Bishop holds annual meeting with religious communities of the diocese

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney held his annual meeting with the major superiors of religious communities that serve the diocese on Nov. 22 at St. Mary’s Retreat Center in Morristown. Sister Patricia Pompa, provincial superior of the Religious Teachers Filippini, offered an opening prayer. The bishop spoke about the annual U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops’ meeting from Nov. 14–17 in Baltimore. He also talked about developments in the diocese. Father Paul Manning, the diocesan vicar for evangelization, spoke to the superiors about the latest phase of the Synod on Synodality in the universal Church, called “Enlarge the Space of Your Tent.” Cecile Pagliarulo, the newly appointed director of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, asked the superiors to recommit their communities to support the center, which six religious communities of the diocese established 10 years ago. During the gathering, the men and women superiors each got up to introduce themselves and mention a positive event or development that took place over the past year. The meeting concluded with a prayer and a lunch with the major superiors and Bishop Sweeney.