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90 Years Later, ‘Pope’s Radio Station’ Continues to Spread the Good News

Currents News Staff

For nearly 90 years the Vatican has had its very own radio station, otherwise known as the ‘Pope’s Radio Station.’ It transmits his messages all over the world.

It was created on Feb. 12, 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, as a powerful means of communication to share Pope Pius XI’s message. 

The Pope’s Radio Station may be nearing 90 years old, but it hasn’t lost its mission. 

“It was a great instrument to bring the pope’s voice to many countries,” explained Andrea Tornielli, the Editorial Director of Vatican News.

“It also served as a free voice to get information in time of war, and to share the pope’s voice and other information in the years of communism for other countries,” he said. 

“Vatican Radio was the first international broadcasting outlet in the world. So the Church has always been in the forefront of media, understanding that technology must be at the service of humanity,” said Vatican News Director of English Programming, Sean Patrick Lovett.

“Our purpose is to spread that message of hope, which is essentially what the Good News is all about, isn’t it?”

Transmitted in multiple languages, the radio’s mission hasn’t changed. Yet, communication within the Holy See continues to be a reform process.

“We’re bringing together nine different communications departments. It’s a process. It involves people, first of all, technology as well. It’s a complicated process,” said Lovett. 

Now, the radio is part of a larger team, Vatican News. Composed of nearly 600 people in total, the staff are all working to spread the pope’s message to the world. 

Despite the changing world of media, Vatican News says radio is not dying. By 2025, it’s expected radio listening will beat out TV viewing, which is declining three times faster than radio. 

Island-Wide Demonstrations Continue as Puerto Ricans Call for Governor to Resign

Currents News Staff

Thousands of Puerto Ricans filled the streets on July 22 shutting down a highway in San Juan for another day of protests against Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, a scene that some have called “unprecedented.”

At the heart of these demonstrations are leaked messages between Governor Ricardo Rosselló and his inner circle, many of them profanity-laced, homophobic and misogynistic in nature.

At one point Rosselló responded to a message that threatened to shoot San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín cruz by saying, “you’d be doing me a grand favor.”

“The crimes committed by the governor are so horrendous that it cannot wait,” Mayor Cruz said. 

She believes his behavior warrants impeachment.

But Rosselló isn’t backing down. He’s apologized and said that he won’t run for re-election next year, but has also said he plans to continue serving as governor.

“I need to work beyond politics so that we can address some of the long standing problems of corruption here in Puerto Rico and fix that problem,” Rosselló said. 

As calls for his impeachment grow, he may not get that opportunity.

As protests are close to entering a second week, everyone is telling Ricky that the game is over.

Honduran Migrants Deported From Mexico Forced to Return

Currents News Staff

After a long journey north, immigrants making their way to Mexico are being returned by the busload back to Honduras. 

Dozens of buses are entering Honduras each day carrying men, women and children whose hopes of reaching the U.S. were cut short in Mexico. 

There they were stopped, and forced to come home. 

“It’s really difficult,” one migrant said. “I can’t lie to you. I don’t recommend it. All the centers are full in the city where I was in Mexico. I was there and got deported.”

Tens of thousands are still desperately trying to enter the U.S.. 

In 2018, caravans of Central American migrants marching towards the U.S. border began drawing worldwide attention, including from the American president. 

“We are a country that is under siege. A lot of people don’t like this word. We have a country that’s being invaded,” said President Donald Trump. 

His administration’s hard-line approach to immigration has since intensified with renewed efforts to build a wall along the border and controversial policies separating families and putting minors into detention centers.

The administration’s approach to the immigration crisis also includes tighter restrictions on asylum applications and pressure on America’s southern neighbor to keep migrants from reaching the border.

“If Mexico does a great job, then you’re not going to have a lot of people coming up. If they don’t, then we have phase two. Phase two is very tough,” Trump said.

With a 45-day deadline, Mexico has appeared eager to comply with Trump’s demands by dramatically increasing deportations of Central Americans.

In Honduras alone, nearly 40 thousand have been returned from Mexico since the start of 2019. 14 thousand of those migrants are unaccompanied minors, according to the Honduran Consular and Migration Observatory.

Among those forced to return, some are warning others against attempting the same journey:

“In Mexico, they don’t want to give us shelter or anything. There’s no point of going there. There’s no water. They don’t want to give us food, nothing. It’s very difficult. I recommend people stay put,” said one person of their experience. 

But many are undeterred, feeling they have little left to lose. 

“The poverty here, that’s why we look for a better future for our families,” another migrant explained. 

“We are fallen but not defeated. God willing we will try it again within a couple of days.”

As murder rates, gang violence and unemployment all soar in Honduras, the choice remains a difficult one for some in this country: 

Stay, or leave with the chance you’ll have to return.

Steubenville NYC: Young Catholics Feel Sense of Belonging

By Tim Harfmann

Steubenville NYC is a conference designed to deepen relationships with Christ.

About 2,000 teenagers and young adults from across the United States spent the weekend at Saint John’s University.

One group traveled over 4,000 miles from Alaska. They said the event made them feel like they belong to the universal Church.

“It’s such a fulfilling moment. You come here and just get to let everything out,” said Natalie Malone, a member of the group from Alaska. “You don’t feel pressured, and you don’t feel anxious that everybody’s going to be looking at you because you know that everyone around you is feeling the same thing you are.”

The conference is a collaboration between the Brooklyn diocese, Rockville Centre diocese, Archdiocese of New York, the Franciscan University of Steubenville and Life Teen — a movement to encounter Christ.

