75 Years After Iwo Jima: Catholic War Hero Honored for Service

By Tim Harfmann

Inside a U.S. Marine Corps post, a list of veterans from Staten Island who fought in the bloody battle of Iwo Jima can be found.

Every name is marked with an asterisk, representing those who died during World War II or since.

All, except that of Nick Troianiello.

The 93-year-old is the last surviving Marine from Staten Island who fought in the battle.

Troianiello was recognized Feb. 19 for his heroism 75 years ago.

“He’s just like a shining light because of what he did back in 1945,” explained Volker Heyde of U.S. Marine Corps Detachment #246.

Troianiello entered the service as a private when he was 18, and found himself on the volcanic island in the Pacific.

“We weren’t even supposed to land on Iwo,”he explained. “The report was that it was going to be taken in three to five days. How mistaken they were!”

More than 6,000 Americans died in the vicious, month-long battle, and thousands more were injured.

“One day you’re with your comrades, and the next thing you know a mortar comes down and knocks out God knows how many… and all you see is flesh and metal and stuff flying all over the place,” Troianiello recalled.

He suffered a gunshot to his right forearm and a wound to his eye. For his bravery, Troianiello earned the Purple Heart.

He credits God with saving his life.

“There is a God,” he said. “I believe deeply. I pray for everybody every night and always… the guys that never come home.”

Seventy-five years later, Troianiello and others are remembering how all gave some, and some gave all.

An Interreligious Dialogue: Pope Francis Meets With Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan

Currents News Staff

The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan met with Pope Francis in the Vatican.

Masrour Barzani says they spoke about the situation in Iraq and the Middle East.

The prime minister likely re-invited the Holy Father to visit the region.

During their meeting, they discussed the importance of interreligious dialogue in promoting tolerance and ending extremism.

Pope Francis emphasized this message with a gift: a copy of the Document on Human Fraternity he signed in Abu Dhabi with Muslim leaders a year ago.

“I would like people of different religions to be able to embrace one another,” Pope Francis said.

The pontiff was also struck by a photograph of a cross raised in a town after the defeat of the Islamic State.

The cordial meeting ended with a mutual request.

“Once again, thank you,” said Barzani. “I express our gratitude.”

“Pray for me,” Pope Francis asked

“And please, you pray for us,” Barzani responded.

A few weeks ago, Pope Francis met with Barham Salih, president of Iraq. The pontiff asked him to guarantee the safety of Christians in Iraq and to make sure they are included in the country’s future.

As Coronavirus Fears Continue, Guardian Angels Take to the Streets of Chinatown

By Emily Drooby

The Guardian Angels are hitting the pavement in Chinatown, New York, taking action to calm down coronavirus fears.

“It’s scaring the bejesus out of Americans, and tourists, and even the Asian Americans themselves but some are reacting by taking it out on their fellow neighbors who happen to be Asian American,” explained Curtis Sliwa, a Catholic and the group’s founder.

The intolerance motivated the famed volunteer crime-prevention organization to step up their patrols in areas with a large Chinese community – like Flushing in Queens, Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Chinatown.

The coronavirus has killed over 2,000 people and infected more than 75,000 – most in mainland China.

In New York, fears over the deadly disease have been spreading, along with outright anger directed at Asian Americans.

“Just getting yelled at, like, randomly,” explained one person. “They would buy and order, and then someone would yell ‘coronavirus’ in their face.”

“Nothing major, just small things. Like on the bus…I see a little bit of micro-reactions,” said ___.

According to Sliwa, it has gotten so intense that Asian Americans aren’t even wearing face masks, a standard practice for many during flu season.

“Because they’re getting harassed,” he noted, “people are looking at them they’re saying things to them, thinking they’re somehow a demon, a bearer of coronavirus.”

The bad news doesn’t stop with that. People are staying away from businesses in Asian American neighborhoods.

In Chinatown, revenues are down an estimated 40 to 60 percent, and cities around the U.S. are hurting. There has been an estimated 28 percent drop in tourism from China.

“The streets are a lot more empty than what I remember from being out here in lower Manhattan,” said Guardian Angel Jose Gonzalez. “Always remembered these restaurants were packed, full and now you barely see one or two customers.”

The Guardian Angels have been eating at local restaurants, hoping others will follow their lead.

Officials have launched a campaign called “Show Some Love to Chinatown,” with the hopes of encouraging people to get back into the businesses.

