Pastoral visit to Mount Hope parish

MOUNT HOPE  Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Bernard Parish here on July 1, where he served as main celebrant and homilist of the 10:30 a.m. Mass for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

Concelebrating the liturgy were Father Alfred Lampron, St. Bernard’s administrator, and Father Kevin Corcoran, diocesan vice chancellor and the Bishop’s priest-secretary.

St. Bernard’s, part of Rockaway Township, has a long history. Although the mines at Mount Hope were a regular stop of Father Farmer in the 18th century, Catholic activity in the community did not continue after the priest’s death. St. Mary’s in Dover began offering Mass in Mount Hope in the 1850s and a mission church was built on Mount Hope Avenue in 1861. A new church was built near the Teabo Mine in 1869. The mission was raised to parish status in 1875. The Sisters of Charity staffed a parish school from 1883 until its closing in 1892.