News - September 2019 RSS Feed

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, the Mother Church and spiritual heart of the Diocese, recently launched “From Mercy to Hope”: a new dynamic outreach to help strengthen one of its roles as the mother church of its urban parish community by helping it to address the pressing human needs of its parishioners in a deeper way.

Through the 2019 Bishop’s Annual Appeal (BAA), the faithful in the Paterson Diocese can give back to veterans who have sacrificed so much including putting their own lives at risk in defending our nation. At Catholic Charities’ Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS), a recipient of the BAA, the agency has a department specifically to help and assist veterans.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit on Saturday, Sept. 21 to the faith community of St. Brendan/St. George in Clifton where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

From nations all over the world, Passaic has always been a landing spot for immigrants. So is the story of St. Anthony Parish, which began 100 years ago as the spiritual home for poor Italian immigrants settling in the city. On Sept. 22, St. Anthony's celebrated that history during its centennial celebration with a Mass of Thanksgiving.

In the future, could the Church expect to canonize a St. Nick of Sparta? Maybe — or maybe not — but Nick Ventresca, 15, of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Sparta at least started thinking about becoming an “everyday saint” in his own life on Sept. 22, during a Diocesan Youth Pilgrimage to the shrine of Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich’s in Holy Family Chapel on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station.

Whenever we cast our ballot, we have always been told our vote counts. However, voting in a public poll conducted by “She Built NYC,” a public arts program established to create more statues of women around the city of New York, under the patronage of Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, was an utter sham.

On the night of Sept. 10, Sister Janice Jolin of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, painted striking portraits of the many Hondurans who seek to emigrate to the U.S., as one of three dynamic speakers who gave clear perspectives of the crisis at the border during a presentation about the heated issue of immigration at St. Mary Parish in Pompton Lakes.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park where he celebrated the vigil Mass for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sept. 14. During the Mass, Bishop Serratelli appointed Father Dominik Bakowski as pastor. He was previously serving as the parish administrator.

Bishop Serratelli formally installed Father Kamil Peter Wierzbicki as pastor of St. Jude Parish here during his pastoral visit Sept. 15. During the visit, the Bishop celebrated Mass for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The shock and sorrow that the Salesian Sisters of St. Joseph Province experienced 15 months ago gave way to joy on the afternoon of Sept. 14. On that perfect late summer day, the Salesians broke ground for the new St. Joseph Chapel to replace the former chapel — lovingly called “the heart” of the province and of Mary Help of Christians Academy (MHCA) in North Haledon — which was destroyed by a four-alarm fire on May 18, 2018.

Often called the “jewel of the Paterson Diocese” — the agencies of Diocesan Catholic Charities are the Church of Paterson’s visible example of being Christ to those most in need — the poor, the addicted and the disabled. The Catholic Charities network is vast, serving across three counties, and the scope of its ministries serve tens of thousands of people each year through its three agencies — Catholic Family and Community Services, Straight and Narrow and Department of Persons with Disabilities.

Over the last few decades, the news media has gone through numerous changes in the way it presents the news. None of us knows how the news media will evolve in future years in disseminating the news, but according to Pope Francis, it will have no future if reporters and the public cannot distinguish between facts and fiction.

The parish community of St. Anthony in Hawthorne welcomed Bishop Serratelli during his pastoral visit Sept. 1. During his visit, the Bishop celebrated Mass for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Francis de Sales Parish in the McAfee section of Vernon Township where he celebrated Mass marking the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sept. 8. During the Mass, the Bishop installed Father Christopher Barkhausen as pastor of St. Francis Parish.

Father Darwin Lastra was officially installed as pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish here by Bishop Serratelli during the vigil Mass on Sept. 7 marking the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Father Lastra was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 2015 in St. Philip the Apostle Church in Clifton and his first assignment was at St. Vincent Martyr Parish in Madison as parochial vicar.

Years ago, Polish-born Bogusia Stopka moved to West Milford, never thinking that she would ever worship at a Mass in her native language anywhere nearby until the establishment of the Polish Mission at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, which celebrated its 10th anniversary on Sept. 8 with a Mass and banquet afterward. The Polish Mission held Mass for the anniversary in Queen of Peace Church, located in the Hewitt section of West Milford.

With help from Bishop Serratelli, the local Vocationist religious community reopened the Sanctuary of Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Spirit here Sept. 7 — carrying on the mission of the late Father Sylvester J.M. Livolsi, who founded the popular religious site, which most recently closed in 2014. Along with the Bishop, the Vocationists broke ground on a retreat center in Branchville, expanding the popular priest’s vision for this peaceful out-of-the-way place which he built to help visiting faithful get closer to Jesus through his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In recognition for the outstanding service they provide for their parishes, communities and the world, Bishop Serratelli honored 103 individuals, couples and families at this year’s diocesan Vivere Christus Est Awards on Sept. 8. This was the 10th year the ceremony has been held to honor the laity. At the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, family, friends, priests and well-wishers filled the cathedral to standing room only and witnessed as the Bishop presented each one of the 103 honorees

The Bishop’s Annual Appeal (BAA) is set to kick off at Masses in parishes across the Dio­cese this weekend, Sept. 14-15, giving the faithful the opportunity to once again support the good works of the Church of Paterson. Guided by the theme, “For I was hungry…”, the appeal invites parishioners to help fund ministries that serve the poor, the sick and the needy through diocesan Catholic Charities; urban elementary school students; diocesan seminarians; priests’ extraordinary healthcare needs and priests living at Nazareth Village, the diocesan priests’ retirement residence in Chester. Parishes also have the opportunity by exceeding their goal to receive a parish rebate, which can be used for the parish’s own needs.

Who doesn’t like to go to a concert to hear and see their favorite singers and musicians? Most of us enjoy going to concerts, no matter what our age or taste in music. But when these musicians and singers use their platforms as stars to take a side on a moral issue that results in the killing of an innocent child in the womb, it is time for us to draw a line in the sand and not support them.