New Catholics Welcomed Into The Brooklyn Diocese

By Katie Engesser

Two weeks after celebrating Christ’s resurrection, a new group of Catholics are putting their faith into practice.

More than 1,000 new parishioners of the Brooklyn Diocese, among them men, women and children, were welcomed into the Catholic faith during the Easter Vigil Mass.

They are called Neophytes, the newest Catholics to profess their faith in God and be born again in the waters of Baptism.

Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn Neil Tiedemann was the main celebrant at the Mass at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, Queens.

The liturgy was celebrated in both English and Spanish, and included testimonies from the new Catholics.

“This Easter, I’ve become a new person. I’m seeing everything with a new beginning,” parishioner Marlita Stanley said of her baptismal experience.

“When I went down into the water, the first dip it was dark, very dark. And as I rose from the water and went down two more times, it was enlightening, it was bright,” she added.

“In a certain sense it’s almost like Pentecost,” said Bishop Tiedemann of the Mass.

“Where we get people of so many different languages and nations and different parts of our diocese, where they come together and celebrate their new birth and in a formal sense they are received into the diocese,” he added.

This year’s number of newly converted is on par with previous years, despite the challenges facing the Church.

Secretary for Evangelization and Catechesis, Theodore Musco, says it is part of an ongoing trend in the diocese.

“Every event we’ve had this year has been sold out,” said Musco.

“More people than ever have been attending our diocesan and parish events, and for that I’m very grateful, because it shows that faith still resides in the heart of the people,” he added.

And for these Neophytes, they go in peace knowing they can love and serve God in a whole new way.

Pope Francis To Young People: Dream Big Like Mother Teresa

Currents News Staff

From his first meeting of the day to the last one, Pope Francis highlighted St. Mother Teresa.

With civil authorities, he spoke of the world’s admiration for this recent saint who dedicated herself to the poor, abandoned and discarded.

“You are rightly proud of this great woman,” said the Holy Father.

Pope Francis then went to the memorial of the saint, built over the church where she was baptized in 1910. He prayed before her statue and relics, lighting five candles representing the country’s five religious confessions.

Before celebrating Mass, Pope Francis greeted the poor who are helped by the Missionaries of Charity.

The Mass was celebrated in Macedonia Square for around one percent of the country’s population, who identify as Catholic.

Later, in his ecumenical meeting with youth, the pope encouraged them to dream big, like Mother Teresa.

“Yet she kept dreaming and tried to see the face of her great love, Jesus, in all those people on the sides of the road. Each of you is called, like Mother Teresa, to work with your hands, to take life seriously and make something beautiful of it. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of our dreams,” said Francis.

The last meeting of the day was with the country’s religious and their families. He encouraged them to continue their mission, even if it seems impossible.

Using Mother Teresa as an example, Pope Francis said when one is anointed by Jesus, nothing can prevent merciful work toward those most in need.

After about 10 hours in the country, the pope boarded the plane to return to Rome, in conclusion of his 29th pastoral trip outside of Italy.

Georgia Governor Signs New Law To Protect The Unborn

ATLANTA (CNS) – Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation May 7 to ban abortions in the state once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks.

The bill’s signing comes after weeks of protests and amid outcry for legal action against it.

“We will not back down. We will always continue to fight for life,” the governor said about expected legal challenges to the new law.

If it is not blocked in court, the law would take effect at the beginning of next year. Current state law allows abortions up to the 20th week of pregnancy.

The legislation makes exceptions to save the life of the mother and in the case of rape and incest if a police report is filed. It also makes exceptions to allow abortions when a fetus has serious medical issues.

According to The Associated Press, Republican Rep. Ed Setzler, the bill’s author, said the legislation was one of “common sense” to “balance the difficult circumstances women find themselves in with the basic right to life of a child.”

In response, Democratic Sen. Jen Jordan said: “there’s nothing balanced about it: It’s an all-out abortion ban” and added that she was worried the new law would push obstetricians away from practicing in Georgia.