While the coronavirus concerns are not going away anytime soon, at least the New York City community knows they have a Guardian Angel in Chinatown.

Currents News full broadcast for Tues, 2/18/20

On the newscast: The new Catholic leader of Philadelphia is installed this afternoon…and the rise of Archbishop Nelson Perez is one for the history books; President Trump is pardoning the NYPD’s former commissioner and several other high-profile people; A word to the wise — be kind. It’s going to be good for your health; And a story you won’t soon forget — a pigeon and puppy are now inseparable partners.

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

The Son of Cuban Immigrants is Now Philadelphia’s Chief Priest

By Tim Harfmann

Archbishop Nelson Perez was officially installed as the new Catholic leader of Philadelphia on Feb. 18.

Nearly 2,000 people packed the city’s Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, as Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Pope’s ambassador to the United States, read the official letter from the Holy Father.

“We release you from the bond of your former See, and we appoint you metropolitan archbishop of the Catholic church of Philadelphia of the Latins,” Pierre read.

Archbishop Perez processed through the cathedral basilica with Francis’ signed letter on display.

The cleric is the son of Cuban immigrants and was ordained a priest of Philadelphia.

He succeeds retiring Archbishop Charles Chaput, who escorted him to the bishop’s chair.

In his homily, Archbishop Perez said he is hopeful for the future of the church.

“Never underestimate the power of the Spirit of God working in you, through you and despite you,” said Perez.

He also prayed victims of sexual abuse turn to the church for guidance.

“I, and we, are ever so deeply sorry to these victims; and we continue to work with hope that we will make it right and be a source for them of healing,” Perez said.

Archbishop Perez is a former Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre, and in 2017, was assigned to the Cleveland Diocese.

‘Good Father Gus’ on the Road to Sainthood

Currents News Staff

Continuing Currents News’ coverage of Black History Month – the first African American to be ordained a priest, Father Augustus Tolton, is on the road to sainthood.

Here to talk more about the life of ‘Good Father Gus’ and what made him venerable is Father Alonzo Cox, Coordinator of the Brooklyn Diocese Vicariate for Black Catholic Concerns.

How Two Brooklyn Restaurateurs Are Clawing Their Way to Success

By Emily Drooby

Almost six years ago Fifi Bell-Clanton and Gwen Woods left their jobs and took a huge leap of faith.

“We quit our jobs and six months later we opened the Crabby Shack,” said Woods.

They didn’t have a background in the restaurant business but they did everything possible to claw their way to success.

“After everyone left we were mopping the floor, scrubbing the dishes, doing the toilets, and we were whipped, it was exhausting, exhausting,” Woods continued.

It was a big risk, about 60% of all restaurants fail in the first year but Bell-Clanton and Woods persevered.

“You can’t give up there’s going to be time when you want to throw in the towel but you just can’t,” said Bell-Clanton.

Business is booming, with customers traveling from all over ready to put on their plastic gloves and dig into the delicious crab recipes.

“It’s black history month. I’m always supporting black businesses and I had the weekend off so I figured let’s shoot out to Brooklyn – come out to the Crabby Shack,” said customer Malika Nzinga from Harlem.

The Crabby Shack was part of New York’s Black Restaurant Week, held during Black History Month.

“We are in Crown Heights, a gentrifying neighborhood, a lot of the traditionally Panamanian restaurants that are here and the black own restaurants are gone. We wanted to make a statement saying you know we are here,” said Woods.

Currents News full broadcast for Mon, 2/17/20 (Catholic news)

On the newscast: Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen makes a historic visit to the Brooklyn Diocese. We’ll have his message of hope amid coronavirus concerns; The quarantine continues tonight for those Americans on that cruise ship. Some have tested positive for the virus; And a new requirement: future Holy See diplomats will have to do a year of missionary service; Plus… a huge Catholic event in the heart of New York City is getting the Pope’s attention.

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

Cruise Ship Passengers Now Under Coronavirus Quarantine in the U.S.

Currents News Staff

For some passengers aboard a cruise ship, it’s been from one quarantine to another.

Karey Maniscalco was just one emotional passenger out of the nearly 300 Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan after 13 days in quarantine due to the coronavirus

Their excitement to finally be going home was overshadowed after finding out they will be quarantined again in the United States for 14 more days.

“They have sent over a dozen emails assuring us there would not be an additional quarantine,” she said. “And they just told us that we’d be re-quarantined for 14 more days. I’ve just lost a whole month of my life.”

