Bishop helps kick off school year with Masses

MORRISTOWN  Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a Mass for the opening of the school year at Villa Walsh Academy here on Sept. 16. At the 9:30 a.m. Mass, he spoke in his homily to 200 students about the importance of being good friends and that they are never alone with Jesus.

Villa Walsh Academy offers a college preparatory Catholic education for young women in Grades 7 through 12. It remains steadfast in its commitment to educating young women as envisioned by St. Lucy Filippini, the founder of The Institute of the Religious Teachers Filippini, who run the school.

CONVENT STATION  The community of the Academy of St. Elizabeth here welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney on Sept. 13 for a Mass to start the current school year. He served as the main celebrant and homilist.

The Academy was founded in 1860 by the Sisters of Charity. In 1859, Mother Xavier was commissioned by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley to establish a school for young women in New Jersey, the first secondary school for young women in the state. The school is located on a campus with St. Elizabeth University, founded in 1899.