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Currents News for Thursday, November 7, 2019

On the newscast: Bishop DiMarzio will soon be meeting with the Pope. He’s leading Brooklyn’s bishops to the Vatican where they’ll deliver a highly-anticipated report; President Trump is being ordered by a New York judge to pay millions of dollars; A report from the scene of the massacre in Mexico where nine American women and children died; The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A saint played a key role.

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U.S. Bishops Have Their Plates Full During Next Week’s USCCB Meeting

By Christopher White, The Tablet’s National Correspondent

NEW YORK – As U.S. Catholic bishops gather in Baltimore next week for their general assembly, they will continue their efforts to turn a page on the clergy sex abuse scandals, navigating a tightrope act of returning to the regularly scheduled business affairs of the conference while duly acknowledging the Church’s damaged public credibility.

Most notably, the bishops will face the two-pronged challenge of electing new leadership for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) as they seek to improve a strained relationship with the Vatican and also prepare to engage in the public square at home ahead of a national presidential election.

Among the most closely watched business items will be a vote on the new USCCB president to replace outgoing president Cardinal Daniel DiNardo.

DiNardo, who will give his final presidential address on Monday, is widely expected to be succeeded by Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who has served as his vice-president for the past three years.

If elected, Gomez – who leads the nation’s largest Catholic diocese – would become the first ever-Hispanic leader to head the conference at a time when Catholic leaders have openly clashed with President Donald Trump over his treatment of migrants.

Gomez, age 67, was born in Mexico and in recent years has become one of the U.S. Church’s most vocal champions of immigrants. In his most recent archdiocesan newspaper column, he weighed in on next week’s Supreme Court review of a DACA appeal, which provides legal protection and work permits for young undocumented immigrants, lamenting the fact that the fate of nearly one million DACA recipients is now entangled in the courts, with Congress and the president failing to act.

“In this great country, we should not have young people living under the threat of deportation, their lives dependent on the outcome of a court case,” he wrote. “The issues at stake are legal, but they are also humanitarian, economic, and moral.”

Along with Gomez, candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency include Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Military Services; Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut; Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City; Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco; Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville; Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee; Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield in Illinois; Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend; and Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit.

Following the election of the president, which occurs via a simple majority vote, the vice-president is chosen from the remaining nine candidates.

In addition to the top leadership posts, the bishops will also vote for new chairmen of six committees during the meeting, including the Committees on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance; Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; Evangelization and Catechesis; International Justice and Peace; the Protection of Children and Young People; and the Committee for Religious Liberty.

At the same time as the majority of the nation’s bishops are in Baltimore, bishops from the New York region will be in Rome to take part in their ad limina visits – regularly scheduled meetings between bishops and officials from the Roman Curia, which are taking place between now and February 2020 in 15 different groups.

While these meetings normally occur every five years, the last time the U.S. bishops traveled to Rome for their ad limina was eight years ago in 2011 and 2012.

Among the attendees in Rome next week will be Buffalo’s Bishop Richard Malone who is currently under scrutiny for his handling of abuse cases. The apostolic visitation into his leadership of the diocese was completed by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn last month and awaits a Vatican determination of the facts.

Even though the ad limina visit was scheduled by the Holy See to take place at the same time as the USCCB meeting, the bishops in Rome will still have an opportunity to vote on conference officers.

“The conference has made a special accommodation for the 2019 November Plenary Assembly to allow the bishops who are in Rome for their ad limina visits to vote,” USCCB director of Public Affairs Chieko Noguchi told Crux.

“Two tellers will be chosen from the bishops in Rome who are voting members of the conference, and they will tally the paper ballots and call the results in to Baltimore, which will be added to the total before the results are announced to the assembly,” she explained.

Among the other agenda items, the bishops will vote to approve a short letter and five video scripts to supplement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the official teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics.

During their June 2018 meeting in Fort Lauderdale, the bishops were sharply divided on whether the current version of the document, last updated in 2015, adequately reflected the priorities of Pope Francis, with a number of bishops saying a full re-write was in order.

Others argued that the focus should be on a new medium – such as using video and social media engagement – rather than on the content. In the end, the decision was made that new materials, a letter, currently a two-page document, would be produced, along with the new videos, with an emphasis on applying “the teachings of Pope Francis to our day.”

The bishops will also vote on the revised Program of Priestly Formation, and ahead of next week’s vote, several bishops told Crux that the document could benefit from a more extensive reflection on human formation and a strengthening of protocols for whistleblowers in light of the latest revelations of clergy abuse scandals.

Looming large over the meeting will be that more than a year has passed since the Vatican pledged a full and comprehensive review of its archives to account for who knew what and when about the misdeeds of now former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, whose downfall sparked the latest wave of abuse scandals and prompted new questions about the lack of bishop accountability.