Similar heartbeat bans have been signed into law in Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio. A federal judge has temporarily blocked this law in Kentucky.

The Georgia legislation also prompted a response from Hollywood long before it was signed into law.

A group of 50 celebrities, led by activist actress Alyssa Milano, signed a letter in late March declaring a boycott of the state’s film industry if the bill passed. Ashley Bratcher, lead actress in the pro-life movie “Unplanned” and native Georgian, responded in an open letter to Milano saying: “In Georgia, we care just as much about being pro-life as being pro-film. We don’t believe in putting a price tag on human life.”

The pro-life advocacy organization Susan B. Anthony List applauded the actions of the Legislature in the face of high-profile pressure. President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement that “Georgia lawmakers courageously stood up to Hollywood bullies by sending this compassionate bill to Gov. Kemp for his signature. … The beating heart of a vulnerable unborn child should awaken the conscience of our nation to the violence of abortion.”

Pope Visits Memorial In Honor Of Mother Teresa Of Calcutta

Currents News Staff

On the third and last day of his visit, Pope Francis visited a Memorial dedicated to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in her native town, Skopje, in North Macedonia.

There he was received by two sisters and a girl who presented him flowers.

The Pope prayed before the relics of Mother Teresa and five candles representing the country’s five religious confessions. Afterwards, he prayed to the saint.

“St. Mother Teresa, mother of the poor, we ask for your special intercession and help, here in this city where you were born, where your home was,” said Francis.

He then greeted the religious leaders and two cousins of Mother Teresa.

He heard testimonies from the community’s superior and a single mother who sought the help of the missionaries when she was deciding whether to have her daughter or not.

“Many times, I ask myself, ‘If the sisters had not been here by our side, what would have happened to our life, mine and my daughter?’ Thank you, Holy Father, for visiting us,” said the single mother.

“Dear Holy Father, we thank you for coming. We are here in Skopje, a place very dear to all of us. This is because here was born a great saint, Mother Teresa. We are among the poorest of the poor and as St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said ‘The poor are great people,” added the community superior.

Francis was also presented with an image of himself with Mother Teresa.

Pope Francis blessed the first stone of the shrine in honor of the saint. He gave the superior of the community this ceramic plaque of the Blessed Mother with baby Jesus in her arms as a symbol of the “way of salvation”.

Before leaving to preside at Mass, Pope Francis took time out to greet more than a hundred poor people. They receive help from the Missionaries of Charity who follow the example of Mother Teresa.

Currents News for Monday, May 6, 2019

On the newscast: Pope Francis is making his first trip to the Balkans, urging Catholics to love and embrace migrants and refugees; Alive in New York… thousands gather in Times Square to provide a voice for the voiceless…the unborn; After months of renovations, parishioners are celebrating the rededication of Our Lady of Grace Church in Brooklyn; And Cathedral Prep honors Bishop Nicolas DiMarzio with the school’s highest award.

Today’s top news from the Catholic perspective anchored by Liz Faublas. Currents News airs Monday through Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET on NET-TV (netny.tv)

Pope Visits Catholics And Refugees In Bulgaria

By Tim Harfmann

While in the Balkans, Pope Francis made another powerful display of solidarity with migrants, meeting with nearly 50 asylum seekers at a refugee camp in Bulgaria.

Young, cheerful children from the camp greeted the Holy Father in song, then each one presented him with a handmade drawing.

Francis encouraged the migrants not to lose sight of their journey and turn to Christ for guidance, saying that there is always hope at the end of their journey.

“Today, the world of migrants and refugees is a bit like a cross, a cross of humanity; and the cross is that many people suffer,” he said during his visit.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria has seen only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking to get to Western Europe through the Balkans.

According to Caritas, only 2,500 refugees entered Bulgaria last year.

Almost half of that total arrived in the last three months, indicating a new wave of migration.

Pope Francis stressed the importance of welcoming strangers in the Balkan nation since stepping off the plane for his three-day journey.

This message carried special importance, as according to the United Nations, Bulgaria has the fastest shrinking population in the world. The country is constantly losing its youth and educated classes to opportunities elsewhere.

