Cardinal Dolan’s Prayer Opens Republican National Convention

By Currents News Staff and Catholic New Service

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CNS) — New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan thanked God for living in a country that respects religious freedom and prayed for people battling COVID-19 and those caring for them, the unborn, the elderly, immigrants and refugees during the opening evening of the Republican National Convention.

Cardinal Dolan offered the prayer, which was prerecorded, prior to a full evening of speakers Aug. 24.

He also prayed “that all lives may be protected and respected, in our troubled cities and the police who guard them.”

The minutelong invocation recalled the men and women of the U.S. military serving “in tense world situations” working to “keep the peace.”

Cardinal Dolan also prayed for people facing serious challenges including those whose lives are “threatened by religious persecution throughout the world, or by plague, hunger, drugs, human trafficking or war.”

“Pray we must in thanksgiving, in thanksgiving, dear God for democracy.”

The prayer concluded with a request that God bless the convention, the presidential nominees of both major political parties and for God’s “wisdom upon an electorate so eager to perform its duty of faithful citizenship.”

Cardinal Dolan was invited to offer the prayer. He and President Donald Trump have spoken publicly of their friendship that has existed over the years.

The Republican convention was scaled back to include a limited number of delegates and party officials to be in line with North Carolina limits on gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic and is largely an online event.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were nominated by delegates nationwide for a second term earlier in the day Aug. 24.

Addressing political conventions is not new for Cardinal Dolan. In 2012, he offered prayers at both the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Then president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Dolan prayed for the unborn, alluded to same-sex marriage and urged a renewed commitment to religious liberty during the GOP convention eight years ago.

A week later, during the Democratic National Convention, he also prayed for the unborn in his closing benediction “that they may be welcomed and protected.”

How ‘Fatima’ Actress Stephanie Gil Says She Prepped for Film on Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin

Currents News Staff

“Fatima” the movie is a powerful and uplifting drama that tells the story of the three young children who received apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal.

Actress Stephanie Gil portrays young Lucia, a child living in Fatima during the Spanish Flu. She joins Currents News to discuss the new film, and how the film’s portrayal of life in the1900s compares to our society during the pandemic today.

The film, directed by Marco Pontecorvo, has a soundtrack featuring the voice of Andrea Bocelli. Click here for additional information on how to view “Fatima” online.

Currents News full broadcast for Mon, 8/24/20 (Catholic news)

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

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The GOP national convention is underway and the President is already there.

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A sneak peek at Fatima the movie. One of the film’s stars joins us.

Aimed at Re-Election, President Trump Makes First Appearance at Republican National Convention

Currents News Staff

As Republicans kicked off their convention and their pitch for four more years in the White House, President Trump made his first appearance in Charlotte, North Carolina, ready for the fight ahead.

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

The president delivered a list of grievances, along with misleading claims over mail-in voting and state shut-downs due to the pandemic

“This is the greatest scam in the history of politics,” said President Trump in regards to the mail-in voting claims.

“You know, these Democratic governors love the shut down until after the election is over because they make the numbers look as bad as possible for the economy,” he added, referencing the state shutdowns, while touting his administration’s accomplishments.

“We had the best employment numbers,” he said,

He also promised more to come, saying, “We are getting ready to do things like nobody’s ever seen before.”

The president, down in the polls to Joe Biden, faces a steep challenge to re-brand his pandemic response as successful despite more than 175,000 deaths.

“I always say and I’ll say it again: Never been a person that needed a ventilator that didn’t get a ventilator. you will soon see vaccines pouring out,” he said.

But as President Trump rallies his supporters with his unique brand of political rhetoric, his surrogates are also making the case against Joe Biden.

“Joe Biden and the Democratic party have been overtaken by the radical left,” he said, hoping a strong economic message will ensure re-election.

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy in Corona, Queens to Reopen With Caution During Pandemic

By Jessica Easthope

The new school year is around the corner. For faculty, staff and students at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy in Corona, Queens, the odds of reopening and staying open are stacked against them.

“We got hit really, really hard,” said Dr. Cristina Tancredi-Cruz the school’s principal. “We’ve been talking about this and dealing with it. but when you look at the numbers, we got hit really hard.”

Dr. Cruz says Our Lady of Sorrows will open on September 10 using a hybrid model, about half of the students will be in school, the rest will learn online.

“If God forbid we think it’s not working, we’re shutting down and figuring this out because we’re really taking this seriously and the kids’ safety is number one,” said Dr. Cruz.

The Catholic Academy is 99 percent Hispanic. The ethnic group that has suffered more cases and deaths than any other in New York City. In the city’s public schools, 304,880 students will be learning virtually this year, Hispanics make up most of them at 37 percent.

“There was a point where every single day someone was dying and it hit us really hard,” Dr. Cruz said.

The school sits in the heart of Corona, Queens, the one-time epicenter of the pandemic. With a death toll reaching nearly 450 in the area, the virus’ effects on the neighborhood have been catastrophic.

“It has had the effect of an atomic bomb, it’s been horrendous,” said Father Manuel de Jesus Rodriguez, the new pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church.

In the few short months at his new post, he’s seen the devastation first-hand. More than 100 families across the parish and school lost loved ones to the virus, the job loss is even higher.

