Catholic History Comes Alive: Students Celebrate All Saints Day

By Emily Drooby

Voices rang out on All Saints Day as Saint Thomas the Apostle Church in Woodhaven, Queens filled with parishioner — and saints — on November 1.

Students from the parish’s Catholic academy also celebrated the Catholic Holiday dedicated to honoring the saints of the Church.

For this annual event, students walk in the shoes of a saint of their choosing by creating costumes in the image of that saint and doing research that all leads to Nov. 1, where they get to perform for their fellow schoolmates, family and friends.

“My saint name is Saint Anthony. He was the one to hold baby Jesus. He was the doctor of the Church,” said Matthew, a student at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Academy.

Lianellys, another student, learned that Saint Catherine “wanted a room to pray to God.”

Religious leaders in the school say that the saint that come alive are a unique way to impart the important saintly lessons.

“In so many ways the saints guide us still, and there are many people even around them today, who sacrifice for them,” said Father Frank Tumino. “The kids know about sacrifice and love, we just want to make that connection to church to being Catholic and following Jesus.”

“Learning how to be good and kind to people and how to be a peaceful person, I think the saints have a lot to teach us,” added Sister Bernadette Alfieri.

Principal Thomas Piro sees it as an interactive way of connecting students with their faith: a pillar of any Catholic school.

“It helps to see how active the faith can be and that it is not only something they should believe in, but to bring it to the next level,” he said, “and to be able to practice that and share that with others and to show how all of their beliefs can make a difference in the world.”

It’s a way of teaching that seems to be working. One student, Jaiden, took part in the performance three years ago but she still remembers everything she learned about her saint.

“My saint is Saint Gabriel the Archangel. He’s the messenger of God,” she recalled.

The school has been celebrating All Saints Day this way for about 10 year as part of a tradition that will surely continue on.

Pope Will Visit Catacombs of Priscilla to Pray for Dead on Feast of All Souls

By Melissa Butz

Just like each year, Pope Francis is making a special trip to a cemetery on Nov. 2 to pray for the dead on the Feast of All Souls.

He will go to the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome, one of the oldest Paleo-Christian cemeteries in Rome. He will celebrate a Mass at 4:00 p.m. in commemoration of all those who have died.

These catacombs contain frescoes of great importance, which give testimony to the first Christians. It holds the oldest representation of Virgin Mary, a fresco from the third century.

“Let’s go home today with this double memory: the memory of the past, of those of us who are gone. And the memory of the future, the path in which we’re going,” said the Holy Father.

In previous years, Pope Francis visited a cemetery for the unborn, the American cemetery of Nettuno, dedicated to soldiers and nurses who died in World War II, as well as other cemeteries in Rome, Verano and Prima Porta.

During the day, the pope will visit the tombs of past popes. On Nov. 4 he will hold a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for all the bishops and cardinals who died throughout the year.

Currents News for Thursday, October 31, 2019

On the newscast: The impeachment investigation of President Trump is officially approved in the Democrat-controlled House. Up next, public hearings; Bill Clinton admits he had a Supreme Court litmus test on abortion… and hints that Hillary could be running for the White House again; The California wildfires won’t let up but the Reagan Library is safe; A Halloween parade of Catholic kids all for a good cause.

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.

Serving God and Country: Brooklyn Priest Shares Experience as a Latino Veteran

By Emily Drooby

As a newly ordained priest, Father Edwin Ortiz spends his days serving God. But he used to also serve his country: he spent three years in the Navy as a hospital corpsman.

He was deployed to Japan.

“I had always had that desire of being in the military. I went ahead and gave it a shot,” said Fr. Ortiz. “You’re walking up to the ship and it’s huge. It’s huge.”

Fr. Ortiz is part of the changing landscape of the U.S. military, which is becoming more diverse each year.

Hispanics in particular are the fastest growing minority population. The most recent statistics show that six percent of U.S. military veterans are Latino, and that number is expected to double by 2024.

“Being in the military you become part of this big family who’s going to challenge you. But they’re going to challenge you, not to demean you,” he explained. “They’re going to challenge you to help you grow, to help you discover the skills and talents that you actually do have. To trust in yourself and to trust in God.”

Fr. Ortiz encourages other people in the Latino community to join the military, but one of his biggest challenges while deployed was finding time to practice his faith.

“It really showed me what my life would be like without God,” he said. And it was a life he didn’t like.

From there, Father Ortiz decided to re-enter the seminary. He was ordained in June, and now serves at Saint Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst alongside another veteran.

Deacon Anthony Mammoliti spent over 30 years in the Army. For him and Fr. Ortiz, there’s a lot of similarities when it comes to serving God and country.

“We swap stories and we talk about our time in the military, and we talk about our time in the military and we share that bond,” he said.

“We are called to be selfless servants, we are called to give our lives to something greater than ourselves,” he added. “That desire to serve, that really came while working those humanitarian projects with the Marines and really just seeing the difference that you make.”

Deacon Mammoliti and Fr. Ortiz might be done serving their country, but they will never be done serving God.