While no official date has been set for the report’s release, Crux has confirmed that it has undergone several drafts and its publication is widely expected before the end of the year.

Although no votes will take place directly related to bishop accountability, the bishops will also hear a report on the development of a national third-party reporting system for abuse or misconduct by bishops, which according to new Vatican guidelines must take effect by next summer.

The bishops will be in public session next week from November 11-13, marking the first time the body has met collectively since June of this year.

The Lessons of the Berlin Wall

Currents News Staff

Steven Millies teaches at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union and he’s recently written an article about the lessons of the Berlin Wall.

Millies joins Currents News to discuss the role of Saint John Paul II in the downfall of the Soviet Union, the moral force of law and his own memories of when the wall came down.

New York Bishops Heading to Meet the Pope

By Emily Drooby

One of the most important moments for any Bishop is meeting with the Pope.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio met with the Holy Father back in 2018 and will be meeting with him again next week.

Bishop DiMarzio, the other Bishops of Brooklyn and those from across New York State will report to the Holy Father during a trip that starts on Monday.

The bishops, including Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto, say they’re excited to meet Francis.

“This will be the highlight of the trip for all of us,” said Bishop Chappetto.

The big meeting is a chance for the New Yorkers to give the Holy Father a rundown on the latest developments in their churches.

Bishop DiMarzio explains, “…the report, when you read it yourself you recognize things have changed over time where we could do better or where we have done better so it’s kind of a self-evaluation.”

Usually bishops from around the world meet with the Pope every five years, but New York’s bishops haven’t been to Rome as a group since 2011.

Already, other American bishops from the Boston Archdiocese and other parts of New England are at the Vatican, meeting today with Francis. Besides seeing the Holy Father, the US bishops will also meet with other Vatican officials.

“We are actually going to present the documents for Monsignor Bernard Quinn that will be reviewed by the Vatican commission for saints. We are happy that we will be able to actually bring them in person,” explained Bishop Chappetto.

While in Rome, the bishops will also celebrate four special masses.

“We also will go to the four basilicas where we celebrate mass together. That’s one of the obligations,” said Bishop DiMarzio.

In addition to reporting to the Holy Father, the mission to Rome is also about learning and being inspired.

Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of the Diocese of Brooklyn said, “He may offer us some insights that come from other countries and other local churches around the United States.”

The trip is a way to grow, to self-evaluate, and to connect the local and universal church together.

Campaign for Mother Cabrini: Bishop DiMarzio Continues to Lead the Way

Currents News Staff

When City Hall turned its back on Mother Cabrini and refused to honor her with a new statue, the Bishop of Brooklyn took charge.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio led a march of more than a thousand people through the streets of Carroll Gardens to push back against the snub of the saint.

On Columbus Day, Bishop DiMarzio rode up fifth avenue on a Diocese of Brooklyn float with Mother Cabrini as the centerpiece.

Shortly after, Governor Andrew Cuomo named the Bishop to a new commission that’s going to bring a Cabrini memorial to life.

There are 18 other top names on that including John Heyer, the Lay Coordinator of the Diocese of Brooklyn Italian Apostolate and Angelo Vivolo, the President of the Columbus Heritage Coalition. They both sat down with Currents News for an update on Mother Cabrini’s statue.

Two Catholic Academies Merging To Create Innovative New School

By Emily Drooby and Andrew Pugliese

BAY RIDGE — Before Mike Long voted, he closed his eyes for a moment.

He thought, “What would Bay Ridge look like without a Catholic school?”

He couldn’t imagine that, and so he made the difficult decision to vote, ‘yes.’ Yes to closing Holy Angels Catholic Academy, where six of his nine children attended, and yes to joining the new Bay Ridge Catholic Academy, which will open next September at St. Anselm’s Catholic Academy half-a-mile away, nine blocks up Fourth Avenue.

The decision to merge Holy Angels and St. Anselm’s was announced by the Diocese of Brooklyn on Oct. 31.

“Today’s parents are going through a very emotional roller-coaster ride,” Long said. “They feel that they’ve been uprooted. But we know that we’re doing the right thing for them and their children. We’re doing the right thing for the future kids of Bay Ridge, so that they have a good, strong Catholic institution to go to.”

Long and the rest of Holy Angels’ board were faced with a declining enrollment at the school, while St. Anselm’s is facing financial challenges, according to Auxiliary Bishop James Massa, diocesan vicar of education.

Holy Angels’ enrollment has fallen from 214 to 121 since the 2015-2016 academic year, and renovations to Holy Angels’ building were estimated to cost $3.2 million to accommodate a merged school, compared with $600,000 for St. Anselm’s, according to Long.

