called the first phase of the rollout as inspiring. It’s the “first time our children are going back into school buildings in big numbers since the middle of March,” he explained.
Some parents are still worried.
“I’m a little bit scared with COVID-19,” Mousumi told Currents News. “I’m a little bit scared.”
The road to schools reopening has been long and bumpy. In-person learning has now been delayed twice, with health, safety, and a lack of teachers as to blame.
The new staggered reopening plan has elementary schools, both K-5 and K-8, going back next Tuesday, Sept. 29. Middle schools, high schools, secondary schools and transfer/adult education won’t start until October 1.
Despite continued delays, Mayor de Blasio remains optimistic.
“This morning, strong lift-off and you heard, it’s a huge number of schools and early childhood programs, and they’re starting strong,” he said. “So, I feel very good about the trajectory we are on.”
He was encouraged by the school’s safety procedures and by the sight of the city’s youngest students successfully wearing their masks.
“They were wearing those masks, it was natural to them,” Mayor de Blasio said. “That’s going to be crucial to everyone’s health and safety. Even four-year-old’s, three-year-olds can do it.”
About 42 percent of the city’s students have opted to start the year learning virtually, while most students who do go to in-person classes will still have a hybrid schedule.
By Jessica Easthope
The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is setting the scene for a new politically-charged battle in what has already been a divisive campaign. Now, with just weeks to go before the election a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is also at stake.
“They always refer to the ‘October Surprise,’ and we’re not even in October yet but this does change the dynamic,” said Brian Browne, the Assistant Vice President of Government Relations and an adjunct professor of political science at St. John’s University.
Browne says the country is waiting to see if history will repeat itself as Justice Ginsburg leaves a vacant seat on the Supreme Court.
“Republicans when they were faced with the same situation in 2016 after Justice Scalia died. They did not consider then President Obama’s nomination, so now there’s a call that that same practice be put into place,” Browne said.
As for the nomination, President Trump has one thing decided.
“I will be putting forth a nominee next week, it will be a woman,” he said at a campaign rally in North Carolina Sept. 19.
Topping the list of candidates is Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative and a Catholic who was a finalist for the last vacancy, which was ultimately filled by Brett Kavanaugh.
“She’s a conservative, member of the Federalist Society, mother of seven, two of them adopted from Haiti, young,” said Browne. “At 48-years-old she would be the youngest seated justice, so she would have a long influence on the court,” said Browne.
Barrett’s political and religious beliefs have been cause for controversy in the past.
“She is someone who has faced some tough and frankly unfair questioning. Senator Feinstein from California questioned some of her dogma and deeply held Catholic beliefs, we do not have a religious test for public officials, that’s unconstitutional,” Browne said.
Historically, the Catholic vote is split evenly down the party line, but if a nominee is confirmed ahead of Election Day, Browne says the Catholic vote could hold more power.
“For Catholics who are concerned with the issue of life, they will be energized by the idea of another justice appointed by President Trump,” Browne said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden says he will not release his list of potential nominees, and has called on Republicans to hold off until after Election Day.
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — San Francisco’s archbishop told hundreds of Catholics gathered near City Hall Sept. 20 that “it is because of our Catholic faith that we are being put at the end of the line” by city officials in enacting what could be the country’s harshest pandemic restrictions on religious worship.
“The city continues to place unrealistic and suffocating restrictions on our natural and constitutional right to worship. This willful discrimination is affecting us all,” said Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. “Yes, discrimination, because there is no other word for it.”
He made the comments in a homily at a Mass that followed eucharistic processions to a plaza near San Francisco’s City Hall.
On Sept. 13, in a memo to all priests of the archdiocese, Archbishop Cordileone announced that three parishes were organizing eucharistic processions starting at different points and ending up next to City Hall, to be followed by Masses outside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. He urged all parishes to participate.
More than 1,000 Catholics participated in the archdiocesan “Free the Mass” demonstration.
In his memo, in an op-ed in The Washington Post Sept. 16 and in his homily, the archbishop said Catholics are asking to be treated like anyone else in being able to exercise their right to worship in public at a “level consistent with other activities” in the city, like shopping, protesting and gathering in a public park.
Church leaders have no issue with the faithful being asked to following safety protocols amid the pandemic, he said, and he has reiterated that being asked to adhere to these measures is within the purview of city and health officials, but keeping people from worship is not.
“Months ago, we submitted a safety plan to the city including masks and social distancing, just like indoor retail stores did,” explained in his homily. “The city said yes to indoor retail, but we Catholics are still waiting to hear back.”
