The lush “Green” in Newton sits both in the middle of the town and at the center of its civic life. In recent years, the town square has hosted activities from outdoor concerts and memorials to fallen military veterans to a Black Lives Matter demonstration and Respect for Life prayer rallies. Often, at the edges of these gatherings, Newton Police stand watch, ensuring the peace. There on the morning of June 26, more than 100 people of all faith backgrounds raised their voices in support of the work of these law enforcement officials — local, county, and state — and to pray for their safety.

For 15 minutes, Christian Philips, 13, of St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Chester, lived a metaphor of vocations. Wearing a helmet and suspended from cables, he carefully balanced himself while walking on wires more than 40 feet in the air on an indoor zip line here at Camp Shiloh in the Hewitt section of West Milford on June 25.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Passaic on Saturday, June 26 at its 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. vigil Masses. During the two Masses, the Bishop confirmed 63 young people. The Confirmation was the final one before the summer season.

In support of diocesan Catholic Charities, 325 golfers played 18 holes at Crystal Springs Resort here June 21 at the 47th annual Wiegand Farm Golf Classic to benefit the agencies of Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS), the Depart­ment for Persons with Disabilities (DPD), and Straight and Narrow (SN).

For 94 years, Mary Josephine Healey Feenan has called the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson her spiritual home. Ten years before it was known as the Diocese’s mother church, her parents brought her to be baptized there on April 3, 1927. For her family, the cathedral parish holds a special place in the family’s history. Her grandfather, John Shields was one of the many Irish laborers who came to the city of Paterson looking to build a better life for their families and sought a place to live their Catholic faith in freedom.

On the corner of Main Street and Grand Street in Paterson, “a presence that is right in the thick of things, and a presence that is big enough to accommodate all comers,” describes best the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, which for generations has welcomed all who come through its doors. That is how Msgr. Raymond Kupke, diocesan archivist and pastor of St. Anthony Church in Hawthorne, described the cathedral parish in his homily during a Mass June 24 to mark the cathedral parish’s 200th anniversary celebration on the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.

Today, July 1, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney marks the one-year anniversary of his episcopal ordination and installation as the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Paterson, which took place in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. It was a historic first year for the Bishop. It began in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic with a press conference that took place virtually via Zoom on April 15 when the announcement was made that Pope Francis had chosen then-Father Kevin Sweeney, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., as the new Bishop of Paterson.

In the days leading up to Religious Freedom Week June 22–29, the U.S. Supreme Court made the celebration of the week even more important. With its unanimous 9–0 decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, it defended our religious freedom. In 2018, Philadelphia ceased placing children with foster parents that partner with Catholic Social Services demanding that the agency change its religious practices (the belief in traditional marriage as between one man and one woman) or close their much-needed ministry.

If you read this column on a weekly basis and/or if you have heard me preach, you know that, at times, I struggle to be “succinct” (briefly and clearly expressed). I will try to offer a succinct description of my thinking in preparing to write this column, so that I may share at some greater length a “change in plans.”

Despite daunting, unforeseen challenges, many parish religious education programs in the Diocese reported success in continuing to form their young people in the faith during the pandemic using virtual learning, according to a recent survey by the diocesan Catechetical Leaders Association (CLA) on June 15. On that date, the CLA held a meeting of parish Religious Education (DREs) and Coordinators of Religious Education (CREs) at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison.

Just one day after receiving her Confirmation, Valerie Mejia spoke to her peers sharing her wisdom about the Eucharist during the latest youth night with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney held at St. Margaret of Scotland Church here June 20. “The holy Eucharist isn’t only the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ but it is also something precious that has led for me to get closer to God,” said Mejia, who is a youth member at St. Margaret’s. “When I was younger, it was always my dream to walk down that path and say ‘Amen’ to receive his body and blood.”

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to young people of St. Vincent DePaul Parish in Stirling June 19 at the vigil Mass marking the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The parish had 41 young people who were confirmed by the Bishop.

On the weekend of June 12 and 13, young people of the Diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary Church in Passaic received the Sacrament of Confirmation. On June 12, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney administered the Sacrament and on June 13, Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli administered the Sacrament.

At the end of their careers, most television, radio, or print personalities write poignant or flashy memoirs. They reflect on their past glory and bask in the sunshine of their admirers during retirement. At 90, Father John Catoir, a retired priest of the Diocese of Paterson, decided to write a different type of book as his legacy — and he has never officially stopped working.

Throughout the country, Religious Freedom Week is currently being observed as Catholics are urged by the U.S. Bishops to pray, reflect, and act to promote the essential right of religious freedom for Catholics and for those of all faiths. This year the theme is “Soli­darity in Freedom.”

The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) overwhelmingly approved the cause for sainthood of “Servant of God” Benedictine Brother Marinus LaRue — a heroic mariner, during the Korean War and later, a humble and holy monk at St. Paul’s Abbey in Newton — during its June 16–18 2021 Spring General Assembly here.

This issue features The Beacon’s annual salute to graduates of our Catholic elementary and high schools. If you read the valedictorians’ addresses, a common theme is the freedom that these young men and women have to praise God for all of their and their classmates’ accomplishments and how much being disciples of Jesus has meant in their lives because of their Catholic education.

I thought and prayed about which topic to choose. In the end, I felt that I should go with the “both and” approach. I wish to share with you some reflections on my second meeting of the USCCB (U.S. Con­fer­ence of Catholic Bishops). I also believe it is important to mention the Feast of our diocesan patron, St. John the Baptist, on June 24.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney handed out diplomas to 16 kindergarten, eighth grade, and high school Catholic homeschool graduates during a Mass and graduation ceremony on June 13 at 3 p.m. in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. Bishop Sweeney served as the main celebrant of the Mass and presided at the graduation ceremony, which included homeschool students from in the Diocese and beyond. Congregants also recited a family consecration prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The first-ever homeschool Mass and graduation grew out of the new Diocese of Paterson Homeschool Families organization.

Before sharing their faith with people of different religious beliefs, Christians first should cultivate with them a “spirit of fraternal love.” This could lead to genuine interreligious dialogue: when people of goodwill join with fellow seekers in a quest for the truth. That’s what Father Rocco Viviano, interreligious dialogue coordinator for the Xaverian Missionaries in Japan, told the audience on the final night of the eighth annual Benedict Summer Institute, held June 7–9, in St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison.