St. Anthony of Padua Celebrated In Brooklyn

By Emily Drooby

Fanfare filled the streets and prayers filled the pews of Our Lady of Peace as hundreds gathered to celebrate St. Anthony Of Padua’s feast day.

It’s a beloved tradition in the Gowanus, Brooklyn neighborhood. One that Millie Lamanno has been a part of for more than half a century.

“My prayers are always answered, that’s why I have faith in him, him and I are like this, that’s why I love him,” said Lamanno.

Millie is 101 years old but she’s still volunteering on this feast day, hanging offerings on St. Anthony’s Shrine. She’s helping him because as the patron saint of lost items, he has always helped her.

“Whenever I lost an item I always talked to St. Anthony, my prayers are always answered, whatever I wished for I was always successful, that’s why I have deep faith in St. Anthony,” she said.

If something is lost you can grab a metal and ask St Anthony for his help and that missing item will likely be found.

“And you know the funny part of it all, I find my things and that why I have so much faith that I’m helping here so many years,” said Vivian Ceravolo, a diocese of Brooklyn parishioner.

Those metals were sold at the church. Along with flowers, bread, oils, all have deep importance.

“The bread represents the giving of our abundance that we have gifts that we share what we have with many. The lilies that we have is actually representative of purity. Tradition has it that two of the lilies themselves, the fragrance that it has the oils is used to mix with other oil. Those who are in need of anointing they can anoint themselves to the devotion of St Anthony and receive graces as well, the metals are to remember the feast then it’s another symbol for keeping Anthony close to heart,” explained Father Orlando Ruiz, OFM, the pastor of Our Lady of Peace.

Parishioners and clergy also showed their love for St. Anthony by celebrating mass throughout the day.

As Their Principal Retires, Catholic Academy Thrives With Waiting Lists

By Tim Harfmann

For the last 17 years, Kathleen Buscemi has been the principal at Saint Bernard Catholic Academy in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn. The school is thriving and there’s a waiting list of students who want to get into the classrooms.

She’s retiring after dedicating 45 years to Catholic education, all the while, impacting thousands of lives.

“I say all the time that we’re a family, and we are truly a family,” said Buscemi.

Buscemi established over 30 extracurricular activities for children and invested in technology in the classrooms, all combined with a faith-based education.

“They teach the children to read, write, and do math the old-fashioned way the same as we do; but we offer that something extra,” she said.

On June 13, students, teachers, and parents honored her during a tearful farewell ceremony.

The kids presented her with several gifts, from letters written by every student, to her own street sign, “Buscemi’s Way.”

Eighth grader Sienna Skye Mastroviti explained why the principal is so loved.

“She did everything she could for us. She helped us. She looked out for us. She guided me, and I know I wouldn’t be who I am today without her,” said Mastroviti.

Catholic education is important to Buscemi, and going forward she’s going to mentor new Catholic school principals.

Monsignor Joseph Grimaldi, the pastor of Saint Bernard parish, said, “She has always been that beckon of hope, that beckon of bringing the good news of salvation through the witness of her life, to teach our Catholic principles and our Catholic morals faithfully each day, day in and day

out.”

And she did so with great success.

In Affordable Housing Battle, Seniors Call For Mayor’s Eviction

By Tamara Laine

Hundreds of senior citizens from across New York City gathered at Gracie Mansion on June 12 to demand that Mayor Bill de Blasio uphold his promise to fund senior housing facilities.

Otherwise, they want him evicted.

“Housing is not a political issue, it is a human issue it is a human rights issue,” said Father Mason, pastor of Our Lady of the Participation in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

He and members of his parish traveled to the Mansion by bus, spending hours in traffic.

Currents News was invited to ride on the bus, and spoke to seniors affected by the housing crisis.

“When you look at seniors not safe, not living in properly sized apartments…come on, now let’s address that,” said Carlota Butler, a parishioner Our Lady of the Participation & Mercy.

“Frustrated” and “angry” were just some of the words parishioners like Evie Pacheco used to describe their attitudes towards the situation.

They say the mayor has broken a promise he made one year ago: to budget $500 million for low-income senior housing, something that many think is desperately needed.

Nearly 80,000 seniors currently rely on NYCHA housing, with an estimated 200,000 New Yorkers over the age of 65 living below the poverty line.

This group coming from Brownsville has the highest density of public housing units in the country, making this Issue close to home.

For East Brooklyn Congregations Leader Tita Concepcion, it’s personal.

“I live with the seniors that are going through hard times who struggle to go up the stairs when the elevators are broken,” she said.

“My daughter was assaulted once in these buildings because the doors were not fixed”

“Many of those who trekked here pulled with them suitcases,” she added, saying that if the mayor didn’t allocate funding for these issues, they were going to move into his mansion.

“Mr. Mayor you live in a rodent-free, lead-free, mold free, safe mansion while half a million people are living in dehumanizing conditions.”

Father Mason, who was wildly received by the crowd, said enough is enough.

