Chile Declares National Emergency as Protests Paralyze Capital

Currents News Staff

One of Latin America’s largest cities, Santiago, Chile, is paralyzed. At least 11 people have been found dead and hundreds more have been arrested. The city has seen millions of dollars in damage since October 18.

Late October 20, country’s president, Sebastián Piñera, didn’t mince words.

“We are at war with a powerful enemy, relentless, that does not respect anyone or anything,” he said.

The president’s rhetoric could spur further violence in protests that began over a transit fare hike. Violent clashes between police and protesters have now gone on for days.

Looting in the city has been rampant as massive buildings and train stations have been set on fire. For the first time since a military dictatorship ended in 1990, the country’s own military has been deployed on Santiago’s streets.

A national emergency has been declared as some politicians call for calm.

“We are trying to bring back peace to the people. We’ve received your message, but in order to carry it out we need to dialogue in peace,” said Karla Rubilar, Santiago’s mayor.

President Piñera first announced the hike would be suspended on October 19. it did little, if anything, to calm things down.

For protesters, the demonstrations and frustration are about much more than a pricier metro ticket, described as “years of repression, they are years of living in misery, they are years of government-imposed measures at the expense of the people.”

Though Chile is Latina America’s wealthiest country, it also has one of the highest levels of economic inequality in the world. People are frustrated by what they call a lack of economic reform on a number of topics including pensions, healthcare and public education.

There’s also concern about government overreach, as on October 20 authorities imposed a curfew in the city. Some 10,000 police and armed soldiers were deployed.

This comes just weeks before the APEC summit is set to being in Santiago, a highly anticipated event for many reasons, not the least of which being that President Trump and President Xi of China could sign a trade deal on the event’s sidelines.

Should these protests continue, senior government leadership might choose to skip the summit altogether, a blow to the Chilean government’s hope to show off a modern, efficient capital city. Now, it’s one racked with unrest.

Amazon Synod Enters Critical Stage

Currents News Staff

The Amazon Synod is in its final phase.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes is preparing the conclusions. A commission of 12 people — four of them chosen by Pope Francis — will verify that they reflect everything that was discussed.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, is one of the four named by the Pope.

“The role of women in our Catholic communities and the role of instituted and ordained ministers are some of the themes that we discussed in the Synod. We’ll see at the end of the Synod what proposals regarding them are offered to the Pope,” said Cardinal Schönborn.

The provisional document will not be very long. It will be given to the 185 synod priests on Friday. They will have a few hours to review it and propose changes.

More than anything, the Synod has drawn global attention to the extreme situation of people in the Amazon and the environmental crisis.

“A tragedy, a human tragedy. Pope Francis insists to alert the whole Catholic Church about the destiny of these people. I think this is for me a great sign, and I’ve learned a lot to be attentive to those who have no voice,” said Cardinal Schönborn.

On Saturday evening, the 185 synod members will vote on the concrete proposals. This will show on which issues there is consensus.

Of the 12 discussion groups, six were in favor of ordaining married men to mitigate the lack of priests. Two are opposed and three propose studying the issue further.

Seven groups have engaged the possibility of ordaining women to the permanent diaconate. Everyone supports the general idea of increasing the ministries of lay men and women.

The Synod is a consultative body. It will give its proposals to Holy Father on October 26, and he will make a decision in the coming months.

Currents News for Monday, October 21, 2019

On the newscast: Angry Kurds take out their frustrations on the U.S. troops who are pulling out of Syria; Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and Governor Andrew Cuomo are huddling to find the best way to honor Mother Cabrini; Polish Catholics in the Brooklyn Diocese are honoring their heritage and are hearing from a bishop who traveled here from Poland; A high school coach ended a dangerous situation with a hug.

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.

Controversial Amazon Statue Stolen From Church, Thrown in Rome’s Tiber River

By Melissa Butz and Christopher White, The Tablet’s National Correspondent

ROME — A wood carving statue of a naked pregnant woman that has been at the heart of brewing controversies since before the Vatican’s major summit on the Amazon region began was stolen from a Roman Church on October 21 and tossed in the Tiber River.

