After leading a ceremony for the National Day of Prayer May 4, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on religious freedom that provided a big win to the Little Sisters of the Poor. During the White House ceremony, Trump told Little Sisters of the Poor there: “Your long ordeal will soon be over.” The sisters were among the religious groups that challenged the Obama Administration’s contraceptive mandate to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Paul the Apostle Church in Clifton April 30 where he celebrated Mass for the Third Sunday of Easter. During the Mass the Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the parish.

Bishop Serratelli administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of the Vietnamese community of St. Cecilia Parish in Rockaway in the church during a Mass he celebrated on April 30 for the Third Sunday of Easter.

Bishop Serratelli administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 41 young people of St. Catherine of Bologna Parish in Ringwood on April 29, during Vigil Mass for the third Sunday of Easter. He served as main celebrant and homilist of the liturgy, which was concelebrated by Father Pawel Szurek, St. Catherine’s pastor, and Father Michal Falowski, parochial vicar.

Earlier this year, a non-denominational coalition of pro-life organizations throughout New Jersey, including many Catholic groups, banded together to launch the groundbreaking 20/20 Project. The initiative’s name hints at the two major goals that it seeks to accomplish: to promote the reality that unborn babies feel pain by 20 weeks in the womb and to lobby for a state prohibition on abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization by 2020.

In a small wooden house on Church Street in Paterson, a 12-bed hospital named for St. Joseph opened on Sept. 8, 1867. It was served by four Sisters of Charity at the request of Father William McNulty to give care to the many immigrants who came to “Silk City.” A century and a half has passed since then and while the location has changed the mission of St. Joseph’s Medical Center continues to remain the same: give quality and compassionate care to anyone who walks through its doors.

Bishop Serratelli will ordain 10 diocesan seminarians to the transitional diaconate on Saturday, May 13 at 10:30 a.m. in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany. During the Celebration of Ordination to the Order of Deacon, steeped in the rich traditions of the early Church, Bishop Serratelli will ordain the following men: Jader J. Avila, Jorge H. Castano, Dulibber G. Gonzalez, Yohan A. Serrano and Juan F. Velez of Colombia; Joseph R. Boykow of Rockaway; and Kamil Kiszka, Mateusz Darlak, Krzysztof L. Slimak and Lukasz Wnuk of Poland. The Bishop will be the main celebrant and homilist of the Mass with priests of the Diocese as concelebrants.

For the past 16 months, the Diocesan Schools Office and schools in the Diocese of Paterson have been working together to renew accreditation status through AdvancED, the world’s largest community of education professionals. Visitations by a team of six AdvancED members occurred April 3-5 at eight diocesan schools to assess teaching and learning impact, leadership capacity and resource utilization. The team also addressed improvement opportunities for the schools.

Parishes throughout the Diocese will join Bishop Serratelli and Catholics around the world in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Blessed Mother’s apparitions at Fatima in 1917 and her message that still resonates today — global peace and conversion to Christ. The centennial will be celebrated with an array of spiritual events in May and in coming months, including holding rosary rallies and a Marian devotion, showing a movie about her appearances there and holding and planning pilgrimages to Fatima.

It’s non-negotiable. That’s what Tom Perez, the new chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said last week about the party’s support for abortion on demand in the platform of the party. And, he added, all Democrats better be in lock-step with it or they will not gain the party’s support.