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Virginia Beach Looks For Answers Following Friday’s Mass Shooting

Currents News Staff

Memorial services were held around Virginia Beach this weekend for the twelve people who lost their lives Friday.

“We know at least eight of the victims. They used to come here all the time, having lunch with us. They are very sweet people, they are nice people,” said Mostafa Essabbar, the owner of Sal’s Famous New York Pizza.

Virginia Beach police were scheduled to hold a free community workshop on what to do during mass shootings the very next morning. The timing created confusion for some when the real thing happened right in front of them.

“We passed by a gentleman that was carrying a gun in his hand but it looked so theatrical because of the extended magazine and the suppressor that was on the end of it. He never looked at me. I mean he glanced at me but he never raised the gun at me to shoot me. I thought he was playing the part of an active shooter for our drill,” said Ned Carlstrom, a city worker.

Police say the city engineer who opened fire at a municipal building was not disgruntled as has been previously reported.

Earlier in the day, the 40-year-old sent a resignation email to his boss. When asked why, he said it was for personal reasons.

“One of the pieces of the investigation will in include the motive of this horrific act,” said Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera.

While they wait for answers, a community remembers those who they lost too soon.

“Bobby, he’s the oldest guy. We call him pepperoni guy because he usually order two slice pepperoni and Diet Pepsi. We’re going to miss him a lot,” said Essabbar.

Pope Beatified 7 Bishops Martyred By Communist Persecution In Romania

Currents News Staff

On May 15, 1948, in the “Field of freedom” in Blaj, Transylvania, the Communist regime began heinous religious persecution.

On that day, the authorities asked Greek Catholics to abandon their faith and join the Orthodox Church, to separate them from Rome. The majority refused. Thus began one of the darkest eras in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Romania. The government confiscated their property, imprisoned their bishops and arrested many priests.

More than 70 years later, in the same place, Pope Francis celebrated the beatification of seven bishops martyred in those days, between 1950 and 1970. They were imprisoned and subjected to torture and humiliation.

This official formula, pronounced by the pope, made these seven bishops blessed in the eyes of the Church by their martyrdom.

In his homily, the pope recalled the painful times in which ideology was put before people’s right to life.

“The new blesseds suffered and gave their lives to oppose an ideological system that oppressed the fundamental rights of the human person. In that tragic period, the life of the Catholic community was put to a harsh test by a dictatorial and atheistic regime,” said Francis.

The pope wanted to highlight, above all, the example of these martyrs. They did not die hating their persecutors, but rather showing great mercy toward them.

“The words spoken by Bishop Iuliu Hossu during his imprisonment are eloquent: ‘God sent us into this darkness of suffering in order to offer forgiveness and to pray for the conversion of all.’ These words are the symbol and synthesis of the attitude these blesseds had at the time of testing. They sustained their people in confessing the faith without compromise or retaliation,” Francis added.

Pope Francis also warned of the danger of new ideologies of our days, that seek to colonize culture and society.

“Forms of ideological colonization that devalue the person, life, marriage and the family. Above all, with alienating proposals as atheistic as those of the past, that harm our young people and children, leaving them without roots from which they can grow. Everything then becomes irrelevant, unless it serves our immediate interests. People are led to take advantage of others and treat them as mere objects,” said the Holy Father.

Therefore, the pope encouraged the fight against these new ideologies, so they don’t invade society. He invited fraternity and dialogue before any kind of division.

Before leaving, Pope Francis led the recitation of Regina Coeli and imparted a blessing on more than 70,000 pilgrims who participated in this beatification ceremony.

Prayer Service Held Ahead of Pro-Life March

By Emily Drooby

A night of prayer was held one day before March For Life New York, which thousands of people are expected to attend.

Adriane Preville was a college student when she got pregnant with her oldest child.

Preville explained, “It wasn’t so much my family, but it was from the outside. That they said ‘well you know if you want to finish school and have a good career this might be the best thing for you to do,’ but I decided two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Despite the outside pressure, she gave her daughter the gift of life.

“She’s a school teacher in NYC. She’s 32, I think it was the best decision I ever made,” said Preville.

Adriane and her husband of eight years, William, both now fight for the rights of the unborn.

William explained, “Today there’s no conscious anymore, people just don’t even think of a child as being a human being. That they don’t have a right, and we all have rights.”

The Previlles praying for life alongside many other people the night before the march, at Victory Church in Albany.

Charlie Muller is the Pastor of the Christian church, he explained why people of all religions were praying together.

Pastor Muller said, “It’s an interfaith issue because of the word of God//the word of god is very clear, he knew me in my mother’s womb, it’s very clear about life.”

