While Hosting Australian Leader, Trump Faces Questions on Relationship With Ukraine

Currents News Staff

President Trump and the First Lady hosted the second state visit of the administration, welcoming the Prime Minister of Australia to the White House on Friday, September 20.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a better relationship than we have right now,” said Trump.

According to the White House, the visit was intended to highlight the strong ties between the two countries and their common interests, among them North Korea and China as the U.S. continues to negotiate a trade deal.

“They have grown and they’ve become a substantive economy in the world. And once you sort of get into that level, then you need to able to be playing to the same rules as those other developed nations,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia.

Trump also announced new sanctions on Iran’s central bank on Friday, in the wake of an attack on a Saudi oil facility that the U.S. has blamed on Tehran.

“They could solve the problem very easily,” said Trump. “All they have to do is stop with the terror.”

In the midst of hosting one foreign leader, President Trump also faces questions on a whistleblower complaint regarding communication with the leader of Ukraine.

“It’s a partisan whistleblower, shouldn’t even have information. I’ve had conversations with many leaders, they’re always appropriate,” said Trump.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Director of National Intelligence to send the information on the complaint to Congress as, she noted, the law requires.

New York Doctors Meet With Pope on Value of Healthcare

By Melissa Butz

Pope Francis met with 600 doctors from New York on September 20. The medical professionals work with an organization named “SOMOS Community Care” which serves patients who lack access to basic resources.

Mario Paredes, the Chief Executive Officer of SOMOS, introduced Pope Francis to the group’s leader.

“For me, it is an honor to present to you, the founder, the creator of this movement that was generated in the city of New York to renovate the health system in our city, Dr. Ramón Tallaj,” he told the Holy Father.

“We execute our vision and mission by rescuing the traditional role of the primary physician, family doctor, or ‘general physician,’ the neighborhood doctor,” Ramón told Pope Francis. “The recipients of our service are the immigrants, the poorest and most vulnerable people in New York, who have come from the most diverse corners of the globe.”

The pontiff thanked them for their personal commitment to patients, both in disease prevention and in treatment.

“This solidarity with the sick is a real treasure, and it is a distinctive sign of authentic health care and assistance, which puts the person and his needs at the center,” he told the group. “Today, healthcare is recognized as a universal human right and as an essential dimension of integral human development. Even so, in the world, it is still a right guaranteed to few and forbidden to many.”

As a gift for the visit, they gave Pope Francis a stethoscope.

Among the meeting’s attendees were actor Benicio del Toro and Argentine pianist Raúl di Blasio.

“It’s an incredible experience. Pope is hope. Pope is hope,” Benicio said. “I’m here with SOMOS. Coming here with a bunch of doctors, people that really work hard to help the needy in New York. So I’m here with them.”

“I didn’t have the opportunity to speak to the pope. It was important just being close,” said Raúl. “I would have loved to have been able to offer to give a concert to youth through that wonderful cause he has. There will be another chance. It was a truly wonderful experience.”

“He showed how he identifies with the needy, what he calls the ‘throwaway culture,’” Ramón explained. “He mentioned them three times in his speech. When you are with a person like him, it touches everyone’s heart, because he helps you see the drama of human poverty.”

Pope Francis was at ease with the doctors. In addition to greeting those responsible for the initiative, he stopped for a while to personally greet the doctors and their families.

Priest Heroes Of The Titanic

In this special edition of All Things Catholic from New York City, Joe Estevez discusses the priests aboard the Titanic who ministered to the passengers on the sinking ship. Discover why they are overlooked in the numerous films about the doomed ocean liner. Also, the Titanic’s historic connection to St. Paul’s Church in Brooklyn. Guests: Msgr. Joseph Nugent and actor Dan Roebuck.

New York Religious Leaders Call for Closure of Rikers Island

By Christopher White

NEW YORK – New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan joined with religious leaders throughout the city on Thursday to call for the closing of Rikers Island, saying that one of the nation’s most notorious prisons “has got to go.”

At a press conference outside of the New York Supreme Court, the cardinal said the prison complex, one of the largest in the nation, goes against the values of the gospel and American values of “fairness, hope, and justice.”

“God has told us Jews, Christians, members of Islam to bring compassion, mercy, and justice to those who are incarcerated,” he said.

In a nod to President Ronald Reagan’s Berlin Wall Speech, Dolan said “in the name of God, let’s tear down this place.”

Dolan was joined by Brooklyn’s Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, auxiliary Bishop John O’Hara, executive director of Catholic Charities Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Rev. A. R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis, and other members of the Commission of Religious Leaders (CORL), which serves as an advocacy body on issues related to poverty, racism, homelessness, and “a breakdown of moral values, family structure and other social institutions.”

In a collective statement, CORL said the need to close Rikers was a “moral imperative.”