Relic Swiped as Queens Man Prays in East Harlem

By Tim Harfmann and Andrew Pugliese

MANHATTAN — An unidentified male stole a bag outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on East 116th Street in Manhattan on Oct. 13. Inside was a second-class relic, a piece of stone from the Shrine of St. Michael on Mount Gargano in Italy.

Teddy Thongratnachat, 27, a parishioner at St. Sebastian, Woodside, was at the East Harlem parish for the weekly Sunday 10:30 a.m. Latin Mass, which he has attended since 2014.

After Mass, he was praying the rosary with a group of faithful outside the church, as they have done once a month for the last two years. He was intending to return the relic, which was in a $175 bronze reliquary, to his friend who had let him borrow it a few weeks earlier for a celebration of the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel on Sept. 29.

The most recent prayer gathering in East Harlem was in honor of the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady in Fatima in 1917. The participants held a banner to invite those passing by to join them. They also had a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. When Thongratnachat went into the church to return the statue and banner, he realized his bag was missing.

“I thought maybe I left it in the basement or sacristy,” he said. “I checked those areas, but the worst reality was true that someone took my bag because I wasn’t paying attention.”

Thongratnachat said the bag also contained documents and other valuables, including another relic, a rosary which had touched the tomb of St. Therese of Lisieux in France.

He thanks cops, whose patron saint is St. Michael, for their work on the case. While he is shocked, sad and angry, he has learned a lesson. Now, he hopes the man returns the bag to Our Lady of Mount Carmel or to the local precinct and asks for prayers.

“Please pray for the person who took my bad that they may return it,” he said. “Thank you for all of your prayers and words.”

Misconceptions on Catholic Faith in Television and Media

Currents News Staff

Joining Currents News in time for Halloween is the technical advisor on the Catholic faith for the CBS television show ‘Evil,’ Msgr. Donald Sakano.

He also the retired pastor of the Basilica of Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan, and a trained expert in the field of exorcism.

He shares what it’s like to be a Catholic technical advisor on a tv show, what misconceptions arise in media when it comes to the faith, and the current state of mass entertainment from a Catholic perspective.

St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Academy Hosts Annual Halloween Walk-a-thon

Currents News Staff

Despite a rainy Thursday morning, St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy pressed on with its annual Halloween Walk-a-thon and fundraiser.

Students dressed up in their Halloween best and showed off their costumes to parents, grandparents, teachers and neighbors as a way to raise money for the school and recognize the Catholic tradition surrounding All Souls Day.

Ghouls, goblins, a hot dog and even a dinosaur gathered together indoors, walking to music and excited for the classroom Halloween parties to follow.

Currents News for Wednesday, October 30, 2019

On the newscast: A giant gathering of Catholic kids are rallying for the rosary. More than a thousand young people are praying for Blessed Virgin Mary’s help; An exclusive story about the most famous bat boy in baseball history. It’s something you’ll only find in the Tablet; Election day is around the corner and Currents News talks to a priest and a rabbi talk about faith at the polls; There’s no stopping Jimmy Carter. What he’s planning to do next after his latest fall.

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.

Voting Concerns for People of Faith in the 2020 Elections

Currents News Staff

Currents News is asking two religious leaders about voting and whether ballots should be linked to faith.

Joining us are Monsignor Guy Massie, pastor of Brooklyn’s Sacred Hearts and Saint Stephen Church and vicar of Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs for the Brooklyn Diocese, and his friend Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, the president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.

The two discuss what Catholic and Jewish voters should pay most attention to when making their election choices, and what religious voting blocks people of faith may face looking ahead to next November’s presidential election.

Catholic Students Unite in Devotion at Rosary Rally

By Tim Harfmann

On October 30, over 1,000 children from 12 Catholic academies across Brooklyn and Queens arrived by the busload at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph to pray the rosary as one and ask for the Blessed Virgin Mary’s help.

With the sacred beads held in their hands, the students prayed for personal intentions, but they also had big issues as the objects of their prayer: especially the sanctity of life.

“Being in Catholic school, I always thought that praying was really important and it’s one of the ways you worship God. I think using an instrument like the rosary is really important,” said Alexandra Sciacca, an eighth grader at Notre Dame Catholic Academy.

“We are here for a reason: to love God. And we are here to honor and to respect our lives given. And to give away such an amazing life is, like, a big sin,” added fellow Notre Dame eight grader Maya Wierciszewski.

Filip Drazic, an eight grader at Saint Bernadette Catholic Academy, prayed for the less fortunate.

“I think about helping all the poor and my family for everything that they have, that I have; and what everyone needs in this world: food, water, hunger,” he said.

The Catholic Church dedicates the month of October to praying the rosary.

Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop James Massa led the rosary rally, praying for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Children have an intuitive sense that Mary is the mother of all Christians, the mother of the Church. And when we unite ourselves in the devotion of the holy rosary, we are connected with the whole Church,” said Bishop Massa.

In this way, students from the Diocese of Brooklyn can be connected to the whole Church.