Virtual Retreats Are Keeping Kids Connected With Their Faith During the Pandemic

By Emily Drooby

“It’s such a joy to be with all of you today,” said youth minister Lauren Gentry as she welcome students into a new kind of retreat, a virtual one.

She said, “It’s just been a huge blessing to get creative and to find ways to still bring the teens closer to Christ.”

In the past, kids would go to an in-person retreat to form a deeper connection with God. However, during the pandemic that’s no longer an option. Paul Morisi said he that meant schools would have to adapt their religious retreats. He didn’t want to just move them online, he wanted to make sure the kids were getting something really great.

Morisi said, “I remember one youth minister said that they were happy that our teens were getting something during this time and another youth minister stopped them and said, “no we have to make sure we are giving young people the best thing they could ever get because they deserve the best that we can give them.””

So, instead of canceling their end of the school year retreats, ministers in the Diocese of Brooklyn are using Young Life Catholic virtual retreats. Through music, interactive games, and speakers they’ve been able to create a unique and effective program, one that brings kids closer to God. That’s especially important during the pandemic when people can’t go to Mass.

“It felt like I reconnected with God,” said Angeliki Pappas, who took part in one of the retreats, “It made me feel closer to God cuz it felt like I was in church since in church they sing songs and things like that and there were people speaking, saying speeches.” She’s a student at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Glendale, Queens.

The retreat also brings God to their home.

“I think that this focuses on a lot of the domestic church, and kind of going into the space where they are. And so, it has a real missionary approach to it,” explained Brandon Morel. He’s the retreat emcee and is a youth minister at St Michael-St Malachy

To date over 30 virtual retreats have been booked and over 600 kids have taken part in them.

While so many things have been canceled this year, thanks to virtual retreats, kids can still deepen their relationship with God.

Small Business Owner Redesigns Queens Bar for Social Distancing

By Jessica Easthope

The front door of Yer Man’s Pub in Glendale, Queens has been locked for months and its employees, locked out and jobless.

“We need to open the backbone of New York and the backbone of America, we’ve worked too hard to go down,” Yer Man’s owner Jimmy O’Reilly said with tears in his eyes. “I’m not going down, I got a loan to keep going and I know I can come back.”

Yer Man’s is one of the millions of small businesses in New York City that closed temporarily due to COVID-19. According to the Governor’s office, it’s projected more than 100,000 will never open again. Jimmy is losing money by the hour.

“”I do $600,000 a year, maybe more. The last three months I maybe took in $10,000,” Jimmy said about the toll it’s taking on his business.

Like many other businesses, Yer Man’s closed its doors on March 15, not knowing when he would open them again. Now, nearly 90 days later, he still doesn’t know. Jimmy says he hasn’t been given any guidance from the government.

“We need to open, we have to open and our elected officials are not giving us any timeline of when, how, nothing, no guidelines, nothing,” he said.

Not only is Yer Man’s ready to open, but it’s ready to do it safely. A marine quality plastic barrier is one of the many safety precautions Jimmy and his staff have been working on to make social distancing inside the bar possible.

Jimmy has redesigned his entire bar in an effort to make customers feel safe — his livelihood depends on it.

“This is a partition I can remove. If two people sit here and they don’t know this person, no problem,” Jimmy said while showing Currents News of one of his designs.

He’s thought of every possible way people could come in contact with each other, and built a solution.

“Obviously they have to come in at their own risk,” Jimmy said. “But I will do my utmost best to keep it sanitary, keep it clean and keep it so that they’re safe.”

Catholic Mom Graduates as St. Francis College Co-Valedictorian After Juggling School and Jobs

By Emily Drooby

Alexa Rutkowska almost didn’t go to college. Now, she’s at the top of her class, graduating as one of two valedictorians at St. Francis College.

Rutkowska achieved her academic accolades while successfully handling her most important job: being a single mother.

