The generous donors from Futures In Education help hundreds of students attend Catholic schools.
Parishioners in the Diocese of Brooklyn got the chance to venerate a relic of St. Jude.
It was a celebration at Christ the King Church in Springfield Gardens as parishioners gathered for the parish’s 90th anniversary.
The Diocese of Brooklyn is home to many people from all walks of life and leading them in faith is Bishop Robert Brennan.
Recently, Bishop Brennan was chosen to lead another major group, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity.
Following the vote at the fall meeting in Baltimore, Currents News Christine Persichette caught up with Bishop Brennan to talk about the new position.
by Katie Vasquez
Dozens of staff are hard at work, hoping to feed hundreds of hungry people after Thanksgiving weekend.
“We serve over 400 people per day and we do hot lunches and we give them a sandwich because we’re closed for dinner,” said Pauline Auguste, director of food services at CHIPS.
Community Help In Park Slope, or CHIPS, has been feeding the homeless for 50 years.
But they say this time is always the hardest.ter Thanksgiving it’s always a little bit intense on that first Monday where we’re always in need of extra sandwiches.”Fortunately they have some extra helping hands from Carroll Gardens.
St. Mary Star of the Sea Church has been packing lunches for the pantry since last June.
Parishioners pour their love into each of the 300 turkey, ham, or sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches.
“We shouldn’t take that kind of cold attitude of they should just be grateful that there’s anything. No we should serve them the way we would serve family,” said Mary Carriero, a parishioner at St. Mary Star of the Sea. “I think for us, that’s how we see Jesus in this.”
Every two weeks, they gather in the parish hall to help the less fortunate.
“At the end, I think it made me feel good about it, like, ‘oh at least I’m doing a good deed back,’ ” said Oliver Naeder, another parishioner at the church.
But the good deed is also giving the parishioners a priceless gift for the Christmas season: spending more time with their spiritual family.
“We see people every Sunday, but we don’t really get a chance to interact with them,” Kim Chinh, a parishioner, said. “And so here you really get a chance to try to figure out where people are from, what their background is, how long they’ve been a parishioner.”
Hundreds of homeless people come to community help in Park Slope or CHIPS every day looking for food.
Bishop Robert Brennan is leading the Committee on Cultural Diversity for the U.S. bishops.
A tragic loss for the Diocese of Brooklyn and the FDNY Monsignor John Delendick passed away last Thursday after a long battle with 9/11 related cancer.
Pope Francis canceled meetings and didn’t preside over his Sunday Angelus because of breathing difficulties due to lung inflammation.
The 2023 Vatican Christmas tree has arrived in St. Peter’s Square. Early this morning, a truck brought the fir tree to the Vatican from the city of Marca in the Piedmont region in the northwestern part of Italy.
The regional governor of Piedmont said that after the Christmas season, the wood of this tree will be used to make toys for children, which will be distributed through Caritas.
On Dec. 9 at 5 pm, the tree will be lit with the inauguration of the Nativity scene. This tradition of the Vatican Christmas tree began with Pope John Paul II in 1982.
Michelangelo’s secret room is now open to the public in Florence — the cradle of the Italian Renaissance. The walls are covered with his charcoal sketches, such as one of the face of the Greek figure Laocoon.
The room was discovered by chance. The former director of the Museum of Bargello, Paolo dal Poggetto, asked a restorer to carry out cleaning tests in the corridor under the New Medici Chapel. The room had been used to store coal until 1955 and then remained sealed and forgotten for decades.
While cleaning, the restorer discovered sketches that were under two layers of plaster. After studying the works, the director concluded that the room had been Michelangelo’s refuge in 1530 — around 15 years after finishing his work on the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo used the room to hide from Pope Clement VII, who was angry with the artist because of his support of the new republican government.
The secret room is about 30 feet long by 10 feet wide. Only small groups of four people are allowed to visit the room at one time.
Volunteers with the non-profit Covenant House spent the night out in the cold, sleeping in Times Square, to raise awareness about this critical issue.