“The life and dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God, is a principle of our faiths, and must be applied to all. The conditions found in Rikers Island robs the imprisoned of their dignity, denies them justice, and deprives them of mercy,” they said.

Rikers Island – a four hundred-acre island in the East River amidst Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx – has repeatedly come under scrutiny in recent years for overcrowding and its brutal treatment of inmates.

The prison currently houses just under 10,000 inmates and according to a 2013 report in Mother Jones, has one of the highest rates of solitary confinement in the nation. A report that same year by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene documented 129 cases where beatings of inmates led to “severe injuries.”

In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced that he intended to close the prison within the next ten years, opening up a number of regional jails in New York’s boroughs to house its current inmates, an undertaking expected to cost over ten billion dollars.

While admitting that as religious leaders, they are not “pros in the intricate details,” Dolan said that “we are experts in the protection of human dignity and the common good of the community that we love and cherish.”

In addition to visiting inmates, Dolan said that it’s often religious leaders who are on the front lines in supporting families of prisoners and helping to support them once they are released after serving jail time.

He also said the current costs of Rikers was another practical reason to support the prison’s closing, arguing that it’s “contrary to common sense to spend billions of dollars on a complex that doesn’t work and happens to worsen things.”

Earlier this month, Pope Francis spoke out about the need to offer prisoners the “right to hope,” and called for an end to the practice of life without parole.

In an audience with guards, chaplains, and volunteers from the Italian Ministry of Justice, he said “If you close hope in a cell, there is no future for society.”

He then addressed inmates directly, saying “Never let yourselves be imprisoned in the dark cell of a heart without hope; don’t give in to resignation. God is bigger than every problem and he is waiting for you in order to love you.”

Currents News for Thursday, September 19, 2019

On the newscast: She’s already caused a Queens parish more than twelve thousand dollars in damages. The church vandal strikes again; Top faith leaders have a plan to close Rikers Island once and for all; An organization is reaching out to people with Alzheimer’s and delivering life-sustaining meals; Mother Cabrini got the votes but they didn’t count. Now people are set to march in her honor.

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Outdoor Shrine at St. Gerard Majella Targeted a Third Time

By Emily Drooby

A statue of the Blessed Mother has been the latest target of a criminal who’s caused damage to the Church of Saint Gerard Majella in Hollis, Queens twice before.

As seen in a new surveillance video, the woman in question tried to knock the statue to the ground but couldn’t topple it over.

The church’s pastor, Father Joseph Jude Gannon, is worried that the attacks on his parish are getting worse.

“She seems to now seems to have a pattern and fixation with mary and with us in particular, but it is something that’s very scary because it does seem to be an escalation going from signs, to the rosary icons and then to Mary herself,” Fr. Gannon explained, referring to the other times the vandal caused damage at the church.

A church security camera recorded the first attack two Sundays ago, when the woman ripped down a large church sign and tore the parish’s name from potted plants.

Then, before dawn this past Monday, she went after rosary stations in the same outdoor shrine where the Virgin Mary’s statue is located.

About 20 of the stations were totally destroyed, and the broken pieces tossed into the trash.

The vandal also ripped out parts of the church’s sprinkler system and a stairway handrail.

Fr. Gannon estimates the vandal has caused more than 12,000 dollars worth of damage, and hopes the woman will be safely caught before anything else happens.

Police have also increased patrols in the area, and wanted flyers have been put up in the neighborhood.

Toni and Adam work next door to the church, were disgusted to hear about the latest incident.

“It’s disgusting, Fr. Gannon tried to beautify the neighborhood. The neighborhood is growing. And to see someone do that it’s like a hate crime, against him, the neighborhood, and the church,” Toni said.

“He really did an excellent job. Especially if you would have seen the way it looked before the parking lot, he redid it, he made a little park for the kids to play out here because there’s really nothing out here for them, and they’re just destroying it,” Adam explained.

Rose Dunn, a parishioner at the church, is disappointed the woman targeted the statue.“That’s terrible that’s why I say, ‘I pray to the Lord they catch her,’” she said.

It’s not the first time this church has been targeted. Another individual was arrested for stealing thousands of dollars worth of guitars from the church last year.

Fr. Gannon says despite these attacks, faith in the parish remains strong.

Families Facing Severe Illnesses Receive Meals with ‘God’s Love’

By Tim Harfmann

Vicky Javier takes care of her husband, Santiago, around the clock. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 22 years ago.

“It’s really hard to me because physically he’s here, but for a long, long time he’s not here anymore emotionally, spirituality, mentally. He doesn’t know me anymore,” said Vicky.

Santiago lost his memory just two years into his diagnosis, and he hasn’t spoken a word in over a decade.

Vicky is a retired teacher who taught Catholic school students for nearly 30 years. She used to have to bring Santiago into the classroom with her because she didn’t have another full-time caregiver.