“It was definitely a bit of a struggle,” she told Currents News. “I was waking up at five o’clock in the morning, going to work for 6 a.m., I was a barista,” she explained. “Then I would shoot right over to school, I had class and participated in extracurriculars. It was a lot. I had 16-hour days and at the end of the day, I would have to come home and take care of my daughter. So, it was a lot.”

In addition to her full-time barista job, the Brooklyn native was a tutor, had an internship and worked as a teaching and research assistant. She did all of this while still taking care of her daughter.

Alexa didn’t just persevere. She excelled, and maintained a 4.0 grade average. Now, she is graduating with a master’s degree in psychology.

“I just have to dedicate it all to hard work and perseverance and not letting anything get in my way,” she said. “Even though I would have to not sleep some nights, I would put those extra hours in and just apply myself really hard, put the best of my abilities in.”

Alexa is Catholic, and calls St. Francis Xavier in Park Slope, Brooklyn her home parish.

She says getting this top honor took a lot of persistence, organization and really good planning. But, nothing could stop her. She says anyone can achieve their dreams.

Her advice: “Avoid the naysayers, because there’s going to be people telling you that you can’t do it and it’s too much, but with the right support, perseverance and tenacity, you will be able to accomplish anything. I mean, look at this.”

Up next for Alexa? She’s applying for doctorate work in clinical psychology and hopes to one day work in private practice.

Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 6/10/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

The Big Apple is slowly awakening from its lockdown, but for some, it’s too late. Small businesses are desperate to reopen but are being left in the dark. One owner came up with a plan of his own.

The city is recording new virus numbers that the Mayor is calling extraordinary.

George Floyd’s brother goes before Congress. He’s asking lawmakers how much a black man’s life is worth.

The top police officer in Minneapolis is promising reform, and he’s taking action to get there.

Meet a college valedictorian who worked three times harder than others for the honor.

After Losing Dad and Mentor to COVID, Here’s How This Brooklyn Priest Is Ministering During Hardship

Currents News Staff

Coronavirus has touched all of our lives in one way or another, but for Father Joseph Dutan, this pandemic hits especially hard: he lost both his father and his mentor to this virus.

Not only did his biological father pass away from coronavirus, but his spiritual father as well: Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay was his mentor in the priesthood, and the first U.S. priest to pass away because of COVID-19.

As a young priest ordained just two years ago, in that timespan he’s faced much loss. Meanwhile he is ministering during a pandemic to a parish also facing the loss of loved ones, being jobless, and, in some cases, being undocumented.

Fr. Dutan has seen the toughest parts of this pandemic up close, and at a time where New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has made the decision to allow protests but keep religious services restricted, many Catholics around the Brooklyn Diocese want to receive communion now

He joins Currents News from his parish of St. Brigid in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to talk more about how he is coping with this loss, and how his parishioners feel about returning to church during this time.

St. Charles Borromeo Church Works to Combat Racism Through Open Dialogue on Race in America

By Jessica Easthope

The Catholic Church is sending a strong message against racism, in the Diocese of Brooklyn, the sin is being fought off with love.

“If the church loves and encourages people to love each other then we deal with the basic issue,” said Father Bill Smith the pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.

Fr. Bill is leading by example, encouraging his parishioners to address racism by talking about their experiences.

“We become human by community and building up and strengthening relationships, who else can do that but the Church,” he asked.

Recently, following a Zoom prayer service, parishioners listened to the experiences of one of their own.

“I respect police but I’d be lying to you if I had interactions with police where I knew if my skin color was different it would not have happened,” said Tevin Williams a parishioner at St. Charles Borromeo.

Tevin is a new Catholic and a new New Yorker — he was confirmed last year, and recently put down roots in the city after leaving the south.

“The loving piece of me being a Catholic and having these conversations with my brothers and sisters in Christ is not something I can say I have seen in the south,” Tevin said.

He says that thanks to his parish community, he’s better able to cope with the racial unrest sweeping the nation.

“I’m thankful that I am a Catholic right now, it is God’s will that I’m here in this parish and enlightening some people and telling them my experience,” said Tevin.

