Why the Edmund Pettus Bridge Played A Significant Role in Rep. John Lewis’ Fight For Civil Rights

Currents News Staff

A week-long celebration honoring the late congressman and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis began July 25 in his hometown of Troy, Alabama.The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma held important significance in his fight for civil rights and equal justice.

Lewis’ skull was broken by white police officers in March 1965 as African American activists advocating for voting rights crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

“This is sacred,” Lewis said. “This is hollow. This is where the people gave some blood. I gave a little blood on this bridge.”

Participants were attempting to march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol of montgomery when 17 people were hospitalized – including Lewis. This would become known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Lewis would always show the same commitment and fight he demonstrated on the bridge that day. CNN reporter Dana Bash asked Lewis why it was so important to come back and to keep coming back every year.

“This is the place that gave us the voting rights act,” Lewis said, “made it possible for hundreds and thousands and millions of people to be able to participate in the Democratic process. You cannot give up. You cannot give in. You will make it. They will lead us.”

This past March, while suffering from Stage 4 cancer, Lewis was determined as ever to travel to Selma twice to mark the march’s 55th anniversary.

“Fifty five years ago, a few of our children attempted to march across this bridge,” he said. “We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here.We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before.”

Lewis died earlier this month after battling cancer. He was 80. On July 26, more than 55 years after “Bloody Sunday,” his flagged draped casket, pulled by horse and carriage, was carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge one final time.

30,000 Americans Set To Test Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine in U.S. Clinical Trials

Currents News Staff

One of the latest warriors in the fight against COVID-19 is Dawn Baker. She’s the first of an anticipated 30,000 U.S. volunteers expected to participate in the third phase of a clinical trial for a potential vaccine.

At a roundtable in Miami, Vice President Mike Pence praised trial volunteers and spoke about plans to produce a stockpile of the vaccine so it would be ready to go, if and when it’s approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

“We have a goal of literally manufacturing hundreds of millions of doses by this fall and to have them available by next year.”

The biotech firm Moderna and the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) are testing their vaccine at 89 sites across the U.S. Volunteers won’t be told whether they are getting the vaccine or a placebo. The Moderna/N.I.H. vaccine is one of 25 in trials around the world to curtail the pandemic.

Meanwhile in Washington, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for COVID-19. As virus cases rise in many states, Google announced that its employees may work from home until at least July 2021, just as Congress negotiates a new stimulus package.

Currents News full broadcast for Fri, 7/24/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

What’s the church’s role in curbing gun violence?

Bevelyn Beatty defaced 3 black lives matter murals, but she says you have to hear her side of the story.

Why is the faith being targeted, and where’s the outrage?

Rome’s Famed Piazza Navona Was Once a Site of Christian Persecution

By Melissa Butz

Rome’s Piazza Navona is a favorite of both tourists and city dwellers alike. The cobblestone streets are normally full of sightseers, artists and musicians, but before the fifteenth century, they had a completely different use.

Since the first century, the square was a center for trading and bartering, a circus and sports venue dedicated to the emperor Domitian that could hold 30,000 spectators. Yet, there was also a much darker side to the iconic piazza.

“During this time, it was also the place for persecution of the Christians,” explained tour guide John Noronha. “So, if you can imagine, so many martyrs shed their blood and consecrated this ground, right here. It’s right here where Saint Agnes would have also been one of the many saints who was martyred for the faith.”

In fact, her sacrifice is honored with a church dedicated to her, St. Agnes. It houses a relic of her skull. The stairs leading up to it are strategically placed to avoid water damage when Pope Innocent X’s sister-in-law would flood the square.

“Imagine, the end of seventeenth century technology managed to flood this entire piazza – about three and a half feet – in order to recreate naval battle scenes,” said John.

Today, Piazza Navona’s main attraction is the obelisk and the Fountain of the Four Rivers, commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1650.

“People could not believe this fountain could actually support the weight of this amazing obelisk, which is not from here,” said John. “It comes all the way from Egypt and goes back to around 1500 b.c. It’s called ‘a silent witness’ because it witnessed the Israelites before and during the exodus.”

Once in Rome, the obelisk bore witness to the martyrdom of Christians, the raising of the entire square by 70 feet at the end of the nineteenth century and the onslaught of millions of tourists that normally fill Piazza Navona today.

In this historic place, artists, magicians and musicians intermingle with tourists all the time, giving this square a friendly, yet traditional Italian feel. It’s the perfect place to take a “passeggiata” or stroll while being surrounded by Rome’s rich history and culture.