“We have a growing number of members of this community who have lost their jobs, we have had a lot of hunger, here in Corona the effects of this virus have been horrendous so we are fighting to help the people,” said Fr. Manuel.

Enrollment is down this year, but Dr. Cruz knows her school community is resilient.

“Many families have left, they have literally left the state of New York,” she explained. “We were on a great path, and COVID kind of knocked us off. But we’ll get back, we’re going to make it. You’ll see, mark my words.”

Currents News full broadcast for Fri, 8/21/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

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Currents News full broadcast for Thurs, 8/20/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Iraq’s leader is pleading with Christians to come home. Today he’s at the White House.

The Democrats are applauding their ticket. But are they leaving the issues behind?

Emergency workers on the frontlines in the Big Apple could soon lose their jobs.

With a Possible Rise in Divorce Amid Pandemic, Couples Are Being Encouraged to Turn to Their Faith

By Jessica Easthope

Couples have been forced to quarantine together for months. At first it was expected it might cause a baby boom, but now couples are experiencing the flip side: a spike in divorces.

“Because they are together in the same place for an extended period of time, a lot of issues have come to the surface and have caused a strain into the married life,” said Christian Rada, the Director of Marriage, Family Life and Respect Life Education for the Brooklyn Diocese.

Couples in the Brooklyn Diocese who want to work on their troubled marriages come to Christian. He says he usually hears from eight couples a year, in the first six months of 2020, he had already worked with 15. He says the common thread connecting all of them is lack of communication.

“Because they’re not able to talk to each other, other issues come about. So the root, I believe, from the calls I’ve received is there’s a great lack of communication,” he said.

Though there has been an increase in internet searches for divorce, there’s no hard date suggesting a surge is ahead. That could be due to court closures.

“People have to secure the civil divorce before they apply to us, so we won’t see the effects immediately. Maybe by the end of the year or next year,” explained Father Francis Asagba, the Judicial Vicar for the Office of the Tribunal for the Brooklyn Diocese.

Fr. Francis deals with all of the annulment petitions that come into the office. During the pandemic, there have been four. Fr. Francis says that number isn’t alarming, but now is the time for the church to take advantage of possible court delays and help couples in need.

“We have programs to sustain them so there are resources out there, but the Church can always do more. The parishes can maybe do more to offer formation programs for those already married,” said Fr. Francis.

Christian says the good news for Catholic couples who are considering a divorce is that faith can be part of the solution.

“There’s also sometimes a lack of a spiritual life and I ask them, ‘Do you pray together? Do you pray for each other? And most of the time it’s ‘We don’t pray together,’ so that’s another thing that I revisit with couples I talk to,” he explained.

In the coming months the Brooklyn Diocese will be starting a Divorce Bereavement Ministry to help people cope with the loss of a marriage.

Iraqi Prime Minister Urges Christians to Return, But Aid to the Church in Need Says It Won’t Be Easy

By Emily Drooby

It has been six years since Islamic State terrorists violently forced Christians out of Iraq.

Now that ISIS has been beaten back, the country’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is strongly urging Iraqi Christians to come back home, and his hopes are high.

We are glad that Christians will return to Iraq and contribute to its reconstruction,” he told the Assyrian International News Agency. “Iraqis of all sects are yearning for a new Iraq that believes in peace and rejects violence.”

The Catholic humanitarian organization Aid to the Church in Need is at the forefront of helping Iraqi Christians. They offer support in many ways, including providing on the ground aid and rebuilding churches, schools and parish centers.

“The cities of say, Mosul and Bagdad…they have been decimated. You can count the amount of families on one hand or two hands,” said Ed Clancy, their director of outreach and evangelization.

Clancy said it’s tragic, because the Church in Iraq was evangelized by St. Mark, the companion of the first pope.

Since 2003, Iraq’s Christian community has plummeted from 1.5 million at the time to less than 120,000 now.

Many fled for their lives in the summer of 2014, when ISIS conquered Mosul and the Nineveh Plains, destroying everything in their path. Often people fled with only the clothes on their backs.

Those who have returned face many problems. Iraq’s prime minister is vowing to help, but that promise alone might not be enough.

“The agreement the government said, ‘You move back first and then we will fix things. You know, we will put in the roads, we will put in the police, we will put in the security,'” Clancy explained. “But that’s not the way it should work. You don’t move into a building as a business and say, ‘Okay we won’t have electricity, we won’t have security, we won’t have windows, but we will start a business.'”

Christians who are there are facing big challenges in getting goods to market and staying in business, especially in certain industries like scrap medal.

“These are ways of crowding them out or pushing them out that makes it extra difficult,” said Clancy.

He believes Christians will return to Iraq, just not right away

“It will happen if there is a term of success, if there is three to five years, it will slowly grow, but right now it’s just important to keep those people there and to get as many people back as will come,” he said.

Taking a Closer Look at Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Health and Future as Retired Pontiff

Currents News Staff

Earlier in August, there was concern about the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, but the Vatican said while the 93-year-old was ill, his condition wasn’t serious.

It seemed he fell ill after visiting his sick brother who then passed. What kind of impact did that have on the retired pope, and are we getting the full story from the Vatican?

Joining Currents News to talk more about the retired pontiff’s health is John Allen, the editor of Crux.