Kiddie Costumes March Through Bay Ridge

By Katie Engesser

The season of scary monsters and dastardly villains is finally at hand but in Brooklyn, kids are more happy than horrified.

It’s all because of the Ragamuffin parade, an annual tradition that brings the Bay Ridge neighborhood together for some family fun a few weeks before Halloween.

From comic book heroes to heroes in uniform, and even some major historical figures – kids are encouraged to dress in their most creative costumes.

The march down Third Avenue began over half a century ago. Former Pastor of Our Lady of Angels, Father James McKenna, thought the parade could be an alternative to door-to-door trick or treating.

But there was only one rule for participation – costumes must be homemade, nothing purchased from a store. Many kids wore their parent’s clothes and the parade got the name “Ragamuffin.”

Now decades later, thousands take part. It’s a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. The yearly parade is always a top favorite for the kids of Brooklyn.

La tradición, la imprenta y la traducción de la Biblia

En este quinto programa sobre la Biblia aprenderemos cómo las Escrituras llegan a nuestras manos y en nuestra lengua natal. El padre Tomás nos narra su propia experiencia de cómo comenzó desde niño a leer el Evangelio. Antes de la imprenta, ¿como se daba a conocer La Palabra? ¿Cuándo y cómo se traduce la Biblia del latín al castellano? ¿Qué tiene que ver el Concilio Vaticano II con todo esto? Jorge hace estas y otras preguntas interesantes al Padre Tomás para que entendamos mejor la historia de la Biblia.

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Tune in for this all-new episode of In the Arena when best selling author David Limbaugh joins Monsignor Kieran Harrington. He will talk about his new book, Jesus is Risen: Paul and the Early Church. And later in the show, Army Chaplain Darren Turner shares his extraordinary story, one that is the inspiration for the new movie Indivisible. All this and more on In the Arena, right here on NET at 8 PM!

Currents News for Friday, October 12, 2018

On the newscast: Cardinal Wuerl is out – The Pope has accepted his resignation but is raising some eyebrows with a new letter from the Vatican; The death toll and devastation are continuing to mount up in the wake of Hurricane Michael; Brooklyn’s Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio sits down with Ed Wilkinson to discuss the New York attorney general’s investigation into sex abuse.

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

Brooklyn Man Related to Future Saint

By Tim Harfmann

Tony Evangelista owns Il Posto Italian Restaurant in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn and is planning a big celebration because his distant cousin, Nunzio Sulprizio, is being elevated to sainthood on October 14th.

Tony referred to him as “the beato,” which means blessed in Italian.

“The beato’s mother’s name was Rosa Luciani. My great grandmother’s name was Filomena Luciani,” Tony said.

Nunzio was born in 1817 and became an orphan as a child. He later lived with his uncle, but was abused, taken out of school and forced to work as a blacksmith.

Nunzio eventually contracted an incurable disease in his leg, spent years in a hospital and died in 1836 at the age of 19.

“He said, ‘my suffering is nothing compared to what Jesus suffered.’ That was his philosophy,” said Tony.

Nunzio was gone at a young age, but his legacy was not forgotten.

“My grandfather talked about the beato since I could remember,” Tony said.

Tony has carried a worn picture of his cousin around for decades because he feels a special connection to Nunzio.

Tony remembered that when his own dad was in the hospital, his mother put a picture of Nunzio in the bed with him.

“The next day, he was diagnosed with three broken ribs. Believe it or not, the picture she put with him was stuck right to where the ribs were broken,” said Tony.

He listens to a special song every morning that’s dedicated to his cousin.

“In the song it says, ‘an angel from God came and took him to heaven.’ That part gets to me,” Tony said.

To honor Nunzio, the Brooklynite printed prayer cards for the special occasion, and he plans on hanging a mural of Nunzio in the restaurant.

Monsignor John Delendick will be one of the people there to celebrate. He is the pastor of Saint Jude Church in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

“When he first told me this was going to happen, I said, ‘this is huge! Biggest thing that ever happened around here!”

“To me, I consider myself blessed. I think a lot of it is from the beato, Nunzio,” Tony said.

The 19th-century Italian was canonized along five other new saints, including Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Pope Accepts Cardinal Wuerl’s Resignation

Currents News Staff

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl from the Archdiocese of Washington. Through a letter, the Pope has asked him to remain in D.C. as an Apostolic Administrator, until a new successor has been appointed.

The Archbishop of Washington submitted the resignation request nearly three years ago at 75, as canon law requires. After not being accepted, Cardinal Wuerl had sent an additional request on Sept. 21, asking Pope Francis to accept his resignation.

The cardinal had been facing recent pressure to resign since he was criticized for his handling of cases of abusive priests after the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report was released on Aug. 14.

Pope Francis sent a letter to Wuerl, dated Oct. 12, saying, “I recognize in your request the heart of a shepherd who… prioritizes actions that support, stimulate and make the unity and mission of the Church grow…”

Pope Francis continues his letter, “You have sufficient elements to ‘justify’ your actions and distinguish between what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes. However, your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this, I am proud and thank you.”

This new interim administrative role will allow Wuerl to continue to run daily activities throughout the archdiocese, but he will be unable to make serious changes that would affect the next archbishop.