“We are here today to remind him of that commitment and say ‘Mr. Mayor, step up and fulfill your promise or move out and let some of our seniors live in your nice building,’” he said.

The Mayor’s office has not yet returned our request for comment.

This is just one of the many housing issues affecting New Yorkers. Currents News will continue special coverage on the New York City housing crisis, reporting on developing rent reform legislation in the days to come.

Changes to be Made to ‘Our Father’ Prayer, in Italian

Currents News Staff

Over time, changes have been made within the Catholic Church to the Mass and various prayers, but a Vatican official has clarified that is not currently happening to the ‘Our Father’ in English.

Rumors that the ‘Our Father’ is changing are true, but only for Italians.

The English version will stay exactly the same, for now. Archbishop Arthur Roche, the Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, asserts it was not Pope Francis who pushed for this change, but the Italian Episcopal conference.

“No, the pope isn’t changing the ‘Our Father’?” he asked. “How could he change what is in Scripture?”

“You see,” he explained, “the most fundamental text for liturgical translations is the

Bible. Because the prayers of the Mass are mainly taken from the Scriptures. So the texts of the Mass have to correspond to the Bible.”

Archbishop Roche acknowledged that each Episcopal conference around the world has a responsibility to make all liturgical texts coincide with the Bible translation in their native tongue.

This change is taking place now because the Italian Episcopal conference is remaking their

Roman Missal.

The entire process has taken them over 10 years to complete.

Archbishop Roche said the phrase “and lead us not into temptation” is the one to be replaced.

“Because it says in the Italian text, ‘not to abandon us into temptation,’ That is why the

Italian bishops have chosen to use that phrase,” he explained.

The expected publication date for the Italian Roman Missal is Advent 2019. Once published,

this is when the change for the ‘Our Father’ will officially take place in all Italian Masses.

Archbishop Roche insisted that each translation and prayer should adhere to the vernacular of the country.

In the past, New Zealand even had a different ‘Our Father’ than that in the United States.

But now, he said all English speakers have the same prayer, and that is not going to change anytime soon.

U.S. Bishops to Follow Pope’s New Mandate on Accountability

Currents News Staff

In May, Pope Francis issued a new law that pledges an “all-out war” on abuse.

Watching their meeting very closely is Kevin Clarke, the Chief Correspondent for America Magazine.

He joins us to discuss the developments from the spring meeting, and how the bishops will be expected to measure up to the pontiff’s declaration between now and next national meeting in November.

Lay Mission Helpers

Joe Estevez visits an organization of lay missionary helpers, a group who volunteer to assist missionaries during their overseas ministries.

‘Kids in Cages’ Draws Attention to Plight of Migrant Children

By Antonina Zielinska

The shocking images of realistic-looking dolls wrapped in emergency thermal blankets laying in small cages greeted New Yorkers during the morning commute on June 12.

People took double and triple takes as they passed by what appeared to be a child sleeping in a cage at the York Street subway station in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. There were prominent signs that stated #nokidsincages and a smaller sign explaining the display.

James Johnson’s 7-year-old daughter noticed the figure in DUMBO as the two walked by on their way to school. She asked if it was a real lady.

Her father assured her that it wasn’t, but struggled to explain what she was seeing.

Similarly, several people who didn’t speak English stopped, concerned that a real child was in immediate danger. Friendly passersby assured them that it was fake.

It was one of two dozen artistic depictions installed by Raices Refugee and Immigration Center for Education and Legal Services as a protest against the treatment of migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border. The group cites instances of immigrant children being held in large outdoor cages in freezing temperatures with little more than emergency thermal blankets for comfort.

In parts of Manhattan, police were called by people who believed the displays were real. Many of the displays had sound installations of real children crying for their parents. Early in the morning, according to a recording on social media, police broke one of the locks to confirm the child wasn’t real by removing the wig. In other locations, police or workers removed the displays as seen on social media photos and videos.

Despite the shocking and disturbing portrayal in public view, Johnson said he approved of the message and the manner in which it was conveyed. He said it forced people to stop and pay attention to an important issue, himself included. He noted that many simply walked by seemingly without noticing.

It was morning rush hour in New York City, after all.

Later in the day, Carlos Abreu stopped to look at the display by the subway station in DUMBO. Shock filled his face, soon replaced by sorrow as he realized what he was looking at.

“It hurts,” he said.

Abreu was in DUMBO to protest the nonunion work being done at a nearby worksite. Having fought one battle for justice, he said he now realizes he cannot ignore a dilemma that is too often put out of sight.

“I have kids,” said the father of two. “I can’t … I can’t allow this.”

“It makes my heart heavy as I stand here,” said longtime educator Kathy Kennedy. “I just feel like people have not treated these people as people.”

She said she approved of the display being set out in a business district in New York because it puts the issue the issue of migrants the Southern border front and center and forces people to reflect.

Luciana Arias, a tourist from Argentina, stopped in her tracks when she saw the display.

“I thought it was real,” she said.

It took her a couple of minutes to connect the dots and remember the news reports of the migrant children being locked in cages in the United States.

