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Currents News full broadcast for Thurs, 6/25/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

A question of human dignity – undocumented workers say they’re being cheated out of pay.

The COVID crisis is getting worse, infecting more Americans in a single day than ever before.

President Trump is vowing to stop anyone who wants to tear statues down.

The Pittsburgh parish that will respond to the specific needs of Black Catholics. The bishop making it happen is here tonight.

This Catholic Dating Site is Helping Singles Find Love, Even During a Pandemic

By Jessica Easthope

Love is in the airwaves. On CatholicMatch.com, singles who are interested in faith-focused dating can become couples in just a click. That’s how it happened for Tim and Maddie Van Havermaet.

“Clare, she’s been my best friend since college, she signed me up for six months on CatholicMatch,” said Maddie. “She created the whole profile and Timothy was the first person she found.”

Tim and Maddie are coming up on three months as a married couple. Their journey, which started at a Minnesota pizzeria in 2018, seemed like it was hitting a roadblock when the pandemic forced them to cancel their wedding reception, which was supposed to happen on May 30.

“When we are able to have large gatherings again we’ll have a post-wedding reception,” the couple explained.

They let God and their love lead the way. With Pre-Cana complete, Tim and Maddie managed to pull off a 10-person ceremony in church on April 4, during the apex of a global health crisis. It wasn’t easy.

“All of the Minnesota license bureaus in the Twin Cities shut down and we couldn’t get a marriage license, so on a Thursday afternoon, 24 hours before the stay at home order went in place, we drove up to the Stearns County office and got a marriage license at a drive through,” said the Van Havermaets.

Maddie and Tim are one of CatholicMatch.com’s many success stories, but getting married during a pandemic isn’t as challenging as dating during one. But the dating service is giving people hope: that simple download can lead to your soulmate.

“We’re definitely the place for Catholics to meet each other for online dating and we’re really focused on faith-focused dating for Catholic singles,” said Kateri Bean, the content manager for the site.

Kateri got the job at the start of the pandemic, and made it her mission to give singles a safe and fun outlet to start a relationship online.

“We’ve been encouraging people to have fun and get creative with it. Some of the ideas include online extensions like Scener, or inviting other couples to join your video chat so it’s a double date,” she said.

Even in the midst of the pandemic, activity on CatholicMatch is up by nearly 20 percent. Couples can just “click,” and God will take care of the rest.

Brooklyn Jesuit Prep’s Class of 2020 From NET TV Honors the Graduates of 2020.

Brooklyn Jesuit Prep’s Class of 2020 From NET TV Honors the Graduates of 2020. We all know that 2020 has been a challenging year but our elementary school graduating class has risen to the challenge. Many have faced personal hardship and loss in their families and all of them have needed to adapt to remote learning and distance from their friends. This program salutes their accomplishment and ensures this milestone moment of their graduation is recognized throughout the Diocese. Airing all summer long on NET TV! #Classof2020 #BrooklynJesuitPrep

Holy Family’s Class of 2020 from NET TV Honors the Graduates of 2020

Holy Family’s Catholic Academy’s Class of 2020 From NET TV Honors the Graduates of 2020. We all know that 2020 has been a challenging year but our elementary school graduating class has risen to the challenge. Many have faced personal hardship and loss in their families and all of them have needed to adapt to remote learning and distance from their friends. This program salutes their accomplishment and ensures this milestone moment of their graduation is recognized throughout the Diocese. Airing all summer long on NET TV! #Classof2020 #HolyFamily

St Mels Class of 2020 from NET TV Honors the Graduates of 2020

St. Mel’s Catholic Academy’s Class of 2020 From NET TV Honors the Graduates of 2020. We all know that 2020 has been a challenging year but our elementary school graduating class has risen to the challenge. Many have faced personal hardship and loss in their families and all of them have needed to adapt to remote learning and distance from their friends. This program salutes their accomplishment and ensures this milestone moment of their graduation is recognized throughout the Diocese. Airing all summer long on NET TV! #Classof2020 #StMels

Poor Clare Missionary Sisters

The unique story of the Poor Clare Missionary Sisters of Selmar California, an order founded after an apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Joe Estevez interviews some of the nuns and young missionaries about their history and also the important work that they do for the local community.

Personal Parish to Serve the Black Catholic Community Designated in Diocese of Pittsburgh

By Emily Drooby

A personal parish for black Catholics.

Of the idea, Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh said, “Black Catholics have particular prayer needs, spiritual needs.”

It’s a church anyone, no matter where they live, can join. A trailblazing idea out of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

It was born from a listening session held earlier in the year. The Diocese says the change is especially meaningful now, as hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets with demands to stamp out the sin of racism, social unrest from coast to coast in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and others.

Bishop Zubik said, “It’s a critical time, I hope that this is a time that we all get it. That we really do have to root out racism which is a sin. And I’m not sure that we have come in a past to a point of being able to emphasis with our Black sisters and brothers.”

For the parish, the Diocese choose St. Benedict the Moor Church, for 130 years the church has had a rich history of ministering to Black Catholics.

“If you’ve ever had a chance to go to St. Benedicts to celebrate the Mass, it’s full of life and sometimes Masses can go on for quite some time. But it’s expressive of the Black culture,” said Bishop Zubik.

It also sits next to Freedom Corner, a civil rights landmark.

Bishop Zubik said, “It stands on the hill that overlooks the city that has to be a constant reminder to us of how important black Catholics are for us as a church.”

The church is named for Benedict the Moor, a 16th century saint born to African slave parents. He became a Franciscan Friar.

Bishop David Zubik will celebrate Mass at the church on July 12th and it will officially become the personal parish for Black Catholics the next day.

Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 6/24/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

The COVID crisis is not letting up.  A Queens family is getting hit hard twice – and across borders. The outbreak is surging again throughout the United States.  New details about possible rollbacks and a New York area quarantine.

The Big Apple’s city workers are facing layoffs by the thousands.  The outbreak is crippling the economy.

A parish devoted to the needs of Black Catholics is being set up in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The Bishop is saying Mass celebrated there is special.

Election 2020 – primaries in New York, the race for the White House and more.  Political analyst Brian Browne of St. John’s University looks ahead.