By Currents News
Students at St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy lit up the stage for their “Disney Delight” Spring Concert.
The Brooklyn students performed classics including Mary Poppins’ “Let’s Go Fly A Kite,” The Jungle Book’s “The Bare Necessities,” and some newer favorites like “For the First Time in Forever” from the movie, Frozen.
By Currents News
The Diocese of Brooklyn celebrated the Jubilee of Families by honoring the elderly at a Queens Village nursing home.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated Mass at the Queen of Peace Residence on May 31. He praised seniors as the generation that continues to pass on the gift of faith and preserves family memories.
During his homily, he thanked the Little Sisters of the Poor — the religious order that runs the home — for seeing the value of the older generation and treating them with respect.
By Currents News and Alexandra Moyen
JAMAICA — Waiting Inside Terminal 7 at John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 28, Victor Mooney stood next to a box that held his bicycle. On top were two small rocks, each inscribed with a simple message: “2025, We Remember Now.”
Also with him were books, including St. John Paul II’s biography “A Celebration” and the memoir by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, “Night,” of which he plans to read on his upcoming journey.
For Mooney, a Catholic, they aren’t just momentos, but a promise to honor the legacy of Pope Francis by turning remembrance into a movement.
“The greatest tsunami now is antisemitism, and Pope Francis has been a chief proponent of trying to lower the temperature on that,” Mooney said. “I hope this bicycle pilgrimage can do that, and I feel the only remedy to combat hate is with love.”
Inspired by Pope Francis’ five-day pilgrimage to Poland in 2016 and the country’s historical ties to the Holocaust, Mooney boarded a flight to Warsaw. From there, he launched his 621-mile cycling pilgrimage across Poland as part of his We Remember Challenge — a personal tribute to the legacy of the late pope and a call to action against antisemitism.
“If I can share a glimpse of Pope Francis’ legacy in fighting antisemitism, increasing tolerance, and strengthening interfaith dialogue, I think I’ve done something for humanity,” Mooney said.
Beginning on June 2, Mooney plans to travel 80-100 miles a day, beginning each of his rides at 2 a.m. He said his first stop would be Piłsudski Square, formerly Victory Square in Warsaw, the same site where St. John Paul II made his historic visit back in 1979. From there, he’s going to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa — a venerated icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery — where he said he plans to pray for “help, guidance, and protection.”
Mooney will then continue on to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, where he plans to leave one of the inscribed rocks at the concentration camp as an act of remembrance of the atrocities committed. There, he will also read from “Night,” a moment he knows he “will never forget.”
Along his route, Mooney said he also plans to visit other spiritually and historically significant sites, including the family home of St. John Paul II and the Bazylika Wadowice in Wadowice, the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Kraków, the Lord’s Ark Church in Nowa Huta, and the Majdanek State Museum in Lublin, which is Mooney’s final destination and the resting place of his second rock.
“It’ll be a tearful experience, but the only antidote to fight hate is with love,” Mooney said, “So, I’m going to Poland as a pilgrim on two wheels.
“And it’s not a race, but I do have a flight back to Rome for the Jubilee of Sport on June 13.”
Mooney’s advocacy against antisemitism goes back to the height of the Israeli-Hamas war, when he began seeing posters showing a picture of the different hostages held captive by Hamas, with the word “kidnapped” across the top.
Soon after, he said, they began appearing around his predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens. That’s when Mooney said he noticed the “times were changing” around him and there was a spike in antisemitism.
“We are just in tough times right now, and the tsunami of hate is at unprecedented levels,” Mooney said. “I am just hoping to bring attention and solidarity as a black person.”
Mooney, who is a parishioner at St. Brigid Church in Westbury, New York, noted the “long traditional tie” between African Americans and Jewish people.
“We were both people who were oppressed,” Mooney said.
“When the slave master was trying to snatch us when we escaped the plantations, we diverted into the marshes to hide, and for our Jewish brothers [and sisters], they ran in the forest trying to avoid the Gestapo and the Nazis,” he added. “We have a shared history, and particularly in the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, Jewish people stood side-by-side with African Americans.”
Mooney’s decision to undertake a bicycle journey was also inspired by something Pope Francis said in an April 24, 2018, homily: “Someone once said that the equilibrium of the Church is like balancing a bicycle: it’s stable and goes well when it is moving. When you stop it, it falls.”
His trip will conclude in Rome, where he plans to visit the tomb of Pope Francis in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major and express his gratitude to the former Holy Father.
Mooney called the Jubilee Year a “great opportunity” for Catholics to “share their faith.”
“I hope others will follow. Particularly for young people, don’t be afraid to express your faith,” Mooney said. “You can say the Father is with you, helps you. Don’t be afraid.”
Pope Leo XIV is reiterating his appeal to end the war in Ukraine and begin a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Jubilee of Grandparents will soon be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, and in the Diocese of Brooklyn one grandmother is sharing how her bond with her grandkids is one rooted in faith.
Although she’s retired, St. Bernard of Clairvaux parishioner Teresa Sorrentino is still working. She’s bringing her Brooklyn church together by running its gift shop, making her tonight’s “Pulse of the Parish.”
By Katie Vasquez
For Diane Reynolds, spending time with any of her 11 grandchildren is special.
That’s especially when the conversation turns to Jesus. The devoted grandmother wants to nurture their spiritual lives.
“We learn by example, and that’s something I hope to pass on to my grandchildren that they live what they learn,” said Reynolds, a parishioner at Good Shepherd Church in Marine Park, Brooklyn.