She said she was thankful to have seen the display on her visit to New York. She believes that it will have an impact on people and help them better understand the situation.

U.S. Bishops Vote to Design Hotline for Reporting Complaints Against Bishops

By Christopher White, The Tablet’s National Correspondent

BALTIMORE – As the U.S. Catholic bishops inch closer to enacting new protocols for bishop accountability, they concluded the second day of their high stakes spring meeting by approving a measure to design a national third-party system for reporting claims against bishops.

The third party reporting system is meant to serve as a confidential mechanism, via telephone or online, for complaints against bishops for either abuse or its cover-up. The vote on Wednesday gives approval for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to develop a more detailed reporting system before a full vote by the bishops later this year in November.

The administrative committee of the USCCB will vote in September on the financial and structural specifics before the November General Assembly.

Under the approved plan, the bishops committed to activating the third-party reporting system no later than May 31, 2020.

While the price tag has not been finalized, USCCB officials estimated that the new system would cost $30,000 for an initial set-up fee and $50,000 annually to maintain.

The reporting system will be managed by an independent body that will receive complaints that will be reported to the metropolitan (or regional) archbishop who, in accordance with Pope Francis’s new ‘motu proprio’, Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”), is responsible for investigating claims against bishops.

Vos estis requires that local bishops’ conferences must establish a “public, stable and easily accessible” system for submitting abuse claims and also that the reports are sent to the metropolitans (or their senior suffragans if the report is against the metropolitan). In the United States, there are 32 territorial archdioceses (or metropolitans).

USCCB General Counsel Anthony Picarello told the bishops that the reason that the system will not go into place until next May is to give each metropolitan the time to establish the appropriate offices and individuals to receive the complaints. He said that May 31, 2020 is a ceiling to comply with the Holy See. However, if all the metropolitans had effective systems in place beforehand, they would allow for the possibility that it could launch sooner.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago urged that the implementation of the system be enacted with a sense of “urgency,” saying when similar mechanisms are implemented by corporations, they do so with haste.

“We all would like it done much sooner,” Cardinal Daniel DiNardo added.

During the discussions ahead of the vote, multiple bishops spoke of the need to guarantee effective advertising of the reporting system, adherence to civil law and appropriate authorities, and the ability for the mechanism to be able to field inquiries unrelated to abuse.

While dioceses throughout the country have their own local hotlines for reporting sexual abuse of priests or other improprieties, the new system would exist strictly for receiving complaints against bishops.

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles and Vice-President of the USCCB said that the victims of abuse are the priority in this process, noting that while bureaucracy is necessary, it is to aid in the “healing process.”

On Thursday, the final day of their three-day gathering, the bishops will vote to enact new directives modeled after Vos estis, which will empower the metropolitan archbishop to investigate claims against abuse or cover-up by bishops with the support of lay experts.

At the start of the USCCB spring assembly on Tuesday, numerous questions were raised regarding the extent of the laity in bishop oversight.

Thursday’s final votes are widely expected to pass, however, consensus has yet to be reached on the lingering questions regarding lay involvement.

USCCB Vote On New System To Ensure Bishop Accountability

By Tim Harfmann

U.S. bishops voted on Wednesday in a big step forward for bishop accountability and protecting young people.

The major decision on day two of the bishops Spring meeting was establishing a third-party reporting system for allegations of abuse and any mishandling of cases by bishops.

Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles voted in favor of the reporting system, which would be set-up to receive accusations either by phone or email.

“We feel very strongly about getting something in place very rapidly,” he said.

The majority of bishops, over 180 of them, agreed.

Now, a committee will create a detailed proposal on how the system would work and present it to the bishops at their next meeting in November.

Holding bishops accountable is a major new development since establishing the Charter for Protecting Minors and Young People in 2002, better known as the Dallas Charter.

“Since 2002 this has been in place with regard to priests, and so with the McCarrick part of this scandal, we’ve now begun to address the bishop issue,” said Bishop Barron.

Bishop Christopher Coyne of Burlington, Vermont was once the spokesperson in the Archdiocese of Boston, where the abuse scandal broke in 2002.

He said it’s been a long, 17-year process, but bishops are taking strides.

“It’s been very frustrating because there are things that we still need to deal with, but there’s so much that we already accomplished,” he said.

That includes establishing reporting lines in individual dioceses across the county. Now, they’ll do it on a national level.

“For the most part,” Bishop Coyne added, “almost every diocese as brought into place protocols and procedures and guidelines to protect children. In the last 16 or 17 years, we’ve seen an incredible drop in the amount of cases that have been reported.”

Currents News for Wednesday, June 12, 2019

On the newscast: Team coverage of the U.S. Bishops in Baltimore. They are approving a new system to handle allegations of abuse; The Justice Department is siding with parents who are suing for help with religious school tuition; The first black priest in the United States is one step closer to becoming America’s first black saint; Depictions of kids in cages are popping up on New York streets. They are sparking a lot of reaction.

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