Now, Vicky’s been relieved of a big chore — cooking meals for her 81-year-old husband.

The Catholic couple receives help from God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that provides nutritious meals for those suffering from severe illnesses.

“She doesn’t have to worry about what Santiago is going to eat, if it’s going to be healthy and nutritious, and how much it’s going to cost,” said Emmett Findley, director of communications for the nonprofit. “These meals [are] free to Victoria and Santiago, but they’re also made with love.”

Over 7,700 patients, their family members and caregivers receive the love-made meals in the New York Metropolitan area.

Vicky’s freezer in Sunset Park, Brooklyn is stuffed with soup and other items.

“It is very helpful for me. You don’t know how I thank God for this,” said Vicky.

Santiago was a diabetic with high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Now, according to Vicky, the ‘God’s Love’ meals are making a difference in his health.

“[Santiago’s doctor] stopped all the prescriptions because of the meals, I imagine. There’s nothing else.”

Vicky also receives meals — but she gives them to her husband.

“I don’t really eat it because I save it for him, instead of thinking of what to give him.”

A sacrifice all thanks to volunteers delivering God’s love.

U.S. Navy Confirms Presence of Mysterious Objects in Recent Videos

Currents News Staff

The U.S. Navy has finally acknowledged that videos appearing to show UFOs flying through the air are real.

They footage was recorded years ago by fighter pilots, and were later made public by the New York Times.

They were also released by a UFO research group founded by former Blink-182 singer and guitarist Tom DeLonge, who penned a song for the band called “Aliens Exist.”

The images of a “rotating thing” had been captured by a U.S. Navy aircraft, which had sensors locked in on the target.

“As we both looked out the right side of our airplane, we saw a disturbance in the water and a white object, oblong, pointing north, moving,” said Commander David Fravor, who saw it firsthand during a training mission. He described it like a “40-foot long tic tac,” maneuvering rapidly and changing direction.

The object was first sighted in 2004. Similar objects were again seen in 2015.

“This was extremely abrupt like a ping pong ball bouncing off the wall. The ability to hover over the water and go from zero to 12,000 feet and accelerate in less than two seconds was something I have never seen in my life,” Fravor explained.

The Navy has said it still does know what the objects are, and officials are not speculating. A navy spokesman simply confirmed that the objects seen in the various clips are “unidentified aerial phenomena,” or UAPS.

UFO reports were first investigated by a secret 22 million dollar program as part of the Defense Department’s budget.

The program has since been shut down, but it was run by a military intelligence official who told media they found compelling evidence that we “may not be alone.”

Currents News for Wednesday, September 18, 2019

On the newscast: A special moment at the Vatican this morning; Catholic leaders delivering a historic report to Pope Francis. It’s about building-up the Hispanic and Latino ministry in America; The vaping crisis is getting strong attention from a Catholic high school in Brooklyn; Cardinal Timothy Dolan is warning about online scammers who are pretending to be him; A hero is crediting God with helping him save a dying man’s life.

Catholic Academy Supports Students Through ‘Embassy School’ Scholarships

By Tim Harfmann

Seventh grader Ashley Cela was enrolled in public school until last year, when Saint Bartholomew Catholic Academy provided her family with a scholarship.

“It means a lot to us because it’s really giving me a chance to study in a Catholic school, and it’s really helping my parents,” said Ashley.

The Celas are one of nearly 50 families receiving tuition help this year.

The Elmhurst, Queens academy is one of 15 Catholic academies in Brooklyn and Queens with considered to be an ‘embassy school.’

“It means it gives the opportunity for children in our parish to come, where parents might be struggling with the full tuition,” explained Father Richard Beuther, the pastor of St. Bartholomew Church.

It’s also a way for the parish to give back to its immigrant community, made up mostly of Filipinos, Ecuadorians, and Mexicans.

School officials meet directly with parents and access their financial needs. Then, scholarships ranging from 300-1,500 dollars are granted accordingly.

But for these students, the experience they receive is not only about academics.

“When we ask our parents, ‘What do you want for your child?’ they want a school where they could learn, but also be rooted in their faith,” said Denise Gonzalez, principal of the Catholic academy.

Embassy schools not only provide scholarships, but are able to fund classroom programs centered around robotics, art and technology.

Eighth grader Brayden Castro is one of the students on the St. Bartholomew robotics team and has hopes of becoming an engineer when he grows up.

“I want to try to add something to the world and try to make the world a better place,” he explained. That’s just what the academy wants for its nearly 180 students and counting.

“We’re trying to gain more to come out of the public school, and come into a Catholic environment and community,” said Fr. Beuther.

St. Bartholomew also reaches out to nearly 800 students in the parish’s faith formation classes, letting families know that they all can afford a faith-based education that will strengthen the Catholic community for generations to come.