School officials project that Bay Ridge Catholic Academy will open with 400 students, which would make it one of the biggest elementary schools in the diocese. More students will mean a larger budget.

At St. Anselm’s school building, math and science labs will be updated, according to school officials, and the new school will emphasize subjects such as engineering to develop critical thinking and will have more music and arts classes.

It will also have events to help students and parents from Holy Angels and St. Anselm’s to get to know each other and feel like one community, John Quaglione, chairman of the St. Anselm’s board of directors, said.

“The two parishes will work together,” Msgr. John Maloney, the pastor of St Anselm, said. “The priests from the two parishes will respond to the pastoral care. We have Mass at least once a month with the children. We’ll be rotating. Priests from each parish will come over to say Mass and hear confessions.”

The merger won’t be easy. Parent meetings on Nov. 5 at both Holy Angels and St. Anselm’s were extremely hard as parents and school officials discussed the changes coming to the two schools, each of which has almost 100 years of history.

Msgr. Kevin Noone, pastor of Our Lady of Angels, is a 1958 graduate of what was then Our Lady of Angels School, now Holy Angels.

“It was just home,” he said. “It was a real family atmosphere.”

Anwar Najjar and his wife have found a home for their three boys at Holy Angels over the last eight years. The Lebanese-American couple is Muslim, but started sending their eldest to the Catholic school down the block for first grade in 2011. Now, their middle son is in the seventh grade and their youngest is in the fourth.

Despite practicing a different faith at home, they want their children to learn about the religion and cultures of others and want to keep their children in a diocesan school. They are concerned, however, about a transition for their seventh-grader during his last year of grammar school.

“We are also trying to see what is the best fit for my son because I’m more worried about him because next year is his last year and I need him to graduate with a good head and leaving a good school,” Najjar said.

Diocesan and school officials are encouraging parents, like the Najjars, to give their input. Ideas are forming, but nothing is set in stone. The diocese has formed several committees, including enrollment management, curriculum and facilities.

“All of the decisions are not made, and there is definitely an opportunity for their input. We want them to sign up and come to the meetings,” Quaglione said. “We want them to help build the school for their children.”

For the full statement from the Diocese of Brooklyn, go here.

Currents News for Wednesday, November 6, 2019

On the newscast: A parishioner is sucker-punched outside Saint Michael’s Church in Flushing, Queens. Police are hunting for the brute tonight; The next big step in the impeachment battle on Capitol Hill. House Democrats are setting the date for public hearings; New York City’s constitution is changing. There’s going to be a new way to vote; A progress report on the memorial to Mother Cabrini. Two leaders will give us an update.

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Mexico Launching Commission in Deadly Attack

Currents News Staff

A day after members of a Mormon family were gunned down in Mexico, authorities there say they have made an arrest.

“We are calling on our governments and our sovereign countries to help us and provide answers. these kinds of injustices and atrocities should never be,” said Lafe Langford, a family member of the attack victims.

The attorney-general for the neighboring state of Chihuahua didn’t disclose what the suspect’s involvement might have been, but says a newly-formed drug cartel could be behind the massacre.

“October of this year was the most violent month in modern Mexican history also, which means the level is rising not descending this is what the government is facing, said Jorge Castañeda Gutman.

The murder of three mothers and six children is just the latest horror in a region known for cartel violence.

The group was traveling in a caravan near their families’ ranch, just south of the U.S. border when their vehicles are riddled with gunfire, one catching fire.

Several children managed to escape, hiding in the bushes for hours.

“What they went through, what they experienced, we don’t have the capacity just to imagine what these children went through,” said Langford.

Those children are being treated at Arizona hospitals as the family grapples with what’s next.

Rubio Promotes ‘Common Good Capitalism’ at CUA Event

By Christopher White, The Tablet’s National Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Marco Rubio turned to his Catholic roots to make his case for a restoration of “common good capitalism,” in an address at the Catholic University of America on Tuesday, saying that the market economy can at times interfere with building strong communities.

The Republican senator began his remarks by quoting from Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 landmark document on workers’ rights, Rerum novarum, and also briefly drew from the three most recent popes, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, whose teachings he said offers the foundation for understanding the dignity of work.

Rubio said that the 19th century papal writings of Leo XIII, which dealt with questions over balancing the rights of workers and businesses in the shadow of the industrial revolution and growing appeals to socialism, offer parallels to our current era.

Then, as in now, he claimed, workers and businesses were seen as competitors and not as partners, which he said runs contrary to the “kind of economy that most Americans would want us to have.”

He went on to lament that the United States has turned into “a nation that appears incapable of identifying our common good.”

