Bishop Kearney Set To Close Due To Declining Enrollment And Rising Costs

By Emily Drooby

Since 1961, students have walked through the doors of Bishop Kearney High School and into a great Catholic education.

But on August 31, the doors of the Bensonhurst school will shut for good.

The Board of Member’s President, Sister Helen Kearney, said that the all-girls Catholic institution is facing a mountain of problems, including declining enrollment, changing demographics, increased expenses, and reduced income.

Sister Helen calls the decision to close “painful,” but the school’s enrollment numbers tell a harsh story.

During the 2004-2005 school year, over 1,000 students were enrolled at Bishop Kearney. That number dropped to 249 this school year, and projected enrollment for next year was only 227 students.

In a letter to parents, Sister Helen wrote that her religious order the Sisters of Saint Joseph, which sponsors Bishop Kearney, confronted the tough reality and had little choice.

“This has been a very difficult decision, and we understand the painful impact on your lives. To continue to operate with decreased enrollment resulting in ongoing financial duress would not be conducive to a positive educational environment,” Sister Helen’s letter read.

Students are heartbroken over the announcement.

Senior graduation will take place as planned, but there will be no summer school.

A team of coordinators will help students transfer to nearby Catholic schools and work to keep existing scholarships in place.

The end of Bishop Kearney is not an isolated case. Nationwide, Catholic education has been under the pressures of declining enrollment and worsening finances.

According to the National Catholic Education Association, across the country 1,267 catholic schools, both elementary and secondary, have been closed or consolidated since 2009, while only 258 new schools have opened in that time span.

Anti-Semitism On The Rise In New York And Other U.S.Cities

Currents News Staff

Communities across America are seeing a very disturbing trend of anti-Jewish violence.

Recent examples include the deadly attack in Poway, California just weeks ago, and less than a year ago, the slaughter at the Tree Of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The shooting in Pittsburgh last October saw 11 lives lost in the worst act of anti-Semitic violence in American history. Exactly six months apart, the Poway shooting the following April left one worshipper dead.

A new report shows that assaults against Jewish people more than doubled in 2018.

In New York, a member of the Orthodox Jewish community was beaten in the streets of Brooklyn, while another in the city had been sucker punched.

In Los Angeles, a driver screamed disturbing hate speech at passing pedestrians of Jewish faith.

“We’re talking some of the highest numbers of incidents that we’ve ever seen. It’s really kind of unfolded itself in a very ugly way,” said George Selim, Senior Vice President of Programs at the Anti-Defamation League.

For a third year in a row the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says anti-Semitic incidents in America rose to near historic highs, a physical manifestation of hate in 2018.

“The threat environment today is one that we haven’t seen in this country in recent memory,” said Selim.

George Selim oversees the ADL’s Center on Extremism. He says the threat is homegrown, and overwhelmingly far-right and white.

“There’s this concept within white supremacists circles of accelerationism. That means that individuals feel like the white race is in danger and they need to act now,” he explained.

The evidence of the growing threat is plain to see, as some synagogues are now pockmarked with bullet holes.

“I was centimeters away from death. I still feel the power of the bullets flying,” said Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who survived the Poway shooting California shooting.

Goldstein came to the area in the 1980’s with a dream to build a safe oasis for the Jewish community.

“It’s so hard to go back to the moment. It’s unimaginable. Right there in the lobby, ten feet away from me 15 feet away from me, standing there. His feet spread apart in the aiming position right at me,” Goldstein recalled.

The 19-year-old white male suspect wrote of killing Jewish people in an open letter before the attack.

“I feel no remorse. I only wish I killed more,” he wrote.

The shooter said his inspiration came from the slaughter of 50 Muslim men and women at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the massacre of 11 Jewish people at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, both of which police say were perpetrated by white supremacists.

“You’re never safe again, you don’t feel safe again. If this could happen to us, it can happen anywhere and everywhere,” said Rabbi Goldstein.

Economics, Political Unrest To Blame For Rise Of Christian Persecution

One of the biggest organizations coming to assist persecuted Christians is Aid To the Church In Need, an international papal charity that is helping the faithful in more than 140 countries.

Their Director of Outreach and Evangelization, Ed Clancy, joins us in the studio talk about the current state of Christian persecution.