They left the ship and boarded two converted 747 cargo planes and walked into bare-bones cabins: no windows, makeshift toilets and temporary seats.

“This is a converted cargo 747, so there is less insulation than a regular passenger jet so bring extra layers to stay warm,”passengers were told.

“It’s not good conditions,” said Kasey, “No one on here has had their temperature taken by the federal government, or any government for that matter. So we’re all in really close, tight quarters. Everybody is sitting next to each other. I’ll have a girl sitting here in just a minute… it seems dangerous and not safe.”

The U.S. government said they are safe, even though the 14 passengers who tested positive for coronavirus after being taken off the ship were allowed on the flight. They were put in a “specialized containment area,” isolated from other passengers.

Fears about this virus are growing as these and other cruise ship passengers return home, especially after an 83-year-old American woman got off a ship in Cambodia, then flew to Malaysia and was only then diagnosed with the virus.

Now there are concerns about figuring out where exactly she caught the virus, and who she might have spread it to.

Meanwhile, after a ten-hour flight, the planes from Japan landed at U.S. Air Force bases in California and Texas. One passenger, Gay Courter, was grateful that they did.

“There has been a lot of silence on this, and now we know the silence has been putting together a brilliant plan,” she said.

Catholic Relief Services Keeps Tabs on Growing Coronavirus Concerns

By Currents News Staff and Carol Zimmerman

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNS) — The coronavirus has the world’s attention.

The disease, which surfaced in China last year, has infected more than 64,000 people and killed at least 1,383 by mid-February. It has spread to 24 countries and been labeled a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.

Suzanne Van Hulle, the global public health expert for Catholic Relief Services, is paying particularly close attention to the spread of the virus, also called COVID-19, to ensure CRS staff members in Asia are safe.

She said she and other CRS officials are monitoring the situation on a daily basis to see where new cases are showing up and would be willing to adjust programming so that staff members are not in contact with the deadly virus.

“We are tracking the outbreak closely,” she told Catholic News Service Feb. 14 from her Washington office.

CRS, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency, has programs across Asia but no staff members in China. They have a regional office in Cambodia.

For now, they are encouraging employees to be vigilant about hand-washing and to monitor their own symptoms, particularly if they have been near anyone exhibiting signs of the virus.

CRS also has urged its employees in Asia to wear protective masks or clothing if they wish and also not to go to that region if they don’t want to. “We encourage our staff to feel safe,” she said.

Van Hulle knows from experience the potential effects of a deadly virus. She was working in Sierra Leone with CRS’s health team in 2014-2015 in response to the Ebola outbreak.

At the time, CRS assisted people in the affected region not only through information campaigns but by providing safe and dignified burials, emergency food distributions, and infectious disease prevention and control. The outbreak had more than 28,000 confirmed cases and more than 11,000 deaths.

“During an Ebola outbreak, information and understanding people’s perception about the virus is just as important as medicine or a vaccine,” Van Hulle said in a statement at the time. She also said that local community leaders “play a critical role in educating people around Ebola and how to prevent both acquiring the virus and ongoing transmission.”

Some of what she learned during that outbreak can be applied to the current situation, she said, particularly the importance of community engagement.

In West Africa, she said, CRS worked with both government and religious leaders to ensure that people received information about how Ebola could be transmitted and stressed the absolute necessity of good hand-washing to keep the disease from spreading.

CRS also encouraged community reporting by urging people to report personal or observed signs or symptoms of the disease though a hotline number.

All the health centers, she added, had triage units at the front to weed out those who might have been exposed to Ebola, or could have it, from those who didn’t so fewer people would be exposed to, and in close contact with, those with the disease.

Van Hulle, said that although Ebola is no longer active in West Africa, that is “not to say there couldn’t be another outbreak.” She also noted that CRS has seen a different strain of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The World Health Organization reported Feb. 11 that there have been 3,432 cases of the virus and 2,249 deaths since the first outbreak of it in 2018.

Last year when there was a report of this Ebola strain in Uganda, the CRS Uganda representative, Niek de Goeij, said: “Everyone has been preparing for this scenario.”

“We consider even one case a very serious development,” he said in a statement. “But while Ebola is a frightening disease, we’ve seen almost a year of critical preparedness efforts on the part of the Ugandan government, and now immediate action by the Ministry of Health and international partners, to quickly contain these cases so far while avoiding its spread.”