Rubio’s remarks, titled “Human Dignity and the Purpose of Capitalism,” were predominantly descriptive, spending the majority of his nearly 40 minutes of prepared remarks focusing on the “catastrophic economic crisis that left us with this disordered economy,” and only occasionally turning to the Church’s social teaching to offer a prescriptive way forward.

The senator critiqued both major political parties, saying that that conservatives have neglected the rights of workers, while progressives focus too much on the “obligations” of businesses to share their profits with workers and the government.

Recalling his own experience of entering politics at a young age, he says that he remains an “unabashed supporter” of both American exceptionalism and the American dream, but that the country’s strength could not be viewed in strictly economic terms, but must consider the health of its communities.

He went on to say that it is “impossible to be a strong country with millions of people feeling left behind,” adding that the lack of dignified work corrodes communities and that men are especially wounded by this reality as it “rips away” at “the core” of “being a man, which is providing for your family.”

The senator enumerated a number of economic failings of today’s economy, lamenting the current divide between coastal elites and the rest of the country, the challenges of home ownership, and the fact that many Americans are delaying having children until much later in life – all of which he summed up as a system “rigged against them by the very people who created these problems.”

In pointing a way forward, he said the country must come to a “national consensus” that the challenges of today are not one of cyclical economic downturns but “an economic order that is bad for our society and for our people,” which he said would not be solved by the market.

In making his case for “common good capitalism,” he said it is “a system of free enterprise in which workers fulfill their obligation to work and they enjoy the benefits of their work and where business enjoy their right to make a profit.”

He said that current government policies get this wrong and incentivize business practices that promote economic growth that solely benefits shareholders without improving jobs or better pay.

He went on endorse tax preferences that reward businesses for reinvesting their profits in a way that creates new jobs, as well as to promote his own plan for paid family leave, saying that while the market fails to account for the good of such a policy, common good capitalism requires such support.

The “ancient and enduring truth that it is impossible for a country to be strong if the whole nation does not benefit from its strength,” said the senator.

Although he did not call out any specific individuals during his speech, the senator weighed in on some of the themes being discussed in the run-up to the 2020 Democratic primaries, arguing that a government that guarantees a basic income, controls where you work and how much you make. He went on to allege that a government that promises free healthcare controls your doctor, and a government that promises free education controls where you go and what you’re taught.

An estimated 500 students and faculty from the Catholic University of America were on hand for the senator’s speech. Previously, in July 2014, Rubio spoke at CUA on the theme of “Strong Values for a Strong America.” More recently, in August of this year, he penned a 1,100-word essay titled “What Economics is For” in the conservative journal First Things, where explored some of the same themes he raised on Tuesday.

Rubio was introduced by Andrew Abela, dean of CUA’s Busch School of Business, which sponsored the lecture, who said that “at a time when religion is often under attack” in the public square, the senator “defends it courageously.”

In recent years, the Busch School of Business has come under scrutiny for accepting funding from the libertarian leaning Koch Foundation, often seen at odds with Catholic Social Teaching.

In 2016, CUA’s President John Garvey told Crux that there was no ideological motivation for accepting Koch funding and that the University was “happy to take money from anyone who is interested in the same projects that we’re interested in.”

Following Rubio’s remarks, John Gehring, the Catholic Program Director at Faith in Public Life, told Crux, “it was good to hear Rubio challenge the gospel of free market fundamentalism, but his consistent failure to support raising the minimum wage and endorsement of tax policies that benefit the wealthiest few made his words ring hollow.”

“When you’re speaking at the same university where Fr. John Ryan once helped bring church teaching about living wages to the center of political discourse, the senator’s disappointing record on this issue was a big elephant in the room,” he said.

Before leaving campus on Tuesday, Rubio posed with a student for a selfie during he question and answer session, where he agreed to sign the student’s “Make America Great Again” hat- although he refused to don it for the photograph.

In concluding his remarks on Tuesday, Rubio dismissed the idea that his speech was meant to offer a vision for a post-Trump conservatism, insisting that his intention is merely “to do whatever it take to keep our country from coming apart” – in hopes that “the 21st century will also be known as the new American century.”

“We have an opportunity to create a country, America, that’s even greater than it’s ever been before,” he said.

Currents News for Tuesday, November 5, 2019

On the newscast: A bullet-riddled SUV is all that remains after American women and children are slaughtered in Mexico. The drug cartels are being blamed; Unrest in Lebanon is prompting prayers in Brooklyn for Christians caught in the crossfire; A synagogue is safe after the FBI breaks up a white supremacist bomb plot; And Pope Francis goes underground at Saint Peter’s Basilica to visit the Crypts.

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.