Currents News full broadcast for Thurs, 7/23/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

A Queens priest is hitting the ground running taking over a new parish devastated by the COVID crisis.

Politicians putting together a new deal to help the millions who are suffering, yet there won’t be a tax cut.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says federal agents shouldn’t patrol city streets, not in the Big Apple, or anywhere else.

International Virtual Choir Sings ‘Salve Regina,’ Inviting Others to Meet God Through Song

By Melissa Butz

The Chilean foundation Canto Católico have released their version of the “Salve Regina” online. The hymn was sung by 450 choir members from 33 countries.

“We wanted to invite everyone who wished to unite their voices with heaven and entrust themselves to the Blessed Virgin,” said Canto Católico singer Francisco Val Jiménez, “so we chose this song.”

The song’s lyrics have been attributed to Bernardo de Claraval, but the melody was composed in the thirteenth century.

Elena Marraccini was chosen to be the soloist for this version of the song. She explains while “Salve Regina” has a simple melody, it is technically difficult to execute it without breaks.

“It is easy, but when you want to maintain a consistent depth of tone, without breaking between consonants, vowels, syllables and making slight inflections, joining phrases that you did not want to cut, it becomes complicated,” she said.

Canto Católico did not want to just make a beautiful video. They wanted to transmit a profound message in response to the current pain and fear of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

“We also wanted to share that feeling, that pain, that can only be understood from the cross,” said Francisco. “We, as Christians, give meaning to that pain. We are suffering and are having a hard time, but it is to be able to leave it in the hands of God. To look back to Him so that He may give us hope in this difficult moment.”

The idea of producing this melody was inspired by the Holy Father’s special “Urbi et Orbi” speech delivered on March 27. Pope Francis gave his extraordinary blessing, “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world), in an empty St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican last March. The blessing was livestreamed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was impressive. I came thinking only of my own part,” said Elena. “Then, when I watched the entire video, without knowing what happens next or the final result, it was like a shock: Wow, how impressive!”

In addition to songs like this, the Canto Católico foundation has materials on the role of music in the Church on its website and on its YouTube channel. Their idea is to help people meet God through singing in church or on social media.

New Pastor Vows to Fight COVID-19 Alongside Parishioners of Hard-Hit Queens Parish

By Jessica Easthope

As the new pastor, Father Manuel De Jesus Rodriguez isn’t wasting any time when it comes to ministering to the parishioners of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, Queens, a vibrant community that’s been devastated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We are also as a parish committed to keep serving this community in light of the coronavirus pandemic in this community which has been horrible between infections and deaths it’s been without precedence, we want to help with the overcoming of this ordeal,” said Fr. Manuel.

Before taking over at Our Lady of Sorrows, Fr. Manuel spent six years as pastor of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Jamaica, Queens, another neighborhood hit hard by the virus. Now his new assignment brings more challenges, overcoming the pandemic will be a long road for the people of Corona.

According to the New York City Department of Health COVID-19 has killed 3,026 people in Queens, nearly 80 of those deaths were in Jamaica, whereas in Corona there have been 442 deaths.

The parish was shaken when its previous pastor, Monsignor Raymond Roden, contracted the virus. His recovery took a toll, and he wasn’t able to resume his duties as the church’s leader.

“He couldn’t reopen on May 26 because he himself was very challenged because of his health, and the reopening required a huge effort,” Fr Manuel explained. “But he left the parish ready for reopening, and I’m very grateful for that.”

Now Father Manuel is coming in at a time when the neighborhood is still struggling to conquer coronavirus, but the heavily hispanic community is once again leaning on its faith. Compared to other churches where parishioners are hesitant to return, at Our Lady of Sorrows more than 1,200 people attended Mass last weekend.

“These particular people here in Corona, they really adore and revere this parish and they are committed to it and the resuming of the coming back from the virus closure. It’s been really positive and outstanding,” Fr. Manuel said.

Fr. Manuel is gentle with his parishioners. Though he towers over most of them, but when it comes to fighting the virus alongside them, his promise is to be fierce.

Wordnet Productions

A visit to the broadcasting studios of Wordnet Productions – the Catholic Voice of Southern California.

New Accusation Surfaces Against Former U.S. Prelate McCarrick

Currents News Staff and Rhina Guidos

A firm that has filed previous legal complaints against former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and church entities added another complainant July 21 against the laicized prelate, leveling a new accusation that he allegedly abused its new client as a boy at a beach house in Sea Girt, New Jersey, in the early 1980s.