“We come to the table of the Lord, He nourishes us, and then we have to go forward and find where we can make a difference in the world,” said Father Rick Martignetti, one of the weekend’s guest speakers. “So, instead of staying outside and criticizing the Church, I encourage them to be a part of it and use your gifts to make it better.”

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated the closing Mass on July 21 and told the congregation he chose to wear vestments from this year’s World Youth Day with Pope Francis, the international gathering of young people in Panama.

“When they come together and see other people of their age that have faith, that encourages them. That’s what the Church is about. We encourage one another. We just don’t go to God alone, we go as a community of faith,” said Bishop DiMarzio.

Encouraging one another at a time when, teens from Brooklyn and Queens say, their Catholic faith could be challenging.

“It is, honestly, beautiful because you would think the youth wants nothing to do with God, and it’s really amazing to see young people worship God,” said Nichelle Leon, a parishioner at Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians Church in Woodside, Queens.

“Sometimes you question your faith and coming here actually helped me think about my faith,” said Yazdani Trujillo, a parishioner at Saint Michael’s Church in Sunset Park Brooklyn. “[It] actually made me feel closer to God and knowing I do belong, it made me feel good and it was a good experience.”

They said they’re now inspired to go out and strengthen the future of the Church.

Currents News for Friday, July 19, 2019

On this special edition: We focus on faith and how people are changing the lives of those around them; Plus, what Pope Francis is doing to demand justice for migrants around the world; Then, putting their faith in action at a rally for the unborn at the state’s capitol; And three young men from the same Catholic parish in Queens accomplish something rare. They just became Eagle Scouts.

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.

Currents News for Thursday, July 18, 2019

On the newscast: New York is preparing for the heatwave. We’ll tell you where you can go to keep cool; And, as part of our special look back at the historic Apollo 11 mission, we talk to the director of the Vatican Observatory; Then, Bishop Nicolas DiMarzio is here to discuss the crisis at the border, in this week’s “Into The Deep”; And he led a simple life, but his impact will be felt for generations. Find out why a carpenter left his life savings to strangers.

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.

Puerto Ricans Demand Governor Step Down Following Misconduct

By Wandy Felicita Ortiz and Emily Drooby

With their fists raised, their flags waving and through chants of  “Ricky Renuncia” or “Ricky Resign,” Puerto Ricans took to Union Square Park to speak out against the island’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló on July 18.

Known to the locals as “Ricky,” many hold him responsible for the humanitarian and financial fallout the island has endured since Hurricane Maria made landfall in 2017. Post-Maria, citizens of the U.S. commonwealth feel abandoned by their local and national political leaders. Now, they say he must he step down from his position due to endangering the island.

For protestor Power Malu, the history and pain of Puerto Rico runs in his blood- his parents from the island towns of Santurce and Camuy.

For years Malu has been a member of civil rights groups like Brooklyn’s El Grito de Sunset Park or “The Scream of Sunset Park.”

“Hundreds of schools closed down under the guise of saving money, and we find out that the Secretary of Education was stealing this money. So you see all of this corruption going on, and the crisis that’s happening, it’s partly due to this incompentant Governor of Puerto Rico,” Malu said.

On July 10, the FBI arrested two former agency directors in Rosselló’s administration who between 2017 – 2019 allegedly committed $15.5 million worth of fraud using federal funds.

Later that week on July 13, Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism unearthed 800 pages worth of correspondence written by Rosselló in a private chat.

Within the chat he directed profanities towards the board that oversees the territory’s finances and mocked the 4,645 lives lost following the hurricane. Additionally he defamed fellow Puerto Rican and former New York City Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and fantasized about the death of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, his political rival in this year’s gubernatorial elections.

Malu said that the grassroots movement has grown not because the issues the island faces are new, but because the people responsible for them have now been exposed, saying “talking behind closed doors, showing their true colors, on how they feel about us. We’ve been on the streets protesting these things and what do they do? They laugh at us.”

“It’s obvious now to us, in writing, what’s going on,” said Zaira Rivera from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, who has been living in the U.S. for ten years now. She came to the protest with her family back home in mind.

In a statement White House spokesman Judd Deere said, “The unfortunate events of the past week in Puerto Rico prove the President’s concerns about mismanagement, politicization and corruption have been valid.”

Stacey Martinez from the Bronx came to the protest with her son who is preparing to enter college. She hopes that by seeing the Puerto Rican community come together, both her son and politicians at the White House can learn an important lesson.

“Puerto Rico is suffering. We are more than musicians and dancers. We’re scholars. We’re doctors. We are people that have changed this country,” Martinez said through tears.

“We pay taxes. We’re citizens. My father’s a disabled veteran. We fought for this country. I’m here so that my son knows: this is who we are,” she added.

Following the release of his chat comments Rosselló returned to the island early from vacation to denounce his own behavior, and promised to ride out the rest of his time in office despite calls for him to step down.

Though Catholic, he made his first apologies at a Protestant church in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Carlos Rivera who was at the protest in New York, said the governor’s apology in his hometown of Carolina was nothing but a show.

“I think that it was completely a publicity stunt, and that definitely infuriated me. Especially the use of God and religion in order to create sympathy. And I think if you’re a real Christian, Jesus said, ‘do not let the left hand know what the right hand does.’ And he did it in public, and that was incendiary,” he said.

While hundreds protested in Manhattan, over 100,000 marched on Old San Juan late into the night, with sister marches being held around the world as far the Netherlands.