Every Tuesday afternoon the pews are filled with prayer as Reynolds and her grandchildren gather to do the rosary together with the grandparents club at Good Shepherd Catholic Academy. It’s a tradition that deepens their connection not just to each other but to their faith.
“Praying the rosary with them gives me a great sense of peace,” said Reynolds.
It helped guide her granddaughter Nora Brown in her own spirituality.
“I learn a lot from her, especially during Mass with the prayers,” Brown told Currents News. “I like the Hail Mary and, I pray a lot to Saint Anthony.”
Pew research shows that 79 % of former catholics left the church before the age of 23, a statistic that motivates Reynolds to be a steady source of faith for her family.
“You have to start them young because they do live what they learn, and even if they stray for a while, they always have that firm foundation to know that Jesus is always here and always ready to forgive,” said Reynolds.
The message is not lost on her grandchildren.
“I’m glad to know that if I need help or I’m struggling, that I have grandma who can help me and I can pray and get things solved,” said Brown.
Reynolds hopes her efforts will inspire other grandparents to take an active role in their grandchildren’s spiritual growth.
“We do want to be role models for our grandchildren. We want to instill good citizenship. And I think part of that is believing in something bigger than yourself,” said Reynolds.
From a pew in Brooklyn, one grandmother’s legacy of faith is taking root, one prayer at a time.
By Currents News
Teresa Sorrentino has been retired for years, but her day still begins the same way it always has — in church.
Every day after Mass, she gets to work.
The former bank manager now manages the gift shop at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn.
Fourteen years ago, the pastor at the time asked her to run the shop. It’s been keeping her busy, keeping her connected to the community, and involved in her faith — which Teresa says has always been so important to her.
By Currents News
Although she’s retired, Teresa Sorrentino is still working. These days the former bank manager is helping to bring her Brooklyn church together by running the parish gift shop.
By Currents News
Pope Leo the 14th’s Wednesday morning general audience began in the popemobile, waving through St. Peter’s Square.
And, of course, the traditional blessing of babies couldn’t be missed.
Flags practically flooded the entire Vatican. Faithful from around the world didn’t want to miss the second public audience of the new pope.
Pope Leo used the opportunity to call for an end to war during the last moments of his public address.
He began with Ukraine.
On Monday, authorities reported a Russian attack on Kyiv involving more than 350 drones. The total impact on civilian and military personnel is still unknown– but the initial reports indicate heavy injury.
“These days, my thoughts go to the Ukrainian people, affected by new attacks against the civilian population and infrastructure. I assure my closeness and my prayers for all the victims, especially the children and families,” Pope Leo said. “I strongly renew my appeal to stop the war and support every initiative for dialogue and peace.”
Pope Leo also spoke about Gaza– where humanitarian aid still struggles to get in– and attacks on civilians continue. For example– also on Monday– a school in Gaza was hit… and around 20 people were killed.
“From the Gaza Strip, the cries of mothers and fathers rise to the heavens as they hold the lifeless bodies of their children and are forced to constantly move in search of a bit of food and a safer shelter from the bombings,” Popr Leo said.
The pope called for a renewed respect for humanitarian law in Gaza– and the release of all hostages who are victims of the war.
By Katie Vasquez
Getting his hands dirty with a little engine grease isn’t a tough task for Deacon Alvaro Morales Sanchez.
When he was 19, the transitional deacon completed studies in diesel mechanics working with engines and heavy machinery.
“I was very good, or at least at that point, just following schematics and doing a lot of electrical, and diagnostics,” said Deacon Alvaro Morales Sanchez.
And it’s a profession he thought was his destiny, but there was a void in his life.
“I had all these things that are very good, but somehow, I still feel empty. I still felt unsatisfied. I still felt unhappy,” said Deacon Morales Sanchez.
His parents came to the U.S. from Mexico and Deacon Alvaro and his brother followed them four years later. While living in New Jersey, his family embraced the Neocatechumenal way, a spiritual movement that aims to deepen the faith of its members through ongoing formation.
“My parents, they entered the church and, their marriage also was, was rebuilt because they were also, on the verge of, of divorce for this year,” said Deacon Morales Sanchez.
He participated in vocation forming meetings and was surprised by his answers.
“I kept saying, yes, and I kept asking myself afterwards, why did I say yes? you know, but somehow I kept answering this call. and then the Lord kept, you know, opening every door for me to be there,” said Deacon Morales Sanchez.
But the moment he realized this was the path he belonged on was spending time with a priest in Michigan.
Deacon Morales Sanchez said, “I said, but, you know, maybe God can do the same with me to see the life that this priest was living. I said, maybe God can do the same with me. And that was it. you know, that was. it was just to see how this priest gave his life, you know, completely without reservation.”
And he’s glad that he listened to the lord and will be ordained in June.
“I see that this is a great gift, you know, that, I there’s nothing that I have done to say that I merited it, that i somehow deserve or earned this this, this gift and just very privileged, you know, really, truly to be called by the lord, to this vocation,” said Deacon Morales Sanchez.
Deacon Alvaro hopes to tune up the faithful with the word of God.
“You know, the joy of what it is, to see the lives of the people be transformed as my life was transformed. and so I’m very excited,” said Deacon Morales Sanchez.
He’s getting out from under the hood of the car and into the sacred halls of the church.
In the Diocese of Brooklyn a Queens deacon is preparing for ordination to the priesthood, but it’s not his first time learning something new: before entering the seminary, he was studying to be a mechanic.
Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan honored those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the U.S. with a special Memorial Day Mass.