A confrontation took place before the prayer service got underway.  A group of abortionists protesting outside the church at one point blocking the trolley shuttling pro-lifers to the house of worship.

Even with the conflict, the church was still packed, a preview of the large crowds of people heading to the march.

The organizer of March for Life New York, Pastor Joni Lupis, explained it’s one of their biggest marches ever.

She said, “So many people joined us this year, and they want to march with us to help the babies, save the babies, and help the moms, make the right choice, because the baby they never knew becomes the baby they never forget.”

Pastor Lupis added it could have something to do with the Reproductive Health Act passed in New York. The law basically eliminates restrictions on abortions.

Four New Priests Ordained to the Diocese of Brooklyn

By Katie Engesser

The Diocese of Brooklyn was blessed on Saturday with four new priests. In celebration, angelic voices filled the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Hundreds of priests, deacons, seminarians and lay faithful, representing the entire diocese, witnessed Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio bestowing the sacrament of Holy Orders upon the men.

“The ordination ceremony is one of the most beautiful ones we have,” Bishop DiMarzio explained.

These men have been getting ready for many years for this wonderful day.

Newly ordained Father Michael Falce said “it still has to hit me. I think I have to get in the car and let it really just settle in a bit.”

With the Litany of the Saints echoing off the Cathedral’s walls, the newly ordained show they are willing to lay down their lives for the Lord as they prostrate themselves before their Bishop.

The act of humility is meant to symbolize their unworthiness for the priesthood.

Father Pedro Angucho, when talking about the act, said “You know, I was praying to all the Saints, that they make me also holy.”

Bishop DiMarzio said, “They are supposed to be spiritual men, men of God, keeping their promises that they make today.”

The men vow to obey, always, the Bishop and his successors.

Then the ultimate moment was celebrated in silence: the Laying on of Hands. Bishop DiMarzio calls upon the Holy Spirit to fill the men with grace. It’s at this instant they become priests.

Father JohnPaul Obiaeri said, “I thank God for this wonderful day.”

Now able to serve the people of God, they are welcomed by their brother priests.

“To have them say congratulations, welcome to the priesthood, welcome to the brotherhood… It’s a beautiful thing,” Father Michael said.

Father JohnPaul added “They’re praying for you and I actually feel those prayers”

As they join those priests in concelebrating the rest of the mass, their vocations come to life.

Father Edwin Ortiz said “You know being up here as a seminarian serving mass is one thing, but actually participating, saying the words along with the priests and the bishops…it’s a wow moment.

Though the mass had ended, the priests’ work had just begun; they then each went to a separate station to greet family and friends as spiritual fathers.

“Yeah, I’m pretty lost for words right now… I don’t know what to say.” Father Edwin said of the ordination day.

Father JohnPaul, also at a loss for words, said “I’m so happy, I don’t have the right words to explain how I feel inside.”

That joy too big for words also extended to family, who were filled with their own emotions.

Father Michael’s father, Joseph, said with tears in his eyes “these are tears of joy, I’m just so proud of him.”

Father John Paul’s mother, who came from Nigeria for her son’s ordination, said through an interpreter “this is the day the Lord has made and that’s why I thank god.”

The four fathers, with their first assignments, will now be sent out into the world to do God’s work.

“That is the key,” Father JohnPaul explained, “that is the bottom line: getting into the ministry and then helping the people.”

All of these new priests are excited to fulfill their mission and lead people closer to Christ.

“I’m so happy. You know the people of God are always with me and I will try to do my best for the people of God,” Father Pedro said.

Currents News for Friday, May 31, 2019

On the newscast: Pope Francis in Romania. The Holy Father kicking off a jam-packed three-day mission with the motto, “Let’s Walk Together”; Bishop DiMarzio is about to ordain new priests in the Brooklyn Diocese. Tomorrow is the big day; Father Alessandro Linardi joins us, talking about his first year as a Brooklyn priest, during a challenging time for the Church; And caught on camera, the moment a girl rushes to rescue her sister.

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.

Day One Of Pope’s Visit To Romania Marked By Many Firsts

By Emily Drooby

Pope Francis is visiting Romania, three decades after the nation was liberated from communist rule.

The regime, as well as poverty, had forced many to leave the country. The Holy Father had them in mind when speaking to Romania’s civic leaders.

“I think of all the brothers and sisters who are abroad,” he said in his address.

“It is an act of patriotism, an act of brotherhood. it is an act of justice, continue to do so.”

Besides meeting the first couple of Romania, Pope Francis was also greeted by the top clergy of Romania’s Orthodox Church and the country’s Catholic bishops.