“I respectfully suggest that you not close your eyes, your hearts or your hands, in accordance with your best tradition, to those who knock at your door,” Pope Francis said.

The pontiff then celebrated Mass in Sofia, where he called on the faithful to live as apostles, remembering that God calls and loves everyone.

Of the country’s seven million people, Catholics make up less than one percent.

Yet, the Catholic population saw a sign of prosperity, as Francis celebrated a special Mass for over 240 children receiving their first communion.

“Remember, Jesus is always waiting for you,” he told the children preparing to receive the sacrament.

“Some miracles can only take place if we have a heart like yours: a heart capable of sharing, dreaming, feeling gratitude, trusting and respecting other people,” he added, encouraging them to keep an open and childlike heart each day.

Such openness could also lead to Bulgaria being more welcoming towards migrants.

Pope To Bulgarian Children On Holy Communion : A Loving Heart Can Lead To Miracles

Currents News Staff

While visiting Bulgaria this week, Pope Francis presided over a Mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart in the city of Rakovsky.

Children from the parish community were also receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time.

Although less than one percent of the country’s population is Catholic, more than 200 children were present at the Mass to celebrate the sacrament with the Holy Father.

During his homily, the Pope reminded the children that purity of heart is the pathway to God’s miracles, something he wanted them to keep in mind from their first Communion moving forward.

“Some miracles can only take place if we have a heart like yours: a heart capable of sharing, dreaming, feeling gratitude, trusting and respecting other people,” he said.

Francis also asked those about to receive communion to prepare themselves by opening their hearts and minds to Jesus, and offering forgiveness to those with whom they may have had conflicts.

“Come to the altar to receive Jesus in silence,” he told them.

“Keep silence in your heart and think this is the first time Jesus has come to you. If you’ve fought with anyone, forgive them from the heart before coming for communion,” he said.

To mark the occasion, Pope Francis presided over the Mass wearing a stole gifted to him by the country’s authorities.

Bishop DiMarzio Awarded Seminary Prep School’s Highest Honor

Currents News Staff

The Bishop of Brooklyn, Nicholas DiMarzio, received a prestigious honor on Saturday.

Cathedral Prep School and Seminary in Elmhurst, Queens bestowed the Bishop with its highest honor, the Immaculata Award.

The award was presented to DiMarzio for his commitment to promoting vocations and his support of Cathedral Prep, an all-boys Catholic high school where students consider the possibility of becoming priests.

“Vocations has been one of my chief responsibilities and passions since I’ve come to the diocese,” he said upon receiving the award.

“Cathedral Prep is one of the instruments that we know does produce vocations for us. I’ve been very supportive of the Prep, and to be honored by the Prep for that reason is a very good thing tonight,” he added.

Bishop DiMarzio is the first non-graduate of the school to receive the Immaculata Award since it was first presented in 2000.

Thousands Of New Yorkers Attend Historic Rally For Life In Times Square

By Emily Drooby

Thousands of people filled Times Square on Saturday to declare that all life is sacred, and that New York State’s extreme abortion law permitting the killing of babies even until the moment of birth is immoral.

One supporter, Cindy Fiore, has personally experienced the devastation that comes from having an abortion.

“I did have an abortion as a teenager. It was the worst time in my life,” she told Currents News as she remembered that painful period of her life.

Fiore said that tragically she did not recognize there was a precious infant inside her womb, and admitted that if she could have witnessed a sonogram of her child, it would have made a difference.

“As a teenager, I was told by Planned Parenthood that it’s not a life, it’s a blob of tissue, and ‘tomorrow will be okay.’ And tomorrow was horrible,” Fiore said of her experience.

“So if you see the sonogram and you see that baby moving, you’re going to understand there is a heartbeat,” she continued.

A major part of the event was displaying real-life images, showing a beating heart.

A 4-D ultrasound of Abby Johnson’s third-trimester baby was streamed live on digital billboards set up in the crossroads of the world.