Some young men considering the priesthood got advice from someone living it—the Bishop of Brooklyn.
A friendsgiving was held in Greenpoint where everyone is considered a friend.
Before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, there’s the Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy Thanksgiving Eve Parade.
by Katie Vasquez
Under the bright lights and noise of Times Square, Jen Rivera is trying to sleep on the cold concrete of the “Crossroads of the World.”
“We got a sleeping bag, we got a blanket, we got a reflection journal, we got an eye mask because we are in the middle of Times Square which is very helpful,” Rivera said.
This is her first time not sleeping in her bed and while she knows she has a home to go to, she also has a close connection to homelessness.
“My mom is also here,” Rivera said. “She’s a little further down, so to be able to experience this with her as someone who did experience homelessness, this is just a really great bonding opportunity for us.”
Rivera is one of 400 people taking part in Covenant House’s 12th annual Sleep Out. From 10 p.m. Thursday night to 6 a.m. Friday morning, these people are sleeping in Times Square, like the dozens who camp here every night.
“I think it’s good for us to see just what they’re going through,” she said.
Covenant House hosts the Sleep Out to raise money and awareness for the city’s youth homeless population. The Franciscan founded nonprofit provides food and shelter for hundreds of young people living on the streets.
This year they decided to take their awareness event to the iconic intersection.
“It’s really powerful because so many of the young people we serve here in New York have literally slept on these streets, walked through these streets at night to stay warm,” said Covenant House President and CEO Bill Bedrossian.
It’s because of the Sleep Out participants that some of the people the Covenant House helps are not living on the streets anymore. Former Covenant House resident, Shamae Mayes, aged out of the foster system and found herself sleeping on the subway with her one-year-old son. Then she saw an ad for the nonprofit.
“I took it as a sign from God because what else could it be? I had no other options,” Mayes said. “And there it was. When I got to the Covenant House, they asked if I needed some type of prayer and I was given a rosary bead. And you know what? We prayed.”
She now lives in the same Bronx apartment that Covenant House helped her to find.
Covenant House is currently helping more than 400 homeless youth in New York City. Nationwide they are sheltering 2,000 people a night.
The organization aimed to raise $2 million dollars. As of now, it’s at $1.6 million but they are still getting donations and hope to meet their goal.
This was a global event with 6,000 people sleeping out in 5 countries and 17 cities. This includes Alaska to Canada, Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras.
You can help Covenant House in their mission by going on their website: covenanthouse.org
By Jessica Easthope
Free food, free clothing, and a space free of judgment. At the Shalom Catholic Community’s friendsgiving, everyone is poor in their own way.
“We are all existentially poor; we are all in need of each other, so today we want to share everything we have and everything we are, enrich one another with our gifts,” said Father Cristiano Pinheiro, pastor of San Damiano Mission and coordinator of the Shalom Catholic Community.
Father Pinheiro says as the ongoing migrant crisis changes the face of the neighborhood, the reach of the Church needs to get wider.
“We want to be a Church that builds bridges and reaches those that are suffering with loneliness, suffering with immigration. Want to be a family for them,” he said.
The event, which was held on the streets of Greenpoint, drew in people from all walks of life, people like Vietnam veteran Rita Das.
“I live day-to-day, nobody ever gave me a penny,” Das said. “I feel very, very happy that people could do something like this for other people.”
For some who have been trying to get back on their feet since the COVID-19 pandemic, Shalom has been a safe haven.
“There’s nowhere to find a meal from, no job, no money, not everybody’s got it to give so I’m thankful,” said Leonard Jonas who’s living in a YMCA shelter in Greenpoint.
“Since COVID, the isolation, Shalom has been very helpful and understanding and it’s giving faith back to humanity,” said Jesse Harrison who comes to Shalom often for food and assistance.
Bishop Robert Brennan joins Currents News to discuss his plan to reverse the dwindling number of people attending Mass.