Right now, he said, people can shop at Nordstrom’s at 25% capacity “but only one of you at a time is allowed to pray inside of this great cathedral, your cathedral? Is this equality? No, there is no reason for this new rule except a desire to put Catholics — to put you — at the back of the line.”
The archbishop made several references to the “back of the line” and “end of the line” in his homily, titled “Going to the End of the Line for the Glory of God.”
He said that Sunday’s Gospel reading from Matthew reminded him of the time he spent as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Calexico, California, at the U.S.-Mexico border and his morning jog along the border fence.
“There I would see the exact scene Our Lord describes: men standing in the streets, waiting to be hired to work in fields so they could make a day’s wage,” he said. “Like the workers at the Eleventh Hour, these men were at the end of the line: the ones left out and ignored by society, the people barely able to survive.”
One time he gave a ride to the bus station to a man who had entered the country illegally and was trying to get to the next stop to start his new life in the United States. He bought the man a ticket so he could continue on his journey.
“I was aware that I was breaking the law, since it is against the law to provide transportation to an undocumented immigrant,” he continued. “But the highest law is love of God and love of neighbor, and that law has to take precedence over the human-made law of the state when government would ask us to turn our backs on God or our neighbor in need.
“Now in San Francisco, all of us here are being put at the end of the line,” he said. “No matter how rich or poor, no matter whether newly arrived or from families that have been here for many generations, it is our Catholic faith that unites us, and it is because of our Catholic faith that we are being put at the end of the line.”
Archbishop Cordileone noted that amid the pandemic, the work of the Catholic Church of San Francisco has been ongoing, such as Catholic Charities’ outreach to the homeless or and the efforts of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul assisting the needy at the parish level.
He thanked the priests, religious and “the sacrificing lay faithful, for what you are doing to keep the love of Christ alive and visible in these distressing times. This is what it means to go to the end of the line.”
He urged Catholics to remain spiritually grounded during this time by spending at least one hour a week in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and, fasting on Fridays and going to confession frequently.
By Emily Drooby
For over 35 years, Dr. Elizabeth Lutas has cared for the homeless as a physician.
Of why she does it, she said, “I try to spend as much time as I can with them because I want to show them that I do love them and God is with us all.”
On Saturday, her dedication was recognized at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.
Dr. Lutas was one of 57 people from the Diocese of Brooklyn to have a Papal Honor bestowed upon them.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is proud of those who were selected.
“We are really blessed in our diocese with people who are really extraordinary and give so much time and devotion to the life of the church. So that’s what the Holy Father has honored,” said Bishop DiMarzio.
A huge honor, given by Pope Francis and the Vatican, based off suggestions made by Bishop DiMarzio.
The honorees are people who give much of their time and self to others. Delores Casey is one of them. For over a decade she has been working hard to make Monsignor Bernard Quinn a saint.
“But nothing good happens right away. You know, you have to work for it, pray for it,” Casey said. adding, “I was not aware that I would be selected for this because whatever I did, I did out of the love of my heart.”
Helping others out of love is also how honoree Mother Celine Vadukkoot, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, lives her life. As the Mother Superior of the Queen of Peace Residence, she is deeply dedicated to caring for the elderly.
Mother Vadukkoot said, “It’s a great privilege. We ask the Diocese of Brooklyn, all people of God to pray for us, that we will always remain faithful to the charism of our mother founder, God bless you all.”
Some honorees have also given so much of themselves to serve the dioceses. Deacon Jorge Gonzalez is one of them. He oversees every detail of each permanent deacon’s five-year journey.
Deacon Gonzalez said, “It’s a feeling that I cannot express, it’s an honor, it’s a blessing.”
Ed Wilkinson was also honored. He spent almost five decades as a crucial member of The Tablet team. He explained, this award came at the perfect time.
“I’m retiring on Monday and receiving this award today, so it’s kind of just like a nice ending to my career. So I’m really excited about it and very grateful to the Bishop for nominating me,” said Wilkinson.
By Currents News Staff
The 87-year-old Ginsburg was the senior member of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing.
She was well-known for delivering progressive votes on divisive social issues, and authoring fiery dissents.
In recent years, Ginsburg cultivated a rock star status and was dubbed the “Notorious RBG.”
She began her tenure on the supreme court in 1993, when she was appointed by President Bill Clinton.
Before that, she had a celebrated career as an attorney fighting for equal rights for women.
Ginsburg suffered from five bouts of cancer before dying.
***This story is breaking and will be updated***
Currents News Staff
A Catholic Bible studies program that’s been going strong for 30 years had to make some changes this year because of the pandemic. The normally in-person class is going virtual, and organizers say that’s a good thing.
The leader of the Haitian Apostolate, retired Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq joins Currents News to share about what the program teaches.
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.
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.