The first person Pope Francis spoke with: a young man in a wheelchair.

The Holy Father applauded the Romania of today and its establishment of democracy, adding that for Romania to move forward it must be unified, especially spiritually.

“It is necessary to walk together. It requires developing not just material conditions, but the very soul of your people,” he said.

Pope Francis also spoke on the importance of building an inclusive society, insisting that caring for the poor is how the nation’s success will be measured.

“We need to help one another, to not give in to the seductions of a ‘culture of hate’ and individualism that – perhaps no longer ideological as in the time of the atheist persecution – is nonetheless more persuasive and no less materialist.”

Forging Christian unity was an important part of Pope Francis’ mission, as he also spent time at the headquarters of the Orthodox Church, Romania’s main religion.

The journey’s motto has been ‘let’s walk together.’

The Holy Father also recited the Our Father prayer while at the Orthodox cathedral.  He made history by reciting the prayer in Latin, the first time it had ever been done at the cathedral.

The big close to day one was Mass at the Catholic Cathedral of St. Joseph in Bucharest. It was the first celebration of the liturgy there by a pope since Saint John Paul II  in 1999.

The Road To Priesthood In The Brooklyn Diocese: Edwin Ortiz’s Story

By Katie Engesser

Tomorrow Deacon Edwin Ortiz is going to be ordained a priest, but when parishioners of St. Fidelis Church in College Point, Queens ask him if he is excited or nervous about ordination, he has a different answer.

“It feels surreal,” he said, “because it’s been such a long journey to get here. I think it’s more shock and awe.”

Deacon Edwin’s faith-filled journey began at home. His parents are immigrants from El Salvador who escaped a civil war in hopes of creating a better life for his five siblings.

“The army over there was trying to get my brothers to fight in the war, and so that’s when my dad just grabbed them and left,” said Deacon Edwin.

The baby of the family, Edwin was the first child born in the United States. The church ending up becoming a big part of his family.

“I really got more involved just because I felt bad that no one was there to help during Mass. The priests in our lives have been so good to us, it was just easy to return the favor,” he said.

Still, Deacon Edwin never really had a thought about priesthood until high school, when a priest at his parish asked him if he had ever considered the priesthood.

“I said ‘no,’ my friend said ‘yes.’”

So Deacon Edwin went, for moral support, to a seminary open house with his friend.

Sitting in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, he felt God.

“It was a moment of comfort…it was a moment like, almost like I was being embraced,” he recalled.  For Deacon Edwin, the seminary felt like home, so he began studying for the priesthood.

But in his last year in the minor seminary, Deacon Edwin had an accident.

“I was playing basketball one night with some friends, and I ended up collapsing.”

He found out he had what was called an arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat that needed medical attention.

His last semesters of seminary ended up being spent between studies and the hospital.

The added stress made Deacon Edwin decide to take a year off, but then something unexpected happened.

“That one year became nine years, because I got into a serious relationship,” he said. That’s right, Deacon Edwin got a girlfriend.

And so, with the option of the priesthood out, he decided to try nursing school. The problem was nursing school was expensive.

“So I ended up seeing a commercial for the Navy, that they would pay for school. So I said ‘let’s go for it.’”  Deacon Edwin was accepted, and was stationed on a ship going to Japan.

Not wanting a long distance relationship, he and his girlfriend broke up.

While in service, Edwin was constantly traveling, offering medical help to people in need. Though he enjoyed the work, there was something missing.

He hadn’t gone to Mass in years.

So one night, alone on the flight deck of his ship, Deacon Edwin prayed to God and reflected on his life.

He found himself considering the priesthood again, but he was confused. So at his next assignment in Washington D.C., while heading to the Mass ahead of the March for Life, he asked God for a sign.

And he got it from Cardinal Sean O’Malley who was giving a homily about the wedding feast at Cana.

“He focused on Mary,” Deacon Edwin recalled, “and he repeated her words: ‘do whatever he tells you.;”

So he did what God was telling him to do, and re-entered the seminary.

Now, as Deacon Edwin prepares for the priesthood, he is looking to the priests of the Brooklyn Diocese as a guide.

“The amount of priests that have helped me grow closer to God, I can never really repay them for that. I only hope that I am able to do the same for others.”

One Year As A Priest: ‘It Is The Greatest Gift Of God’

Currents News Staff

Four men are about to yes to God and are vowing to serve the people of the Brooklyn Diocese as priests.

Father Alessandro Linardi became a priest one year ago and now ministers at St. Athanasius church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

He joins us to talk about his first year as a priest.