Nearly 100 Charged In Marriage Fraud Scheme

Currents News Staff

Federal prosecutors in Texas have indicted nearly 100 people in a massive marriage fraud scheme, as recorded In heavily redacted government documents.

The scheme allegedly involved arranging marriages for immigration papers, and had operations in Houston and Vietnam.

Investigators say that the west side of Houston was the scheme’s epicenter, where a woman by the name of Ashley Nguyen allegedly recruited American citizens to marry Vietnamese nationals in order to obtain legal residency.

“The government in these detention hearings always tries to make these really salacious kind of statements and arguments, as well as making a point to let the judge know she is a naturalized citizen, as though that carries less weight as somebody that has been born here,” said Nguyen’s defense attorney, Marc Carter.

Carter also decried the government’s heavy hand at not only arresting his client, but also her daughter.

Nguyen’s common law husband was arrested as well.

“We’re still waiting for the judge to decide in the case. They’re gonna let him out on bond or not, I don’t know,” said the husband’s brother.

The indictment even ensnared a lawyer, Trang Le Nguyen, who allegedly helped file documents to make the marriages look legit.

Other defendants are accused of everything from flying to Vietnam to marry their supposed spouses, to making fake photo albums to show a relationship, all of which defense attorneys deny.

“The accusation basically is paying somebody to arrange a fraudulent marriage, that’s the allegation,” said Tom Henderson, one defense attorney on the case.

It remains unclear what evidence the federal government will be able to gather from the Houston house, but Nguyen’s attorney says helping people is not a crime.

“When we get to court it’s my intention to fight tooth and nail to the bitter end for my client,” he said.

Currents News for Monday, May 13, 2019

On the newscast: The latest from Pope Francis after a savage attack against a Catholic church in Burkina Faso; The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared there. Now Catholic parishes are allowed to make pilgrimages to Medjugorje; Tensions on the high seas. Charges of sabotage against giant oil tankers; Remembering the life and times of Doris Day… Hollywood’s queen in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

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.

Catholic Priest and Parishioners Killed After Sunday Mass, Church Set Ablaze By Shooters

By Emily Drooby

Pope Francis is mourning the deaths of a Catholic priest and five parishioners who were murdered after Sunday Mass in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The horrifying attack happened in the village of Dablo, which is in the northern part of the country.

The village’s dead were buried today, including Father Siméon Yampa, the 34-year-old pastor of the Church.

His Bishop, Theophile Nare, spoke fondly of Father Yampa, calling him, “a humble person, obedient and full of love.”

“He loved his parishioners,” Nare said.

Pope Francis also expressed his grief for the incident through the interim Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Alessandro Gisotti, who wrote on Twitter:

“The Holy Father has learned with sorrow about the news of the attack on the church in Dablo, Burkina Faso. He prays for the victims, for their families and for the entire Christian community in the country.”

Vatican News reported that just after Sunday Mass, 20 jihadists chased down and shot Father Yampa, who is believed to have been the main target of the shooters. They then killed five other worshipers and burnt down the church.

Burkina Faso has seen an increase in violence in the country, according to a report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which collects and analyzes conflict numbers. The amount of jihadists attacks in the country has skyrocketed in the past few years, from only 12 in 2016 to 158 in 2018.

Many of those attacks have been against Christian people.

On April 28, a Protestant pastor was killed and five members of his church were killed in Silgadji.

According to the Bishop of Dori, a diocese within Burkina Faso, on April 5, four worshipers were murdered when a Catholic Church was attacked in the northern part of the country.

Then on March 17, Father Joël Yougbaré, the parish priest of Djibo, a city in the nation’s north-western region, disappeared and has not been seen since.

Back on February 15, a Salesian Missionary in Burkina Faso by the name of Antonio César was murdered by a jihadist group. Only a few days before his death, Father César spoke of his pride for his vocation.

However, Christian persecution is not limited to Burkina Faso.

Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri, Nigeria previously spoke with Currents News about the jihadist group Boko Haram, and the terror it has unleashed on his people.

Nigeria, an African nation less than 1,000 miles from Burkina Faso, has faced similar violence rooted in religious intolerance. “This particular sect has destroyed lives and property. We have had over 1,000 Catholics killed from our own Diocese,” the Bishop said.

