News - October 2021 RSS Feed

Local fire departments from around the Diocese joined together at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on the evening of Oct. 19 for the Diocese’s annual Firefighters Mass. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the main celebrant and homilist at the Mass, which honored those firefighters who passed away this year.

The weekend of Oct. 30–31 will be in-pew commitment weekend for the Diocesan Ministries Appeal. During Masses at parishes all across the Diocese, the faithful will have the opportunity to make a financial gift to support the pastoral work of the Diocese of Paterson. They will also view and/or hear a video homily by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney.

Diocesan Catholic Charities will again recognize selfless individuals and groups who make a difference in the lives of people that the agencies serves at its 2021 Caritas Gala. The gala will be hosted virtually at 5 p.m., Nov. 13. The awards ceremony is now in its 21st year.

As Matthew Whelan took the stage at Caldwell University in Caldwell Oct. 22 to be inaugurated as its ninth president, he stepped into the history books as the university’s first lay male president. In this position, he also returned to his “home turf” of northern New Jersey, where his lifelong love of faith, learning, and family as a servant-leader first took root as a student at the former St. Mary’s Prep and then at Morris Catholic High School, both in Denville.

Responding to Pope Francis’ call to the Universal Church, the Diocese of Paterson officially opened the two-year process of a Synod of Synodality with the theme, “For a synodal Church: Communion — Participation — Mission.” The event took place on World Mission Sunday Oct. 24 at the 11:30 a.m. Mass in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney as the main celebrant with many priests from the Diocese and priests who serve in mission lands as concelebrants of the Mass.

In these final days of October, the month which the Church in the United States celebrates as Respect Life Month, it is our hope that Catholics took the opportunity to reflect more deeply on why every human life is valuable, and at the same time rededicated themselves to building a culture that protects life from conception to natural death.

In recent weeks, I have heard from a few members of the Diocese who have spoken or written to me about the upcoming elections. One person wrote, “At this time it is NOT acceptable to tell Catholics to vote their conscience. Some 40–50 percent continue to vote for abortion (and other evils) candidates with a clear conscience.” While I understand the writer’s concern over polling data that has reported on the way in which Catholics have voted in recent decades, we must be careful about assertions as to whether others may or may not be making a choice with a “clear conscience.” According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator” (n. 1783). To have an informed conscience means that we constantly seek to understand God’s plan and will for our lives. In order to help others understand the beauty of God’s law requires that we are in constant communication with others, even those who do not agree with us.

Shirō Nakagawa had had enough. A young samurai and Catholic in 17th century Japan, he watched as the lord of his region in the south, called a daimyō, cracked down on his growing Christian community — closing churches, expelling missionaries, levying crushing taxes, banning religious practices and images, even torturing and killing people. The tipping point came when a regional tax collector drowned a pregnant woman. Filled with righteous anger, Shirō put on his samurai uniform and clutched his sword, ready to lead what is now known as the Shimabara Rebellion — a failed deadly uprising by these Christians from December 1637 to April 1638.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated Mass at the Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary Church in Passaic Oct. 17 to start weeklong celebrations in honor of St. John Paul II, whose feast day is on Friday, Oct. 22. The Shrine of St. John Paul II at Holy Rosary Parish is the Diocese’s shrine to the late pope, who visited Holy Rosary Parish in August 1976 when he was then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. Two years later, he was elected Pope on Oct. 16, 1978.

For many young adults, their college years are a time of searching and figuring out what the future holds. For Lucas Folan, a diocesan seminarian, it was a time when he seriously began to discern a priesthood vocation, which began near the end of his freshman year at Hofstra University in Long Island, N.Y., where he was studying music education.

Catholics should not limit the celebration of St. Joseph to the 365 days that make up the Year of St. Joseph, which concludes on Dec. 8. Rather, the faithful should use this year, which has generated considerably more interest in St. Joseph, to foster their own devotions to him going forward. This would be in part to harness his power as a heavenly intercessor and to gain more inspiration from him in his vocation as a husband of Mary, father of Jesus, and friend to all for all time.

In recognition of their outstanding service to the Church and the world, 91 individuals, couples, and families were honored with the Vivere Christus award by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who presided at the ceremony in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson Oct. 17.

President Joe Biden will have an audience with Pope Francis Oct. 29, the day before the G20 Leaders’ Summit starts in Rome. According to a statement from the White House press office, “They will discuss working together on efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis, and caring for the poor.”

Have you visited the Shrine of St. Pope John Paul? You may be asking, “Which one?” Do you know that we have a diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II at Holy Rosary Parish in Passaic? On this past Sunday, I had the opportunity to visit the shrine as the parish was celebrating a novena in preparation for the Feast of St. Pope John Paul II on Oct. 22. The Mass was bilingual (English and Polish). My “parts” were all in English, but it was wonderful to see and be with a vibrant parish community and to see and feel the special love and pride that the Polish community has for the saint who was sometimes called the “Polish Pope.” All of us who remember St. Pope John Paul II have come to know that he was truly a gift of the Polish people to the whole Church and the whole world.

As state-mandated COVID-19 restrictions are being eased, Masses at parishes across the Diocese are coming fully back to life. Many of the traditional rituals of Mass are returning, such as choirs and congregations singing hymns, which had been prohibited earlier, and shaking hands at the Sign of Peace, which was replaced with a socially distant wave of the hand, Father Jared Brogan, director of the diocesan Office of Worship, said.

Nearly 80 alumni and staff of the former St. John Cathedral High School in Paterson came together for a memorial Mass to honor and remember deceased alumni on Oct. 3 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the Mother Church of the Diocese, in Paterson.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined with the Peruvian community from across the Diocese at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson to celebrate the feast of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) Oct. 10.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney delivered the invocation for a “Coast to Coast” Rosary Rally for Our Nation held on the afternoon of Oct. 10. The event included his leading an outdoor rosary procession that started at the hall of the Knights of Columbus Bishop Navagh Council 5943 in Pequannock and concluded with Adoration of the Blessed Sacra­ment and rosary in Holy Spirit Church in Pequannock. The N.J. Area Order of Malta sponsored the event.

Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Sparta hosted this month’s prayer meeting for the youth of the Diocese with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney on Friday, Oct. 8. The theme of the event was “Holiness.” The event included Mass, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and witness talks by young people, Hannah Peterson and Quinn Muli.

Carmelite Sister Ishah Ahot of Jesus made her final profession of vows at the Monastery of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Morristown Oct. 7 before Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney. Family, friends, and the faithful attended the profession.