Tevin said Fr. Bill is the kind of leader every parish needs, allowing for a safe space to discuss hard truths about race and overcome each other’s differences.

“I hope that we can come together as Catholics and understand that we may be different in skin tone but we are all bound by one heart,” said Tevin. “But, we also understand the reality.”

Fontbonne Hall Academy Valedictorian, Salutatorian Credit Successes to All-Girls Catholic Education

By Emily Drooby

Fontbonne Hall Academy teaches high school students and Visitation Academy educates students through eighth grade. However, the two institutions have a lot in common.

They’re both in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, they’re both Catholic and they’re both all-girls schools. They’re also both responsible for the education of two bright young women: Fontbonne’s salutatorian Jenna Polis and their valedictorian, Alyssa DeAngelis.

“You see this young girl, who there she was, I had her in 5th grade, and to see what she has accomplished, it’s very touching to have been part of that,” explained Loretta DeLorenzo, who taught both of the girls while they attended Visitation Academy.

What’s behind the accomplishments of these young women? There are a lot of reasons.

“They definitely helped me develop my study habits,” Jenna told Currents News. “They keep class interesting, and they actually make me want to learn about the topic.”

Jenna and Alyssa also credit the school’s class sizes, their strong curriculums and supportive staff. All of these things blend together to create an environment that empowers the women who attend their schools.

“We try to build confidence in the girls, our girls are very used to public speaking,” Loretta said. “We have a student council, and the girls completely run things.”

“I’ve been to an all-girls school all my life too,” added Alyssa, “so I think that’s really important as well.”

She said that at both schools, the message was always there are no limits to what women can do.

Both girls are now heading off to college on a pre-med track.

The product of two schools that provided them with the tools they needed to be successful in education, and in life.

Currents News full broadcast for Tues, 6/09/20 (Catholic news)

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

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

An emotional day as George Floyd is laid to rest. Family and friends say goodbye in a Houston Church.

The Catholic Church is on a mission to stamp out the evil of racism. A parish in the Diocese of Brooklyn is working hard toward racial justice.

A New York City police officer is under arrest, charged with assaulting a protester near Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

President Trump is getting back on the campaign trail. He hasn’t staged a rally since March but will relaunch them soon.

The story of two brilliant high school graduates. Why they say single-sex education contributed to their success.

How Can Faithful Participate in Conversations About Race?

Currents News Staff

The protests around the country over the tragic death of George Floyd have started a conversation about race in our society. We have seen protests about racial injustice before, following the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray.

Talking about the injustices facing black people every day has also brought up the topic of white privilege. What have we learned about how it has shaped our society, and how can white people help stand against racial inequality?

Joining Currents News to discuss is Father Bryan Massingale, a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University.

Everyone Has an Opinion, But Can You Print It?

Currents News Staff

It’s been a rough week for the Gray Lady: the New York Times has lost a top editor after the paper received backlash over an opinion piece on the George Floyd protests.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton wrote calling for the military to be used to deal with protests, and the opinion column drew a lot of criticism. First, editor James Bennet defended the opinion piece, then said it was wrong to run it and admitted that he didn’t even read it before it ran online.

It’s not the first time the New York Times has run a controversial opinion piece. In 2014 a column ran titled “Pedophilia: A disorder, Not a Crime.” No one resigned after that column was published.

Should Bennet have resigned because of this column, and what does this mean for journalism? Did the New York Times fail in their publishing standards?

An editor also resigned from the Philadelphia Inquirer after a headline read “Buildings Matter Too.”

Another paper, the Pittsburg Gazette, has been accused of not sending black reporters to protests because of possible biases.

What are the consequences of these instances, if any?

Discussion on publishing both sides of the story and keeping journalism unbiased is ongoing,

but considering the pushback, is that possible, and where do papers draw the line in keeping coverage neutral?

St. John’s University professor and journalism expert Mike Rizzo joins Currents News to share his experience and insight with these issues.