Following the August scandals, Donald Wuerl wrote a letter to U.S. Bishops on Aug. 30, asking for “forgiveness for my errors in judgment (and) for my inadequacies.”

The Pittsburgh native was appointed cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI on Nov. 20, 2010. He is a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Congregation for Bishops at the Vatican.

Hurricane Michael Pummels Mexico Beach

Currents News Staff

The intensity of Hurricane Michael was when it slammed into the Florida panhandle is becoming more evident. At least thirteen people are dead and that number is expected to climb higher as emergency workers search through debris. Over one-point-five-million customers are without power in states stretching from Florida to Virginia. The storm will probably end up costing at least twenty-five-billion-dollars in economic losses.

Limousine Crash ‘Heartbreaking, Gut-Wrenching’ for New York Community

By Kate Blain

ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) – Among the 20 people killed in a devastating limousine accident Oct. 6 in Schoharie were several victims who had connections to parishes, schools and Catholic organizations of the Albany Diocese.

All 17 passengers in the limo and its driver were killed when the car ran through a stop sign, struck two pedestrians and a parked car, and landed in a shallow ravine. The pedestrians also died. Police have arrested the owner of the limousine company and charged him with criminally negligent homicide.

Among the fatalities was Amanda Halse, 26, was a server, bartender and supervisor at the restaurant at Shaker Pointe senior living community in Watervliet, sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Her boyfriend, Patrick Cushing, also died in the crash.

Gregory Reeves, regional vice president for Lifestyles, the company that runs the restaurant, recalled the young woman everyone called “Mandy” as low-key, with a “Mona Lisa smile.” Halse had worked at Shaker Pointe for the past three years, since the restaurant opened.

“She had an infectious smile,” Reeves said, and “what was behind it was a desire to please.”

He said he had spoken to Halse about pursuing a career in the restaurant industry; he believed she had what it took to succeed.

Sister Kay Ryan, who also is part of Shaker Pointe’s leadership team, agreed with that assessment.

When customers arrived at the restaurant, she said, “Mandy would say, ‘Can I get you what you normally order, or are you trying to experiment?’”

“It’s such a tragedy that this person who had such potential is not going to be here to fulfill it,” Sister Kay told The Evangelist, Albany’s diocesan newspaper. “She certainly lived the mission of Shaker Pointe.”

Cushing, Halse’s boyfriend, graduated from eighth grade at St. Mary’s Institute in Amsterdam in 2001.

“He was a wonderful, quiet, shy kid,” recalled the school’s alumni relations director, Jeanette Constantine, who knew several of the victims and their families.

Constantine noted that newlyweds Shane McGowan and Erin Vertucci McGowan, two more of the crash victims, also attended St. Mary’s Institute through seventh grade and second grade, respectively.

The school remembered the victims in morning prayers when the school reopened Oct. 9 after Columbus Day weekend. Constantine said they would also be mentioned in an upcoming liturgy.

The McGowans married in June at St. Mary’s Church in Amsterdam.

Mrs. McGowan, who was working toward a master’s degree in special education, had worked at St. Mary’s Healthcare in Amsterdam. The hospital posted on Facebook that “St. Mary’s Healthcare family sends thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of those affected by the Schoharie tragedy” and noted that the community is “(coming) together to support one another during this difficult time.”

Mrs. McGowan also was Cushing’s cousin. One current pre-kindergarten student at St. Mary’s Institute lost an uncle in the accident. Another victim’s godchild attends the school.

The intertwined connections are an indication of the closeness of the Amsterdam-area community. Two Catholics told The Evangelist that family members had been on school sports teams with several of the victims and were coached by others.

Constantine said her nephew was a close friend of Cushing’s and had flown in from Chicago to attend a candlelight vigil held the evening of Oct. 8 at the Amsterdam pedestrian bridge.

Maryknoll Father Jeffrey L’Arche, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Amsterdam, attended that vigil, which drew well over 1,000 people. He said the candles ran out before all the participants could take one.

Father L’Arche said up to 10 of the victims’ funerals could be offered at nearby St. Stanislaus Parish in Amsterdam. Two more will likely be at St. Mary’s, he said. St. Stephen’s Parish in Hagaman, where some victims’ parents worship and one of the couples were married, also could be a site for some funerals.

Dates for the funeral Masses were still pending.

Constantine, Father L’Arche and others used similar words to describe the tragedy: “overwhelming,” “heartbreaking” and “gut-wrenching.”

Constantine said the hundreds of thousands of dollars already raised for children and other survivors through online GoFundMe pages, as well as the sheer number of memorials held for the victims, show the depth of the tragedy.

The accident has been called the deadliest transportation accident in the United States since 2009.

Blain is editor of The Evangelist, newspaper of the Diocese of Albany.

Cardinal Wuerl Resignation Analysis

Currents News Anchor Liz Faublas, Editor-in-Chief for the The Tablet Jorge I. Domínguez-López and National Correspondent for Crux and The Tablet Christopher White discuss the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl.

Currents News for Thursday, October 11, 2018

On the newscast: An entire town nearly destroyed – the latest on Hurricane Michael; Big news out of Rome today – a Bishop has called for married men to become priests; An interview with a world-renowned expert on young people.