Pastoral visit to Mount Hope parish

MOUNT HOPE  Bishop Kevin Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Bernard Parish here on March 21 and celebrated Mass marking the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

St. Bernard’s, part of Rockaway Township, has a long history. Although the mines at Mount Hope were a regular stop of the early missionary priest, Father Farmer, in the 18th century, Catholic activity in the community did not continue after the priest’s death. St. Mary’s in Dover began offering Mass in Mount Hope in the 1850s and a mission church was built on Mount Hope Avenue in 1861. A new church was built near the Teabo Mine in 1869. The mission was raised to parish status in 1875.