Recent attacks on places of worship have even inspired Vice President Mike Pence to speak out.

“In the last few months we’ve seen unspeakable attacks on people of faith. No one should ever fear for their safety in a place of worship, and these attacks on people of faith must stop,” he said.

Hollywood Star And Cincinnati Local Doris Day Dies At 97

Currents New Staff

The people of Cincinnati, Ohio are mourning the loss of their hometown Hollywood star.

Doris Day’s foundation says the iconic actress and singer died Monday at the age of 97.

Day, whose real name was Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff, grew up in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Evanston.

Her family home still stands on the corner.

In 2017, Cincinnati city officials honored her by naming a downtown street “Doris Day Way.”

They also declared September 27 of that year “Doris Day Day.”

In her 1975 autobiography, Day shared that her roots with Cincinnati “go very deep.”

The actress once made a visit back to the city in 1956, following the Ohio governor’s declaration of “Doris Day Week” that year.

Day wrote in her memoir that she spent the evening with her father at a German bar and grill, eating bratwurst and drinking beer with her fans.

Hit By China Import Tariffs, Brooklyn Bike Shop Forced To Raise Prices

Currents News Staff

If you step inside Brooklyn Bicycle Company’s New York City showroom, you’ll see the unintended consequences of a trade war.

Shop owner Ryan Zagata’s bikes are assembled in China using foreign-made components to keep the cost down for the consumer.

But in September of 2018, the Trump administration’s ten percent tariff hike on nearly 200 billion dollars in Chinese goods forced Zagata to raise some prices.

Like many of America’s small to medium-sized businesses, the Brooklyn Bicycle Company is already dealing with the negative consequences of the increased import tariffs.

Then this past Friday, the White House announced that that ten percent will increase to 25, a change that will result in yet another price hike on the showroom floor.

“It’s difficult for me. I can’t call the customer and say, ‘guess what? you’re getting a better wheel set, you’re getting better grips and this luxurious leather saddle.’ That’s not what you’re getting,” said Zagata on how the tariffs will continue to affect his sales numbers and customer service.

“Effectively, this money is going to the government,” he said.

It’s been a rough ride for many business owners since President Trump waged his trade war with China. Zagata blames the uncertainty that comes with negotiations.

“It’s not difficult for us as a business to decide what to do. We’ve built financial models where we can punch in different variables regardless of the different scenario, and the models will effectively decide, ‘this is what you need to do.’ The challenge with the model now is we’re missing a variable. We don’t know what the final duty is going to be with these trade talks still ongoing,” he said.

“I think the tariffs are a great tool, and I applaud the administration for what they’re doing. I just think that six months, nine months in, it’s becoming really difficult. Come on already with these negotiations, let’s move ahead,” Zagata added.

Despite these setbacks for some business owners, optimism is coming from the President, who on Friday took to Twitter, saying tariffs will make the country “much stronger.”

“Just sit back and watch,” he wrote.

That may be hard for U.S. importers to do, as China now vows to strike back after Friday’s tariff hike.

Student Journalists On the ‘Beat’ at Awards Ceremony

By Allyson Escobar

The Tablet’s annual High School Press Awards ceremony, held May 10 at the Diocese of Brooklyn’s offices in Park Slope, honored some of the outstanding journalism in school newspapers. For the first time since the event’s inauguration, a new category was introduced to the schools – “Best Multimedia Package.” Fontbonne Hall Academy, Bay Ridge, took the first place title with their submission, “The Veteran’s Day Scare,” which documented an event that took place Veteran’s Day weekend, when a text message was shared throughout the student body that led some to believe that Fontbonne would be the target of violence.

Catholic high school journalists from around the diocese were invited to the annual friendly competition. They were judged on categories from Best Front Page to Best Editorial Cartoon to Best Feature Story. The Tablet’s editorial staff assessed the submissions, based on standards from design to professionalism to interesting profiles.

This year, five school publications participated: Archbishop Molloy H.S.’s The Stanner, Briarwood; Fontbonne Hall Academy’s The Folio, Bay Ridge; St. Agnes Academic H.S.’s Veritas, College Point; Saint Saviour H.S.’s Skyline, Park Slope; and The Mary Louis Academy’s Mariel, Jamaica Estates.