In a July 22 news conference via Zoom, Jeff Anderson of Jeff Anderson & Associates of St. Paul, Minnesota, announced a new lawsuit he said was filed in Middlesex County Superior Court in New Jersey. He said his client, named only as John Doe 14, was groomed by a priest and “procured” for McCarrick when he was bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey.

Anderson said the new complaint identifies at least seven children who were “groomed by others for McCarrick,” and in addition to McCarrick it names several Catholic entities as defendants including the Diocese of Metuchen, the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, and Essex Catholic Boys High School, which closed in 2003.

The suit alleges that at age 11, the boy began to be sexually abused in 1978 by a priest at a New Jersey parish and the abuse continued at the hands of another cleric at the Catholic high school he attended, and then with McCarrick in 1982.

“While we have not yet received the complaint, our prayers are with all survivors of abuse, today and always, and we stand with them in their journey toward healing and hope,” said Anthony P. Kearns III, spokesperson and chancellor for the Diocese of Metuchen in a July 22 statement.

“With God’s grace, all survivors of abuse, particularly those wounded by members of the church, will continue to heal and move forward,” Kearns said. “Our diocese renews our commitment to prevent these types of abuse from ever happening again.”

The diocese also encouraged anyone harmed by clergy in New Jersey to notify law enforcement.

The Archdiocese of Newark, in a statement July 22, said it would not discuss or comment on matters in litigation.

“The Archdiocese of Newark remains fully committed to transparency and to our long-standing programs to protect the faithful and will continue to work with victims, their legal representatives and law enforcement authorities in an ongoing effort to resolve allegations and bring closure to victims,” it said.

Last November, when the U.S. bishops met for their annual fall meeting in Baltimore, Boston’s Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley gave the U.S. prelates a brief update about the status of a report that may reveal what the Vatican knew about the ascent to power of now-disgraced former U.S. cardinal. He said that it was taking longer than previously believed because it involved various dioceses and that perhaps it would be made public by Christmas, or the New Year, but that has not happened.

McCarrick was dismissed by the Vatican from the clerical state in February 2019 following an investigation of accusations that he had abused children early on in his career of more than 60 years as a cleric and that he also had abused seminarians as a bishop.

“We made it clear to Cardinal (Pietro) Parolin at the leadership of the curia that the priests and the people of our country are anxious to receive the Holy See’s explanation of this tragic situation, how he could become an archbishop and cardinal, who knew what and when,” Cardinal O’Malley said of meeting with the Vatican secretary of state in early November.

NYPD Removes ‘Occupy City Hall’ Protestors Before Dawn, Clean Up Continues

Currents News Staff

Protesters are no longer “occupying” City Hall Park. Early Wednesday morning police cleared out the park where protesters have been camped out for weeks and started cleaning up what they left behind.

City sanitation workers spent the day cleaning up the park and removing the anti-police graffiti that’s covered the sidewalks. Protesters set up camp in the park some three weeks ago. They have also been cleared out.

“We are horrified by what we see here,” said protestor Taylor Banning.

Taylor didn’t camp there, but did join the protests. She called it disturbing that the NYPD showed up at 3:00am and forced the protesters to leave.

“This is a disrespect to black lives, a disrespect to the movement, to every single person who’s been out here showing love, showing protest, showing freedom to assemble,” she said.

The so called “Occupy City Hall” protesters assembled here, calling for the police to be defunded. Mayor Bill de Blasio says over the last few weeks the gathering got smaller, with fewer protesters and more homeless people.

“We do always respect the right to protest but we have to think about health and safety first and the health and safety issues were growing… so it was time to take action,” said de Blasio.

The mayor was asked about the slow response in removing the anti-police graffiti here, but quick response to cleaning up the vandalized Black Lives Matter murals.

“Each situation is different and this was a particularly complex situation down here. Look, I made very clear that graffiti on those public buildings in this area is being cleaned up right now as we speak it’s not acceptable it will be gone,” de Blasio continued.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea says he couldn’t be happier with how his cops responded overnight, with no injuries and no real use of force.

“A number of individuals did not want to leave,” he said. “The result was one arrest for attempted assault when a brick was thrown at an officer. Luckily that officer had a shield and I’m told it left a dent in that shield, but nobody was injured.”

The clean-up could take several weeks, and the mayor says Homeless Services has been making efforts to get those who were in the park and are homeless into shelters.