Johnson’s journey from Planned Parenthood Director to pro-life activist was the inspiration for the highly successful movie, ‘Unplanned.’

Also speaking about those powerful life images was the niece of Doctor Martin Luther King, pro-life activist Alveda King.

“We want America and the world to wake up and see life clearly, and when we see life clearly, then we will care about life from the womb to the tomb,” she said.

“And what better way to do that then with ultrasound,” she added.

‘Alive from New York’ is being hailed as the largest pro-life demonstration in the city’s history.

New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan said that after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the state’s harsh abortion law, the timing was right.

“Especially now and especially in New York, I’m embarrassed to say, we are seeing an unprecedented attack against the human rights of the preborn infant and the most vulnerable in our state,” Dolan told the crowd via video.

New York State ranks as the abortion capital of America, with 239 abortions performed each day.

The plan to show the ultrasound of a baby in Times Square almost didn’t happen.

President of Focus on the Family, Jim Daly, tried to get the images onto existing billboards, but several owners said no.

“It’s another example of where Conservative and or Christian speech is drowned out, it’s not just on social media, it’s also happening right here in Times Square,” he said.

He arranged for mobile billboards to be brought in and used to display the ultrasound.

Ahead of the historic rally, New York Auxiliary Bishop Peter Byrne celebrated a Mass for life at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

Like so many others, he was horrified at the public celebrations after Cuomo’s approval of the abortion law.

“There was kind of a public defiance of God, the way the Freedom Tower was lit up on January 22,” said Bishop Byrne.

“To to make a public response, peaceful, prayerful, but clear is a great idea,” he added, comparing the day’s pro-life rally to what had been seen earlier this year.

Rally participants applauded the decision to show life in all its beauty through the ultrasounds, and hope they will change other people’s hearts and minds about the sanctity of life.

Brooklyn Church Receives New Life After Renovation

By Tim Harfmann

After a lot of hard work, there is new life at Our Lady of Grace parish in Gravesend, Brooklyn. Parishioners celebrated the church’s rededication on Sunday, May 5^th. “I’m so overjoyed. The church looks so beautiful. My whole life is here, and I’m just so happy today. [I’m] overwhelmed,” said Charles Cardone, a lifelong parishioner.

Ten months of painstaking restoration brought new beauty to Our Lady of Grace. “It looks almost as if it’s a whole new church. It’s definitely extravagant, very beautiful. It definitely took my breath away,” said Victoria Bruno, an eighth grader at the parish’s Catholic academy.

Mary Ann De Luca, a 30-year parishioner who has studied the church through her camera lens, compared the church before with what it is now; “It was really like a country, old-fashioned church. And it had a lot of wood. It just had a homely look, and now it has a whole new look.”

There are bright new marble floors and the pews have been redone. A mosaic of Christ adorns the pulpit. Special artwork in the sanctuary, and statues in the back, add to that whole new look.

Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros led the day’s celebration. He blessed the walls of Our Lady of Grace and the worshipers. “The church means so much for us. It’s a symbol of our faith. It’s a symbol of the people that worship inside,” said Bishop Cisneros.

Rising up over the tabernacle is a restored statue of Our Lady of Grace. Bruno is devoted to her Heavenly Mother and spoke of what Mary meant to her; “Everything. She’s Jesus’ mom, my mom. She’s definitely a role model for everyone.”

Father Vincent Chirichella, the church’s pastor, said the generosity of his parishioners made the restoration project possible; “It was done to really bring new hope and new life to the parish and to build up the community here.”

Bishop Cisneros agreed that the wonderful renovations to the 83-year old building will be appreciated in the years ahead; “That’s for the future, that’s for new priests. And new couples that will be married here; and for first holy communions and confirmations. That gives each of us a sense of who we are as a Church — Not just a building, but people.”

“People [will] come and realize, ‘wow, this is Our Lady of Grace. It’s beautiful. I’m going to start coming more.’ And it has a big impact on us,” said Bruno. An impact that parishioners pray will lead to an even stronger future at Our Lady of Grace.