Christopher Brancato has been appointed as the develop­ment director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson. The appointment, which was effective July 1, was announced jointly by Scott Milliken, Catholic Chari­ties Chief Executive Officer, and Msgr. Herbert Tillyer, president of the Board of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson.

For the 32nd consecutive year, teens from the youth ministry program at St. Patrick Parish in Chatham are traveling to Rowlesburg, W.V. to repair homes for families in need. This summer time mission began in 1986 following a flood that devastated Appalachia. The mission trip to help those who live in extreme poverty there was started by three teenage parishioners of St. Patrick’s and has continued since as a highlight of the youth ministry experience. That initial trip, now named Appalachia Help Week, annually connects Chatham to West Virginia.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Bernard Parish in Mount Hope 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.

At various times in his life, Father Peter Clarke, president of Morris Catholic High School in Denville, has walked with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, patron of Catholic schools and the first U.S.-born saint, in his faith, vocation and pursuit of higher education. Before becoming a priest, Father Clarke attended St. Peter Parish in Manhattan, where Mother Seton converted to Catholicism in 1805. Years later, as a priest in Catholic schools in the Diocese, he was inspired to pursue a doctorate in educational leadership at the College of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station, named in the saint’s honor and operated by the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth.

About 150 members of the St. Lucy Province of the Religious Teachers Filippini gathered at their Motherhouse, Villa Walsh, for a convocation from June 28 to July 3, where they were privileged to receive fresh perspectives on their charism, mission and history, which started with their founder, St. Lucy Filippini. Guided by the theme, “A Summons for the Time that Is Ours,” the convocation also included liturgies and spirit-filled presentations that gave the Filippini sisters a renewed sense of hope in moving forward.

Given today’s political climate in our nation and abroad, most of us would be hard pressed to come up with the name of a single politician we admire enough that he/she should be considered for sainthood. But Giorgio La Pira, the mayor of Florence from 1951 to 1965, was not like any of the politicians of our day and age.

On average, more than 3 million people are expected to visit the U.S. Capitol in Washington each year. Some of these people will go through the Cannon Tunnel, an underground walkway that connects the U.S. Capitol with the Cannon House Office Building — the oldest congressional office in the country. In that tunnel, there are hundreds of pieces of artwork that are created by high school students. One of those pieces of art belongs to 2018 Pope John XXIII Regional High School graduate Alyssa Talon.

A barbecue for seminarians of the Diocese of Paterson was held June 26 on the grounds of St. Bonaventure Parish in Paterson. Joining the seminarians were Bishop Serratelli; Father Kevin Corcoran, the Bishop’s priest-secretary; Father Edgar Rivera, diocesan vocations director; Father Vidal Gonzalez Jr., assistant vocations director, and Father David Monteleone, assistant vocations director, as well as Father Brando Ibarra, who helped in providing the food.