An opening prayer inspired by St. Francis DeSales was led by Tablet writer Antonina Zielinska.

“St. Francis DeSales spread the truth of Jesus to everyone’s life, like you do, and no matter what truths we say, it’s always the work of God,” Zielinska said. “May we realize the power of the press, be inspired by his zeal for spreading the truth.”

A keynote address was given by the Akoto Ofori-Atta, who has worked in the media industry for years and is managing editor at The Trace, a nonprofit news organization that covers the issue of gun violence. She also oversaw and directed “Since Parkland,” The Trace’s student journalism project which covered portraits of young victims of school shootings.

““I’ve been in journalism for over 10 years, and [“Since Parkland”] is the most impactful and rewarding project I’ve ever done, meaningful and award-worthy work. The most ambitious work I ever did was when I was a student journalist,” Ofari-Atta said. “As you guys think through what you might do in your careers, think about the power of journalism and what you could do in journalism right now… and remember that there are important stories that need to be told, and not enough of us doing it.”

Student journalists were inspired by Ofori-Atta’s speech.

“Journalism is absolutely so important, because the role of the media is to inform and educate, and then advocacy comes with information,” said Lauren Kline, a senior at Molloy. “It’s a way to not only stay connected to politicians and leaders, but to stay connected to each other. Words are the most dangerous weapons – but also, the most powerful.”

Melissa Enaje, the Tablet’s youth editor, moderated the awards ceremony, in which five participating schools were honored in 13 categories, including Best Op-Ed, Best Feature, Best Sports Story and Best Column, an award named after late Tablet writer Roger Payne.

The Mary Louis Academy’s student paper took home the big win for General Excellence. The newest category, Best Multimedia Package, was awarded to Fontbonne Hall Academy.

“It’s the whole team that makes it happen, and I wouldn’t be able to make it happen without the whole team. It’s really rewarding to see all the hard work throughout the year pay off, and something to look forward to next year too – passing it down to future editors,” said Catherine Kostigan, a senior at TMLA.

Click here for a full list of the winners.

Pope Okays Pilgrimage To Medjugorje, Says Apparitions ‘Need Study’

Currents News Staff

From now on, parishes will be able to organize pilgrimages to Medjugorje. In the past only private trips were permitted.

This measure recognizes the spiritual goods emerging from these pilgrimages where thousands of people go to confession and return to the faith.

The Vatican spokesman clarified this does not mean the possible apparitions have been approved. This is because the Church is studying these cases at the moment. For this reason, he asked these trips avoid creating doctrinal confusion.

It all began in this village in the former communist country Yugoslavia. On June 24, 1981, six young people saw for the first time a woman calling them. The lady identified herself as the Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace. She wanted to communicate a message of reconciliation as well as forgiveness.

The apparitions occurred daily, around 18:30 p.m., and continued uninterrupted. In 2010, Benedict XVI convened a commission of experts to question the visionaries and analyzed all aspects of the issue.

In 2017, as he returned from his trip in Fatima, Pope Francis revealed the results of the report, saying “Regarding the first apparitions, when ‘the visionaries’ were children, the report more or less says that it has to continue to be investigated. Surrounding the presumed current apparitions, the report has its doubts. I personally am more negative: I prefer Our Lady as a mother, our mother, not as the head of a post office that sends a message every day at a specific time, this is not the Mother of Jesus. And these alleged appearances do not have much value. This I say as my personal opinion.”

He also noted that these apparitions generate countless conversions and should be taken into consideration, saying “There are people who go there and convert, people that find God, whose lives change. And this is not thanks to a magic wand, this is a spiritual and pastoral fact that cannot be denied.”

The pope was concerned about giving too much importance to the visionaries instead of Our Lady, and the many messages as well as secrets related to Medjugorje.

At present, three of the visionaries say they continue to receive apparitions on a daily basis. The fourth visionary, once a month; and the other two, once a year.

It is most likely the first apparitions that occurred during a period of seven days will receive approval. This is because many of the messages received at that time were later repeated.

It is a place providing good spiritual fruits, but it is still unclear yet to its validity.