News of the incident, along with a video of it, was first reported by LifeSite News and Church Militant, traditionalist websites that have been frequently critical of the image.

Critics of the statute have repeatedly characterized it as a graven pagan image, while other defenders of it initially characterized it as an indigenous statue of the Virgin Mary. A Vatican spokesperson has since repeatedly said that the image is “simple representation of life.”

The nearly four-minute video first shows the statue present before the altar at the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina and moments later shows two men carrying it toward a bridge near Castel Sant’Angelo, the mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Hadrian that has been used by popes as both a castle and fortress.

Moments later, pieces of the statue are placed on the bridge and one by one, knocked into the muddy waters below.

The statue first appeared at a prayer ceremony in the Vatican Gardens on October 4 and has created a social media frenzy. On October 19, the image was again present at the Via Crucis procession on Saturday, which included the participation of several bishops from the Synod on the Amazon.

Following the incident, Paolo Ruffini, the head of Vatican communications, repeated that the image resents “life, fertility, mother earth.”

Ruffini said the incident “seems to me to contradict the gesture of dialogue” that the Synod should represent.

The Synod of Bishops focused on the pastoral needs of the Amazon region has now entered its final week and is set to conclude on October 27.

Largest Withdrawal of U.S. Troops From Syria Underway

Currents News Staff

Hundreds of trucks are on the move as U.S. personnel gather near Hasakah, Syria in route east to the border with Iraq.

The troop withdrawal will take weeks, but the largest ground move of U.S. troops in Syria marks the symbolic end of the major U.S. presence in the region.

Aboard a U.S. military aircraft before landing in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said most of the troops are being deployed to two missions: to help defend Iraq and to perform a counter ISIS mission.

“I think overall, the ceasefire generally seems to be holding. We see a stabilization of the lines, if you will, on the ground, and we do get reports of intermittent fires, this and that. It doesn’t surprise me necessarily, but that’s what we’re that’s we’re picking up as we’re seeing so far,” said Esper.

New York Senator and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer took shots at the withdrawal on October 20, saying “it was clear to me from our meeting at the White House Wednesday that first, the military are extremely upset with what the president did – we heard a little bit about that from General Mattis at the Al Smith Dinner and I talked to him at great length about it – but that second, we don’t have a real plan. This was done on a whim and done precipitously and it’s damaging.”

The Syrian Defense Force press office has said attacks from the Turkish military and Turkish back militants in a 24-hour period resulted in “16 martyrs and three wounded in our ranks.

Turkish forces and their allies continue to launch attacks on Syrian villages despite agreeing to a ceasefire, according to the statement.

Currents News for Friday, October 18, 2019

On the newscast: Rikers Island is closing. Religious leaders playing a big role. Now, the question is what’s next; At the Pope’s historic summit on the Amazon, he takes time to be with indigenous leaders; Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio honored for his life-long ministry dedicated to immigration. The Bishop’s award is acknowledged by the Holy Father himself; A Catholic deacon is helping kids stand up to bullies.

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.

Faith Leaders Support Plan to Close Jails on Rikers Island

Currents News Staff

The New York City Council on Oct. 17 passed a plan to close the detention centers on Rikers Island by 2026 and move inmates to four smaller jails in New York City — a project that has the backing of local faith leaders, including Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.

“It’s very clear that the conditions at Rikers are very poor, immoral and subhuman,” Bishop DiMarzio said last month at a press conference in lower Manhattan, where he and other religious leaders called for the jails on Rikers Island to be closed.

“We need to do something, and unless we do, it’s going to stay the way it is,” Bishop DiMarzio said.

Cardinal Dolan agrees. “We ministers are passionate about the closing of Rikers Island and for the continued reform of our justice system. Why? Because simply put, we have to,” he said at the press conference. “God had told us to bring compassion, mercy and justice to those who incarcerated.”

The move from Rikers Island, however, is opposed by residents in the communities where the jails will be located and by Police Commissioner James O’Neill, who said the city won’t be as safe because there won’t be enough prison cells.

The detention centers on Rikers Island have about 7,300 inmates. The four replacement jails will have about 3,300 beds, according to reports. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office projects there will be fewer inmates because of lower crime rates and because of other programs to treat and rehabilitate criminals.

De Blasio originally proposed the plan, which will cost $8.7 billion, in 2017.

The jails will be located at sites of current or past detention centers, including the Brooklyn Detention Complex in Boerum Hill and the now-closed Queens Detention Center in Kew Gardens. The two others will be in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Pope Meets with Indigenous Leaders in Vatican

Currents News Staff

“The children of the jungle praise You, Lord. The poor and forgotten, with an eagerness to be free.” Almost 40 leaders, mostly women of different indigenous Amazonian communities, greeted the pope with this song.

Pope Francis met with them to listen to their experiences and thoughts on the synod.

He also received many gifts, tokens of gratitude for the convening of the synodal assembly.

“The pope is indigenous, the pope is Amazonian,” they said to Pope Francis after putting these feathers on his head.

During their meeting, the pope explained that the Gospel is like a seed that takes the characteristics of the soil that it grows in. This is why he stressed the importance of inculturation for communities to receive the proclamation of Jesus within their own cultures. Pope Francis also warned the indigenous leaders of the dangers of new forms of colonialism.

This encounter ended with a group photo.

Impeachment Investigation: Mulvaney Sparks Firestorm in Washington

Currents News Staff

Was there quid pro quo involved in President Trump’s controversial communications with Ukraine?

The acting White House Chief of Staff told reporters there was, and that they should quote “get over it”.

Mick Mulvaney said the U.S. held back aid to create pressure for an investigation into Trump’s opponents.

“Did he also mention to me in passing the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that. That’s it, and that’s why we held up the money… And I have news for everybody. Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy,” said Mulvaney.

Mulvaney’s comments have sparked a firestorm in Washington. Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of the Intelligence and Judiciary Committee says Mulvaney “co-signed the president’s confession.”

“Mister Mulvaney’s acknowledgment means that things have gone from very, very bad to much, much worse,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

A source familiar with discussions by the president’s legal team says they were stunned. President Donald Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow said “the legal team was not involved in the acting Chief of Staff’s press briefing.”

Mulvaney later moved to clean-up his comments, saying in a statement: “the president never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything related to the server.”

President Trump said he wasn’t fully aware of Mulvaney’s comments, saying “Mick is a good man. I don’t know. I have not heard anything about it.”

Bishop DiMarzio Honored for Service to Migrants

By The Tablet Staff

MANHATTAN — At the Center for Migration Studies annual gala at Battery Gardens restaurant in lower Manhattan on Oct. 17, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio received a Lifetime Service Award for his work in defense of migrants and newcomers.

A letter from Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, congratulated Bishop DiMarzio on behalf of Pope Francis. The letter was read before the bishop’s award was presented.

“Being honored by the Center for Migration Studies is a nice honor,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “I have worked with them practically for the 50 years I have been a priest. I knew the founders; we worked with them, so it is a nice honor. I have been working on the board now for many years. It is a nice thing to have happened.”

Bishop DiMarzio has served as chairman of the Migration Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; chairman of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network; and U.S. representative to the Global Commission on International Migration, a United Nations-sponsored group. He’s also a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and is chairman of the Migration Policy Institute.

The Center for Migration Studies, or CMS, was celebrating its 55th year of promoting understanding between immigrants and receiving communities. The organization — which was founded in 1964 by the Missionaries of St. Charles, Scalabrinians — has priests, women religious and laypeople who serve immigrants and refugees.

In addition to Bishop DiMarzio, other honorees included the following:

Alexander Aleinikoff, director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, who received the Excellence in International Migration Scholarship Award
Vicky Virgin, research associate, Poverty Research Unit of the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity
Robert Warren, senior visiting fellow at CMS
Carmen Maquilon, director of Catholic Charities Immigrant Services of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, who received the Humanitarian Service Award
Dariusz “Darek” Knapik, owner of Victoria Consulting Services, who received the Immigrant Achievement Award.