CLIFTON Catholics in the Diocese of Paterson demonstrated their great stewardship of many of the outreaches and initiatives of the Church of Paterson by generously making more than $60 million in pledges to its Partners in Faith capital and endowment campaign. It supports individual parishes, Catholic Charities, Catholic school education, healthcare for retired priests and the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women. The campaign also helped fund the major renovations to the Diocese’s mother church, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, which Bishop Serratelli rededicated last June.
“The active phase of the Partners in Faith campaign was a huge undertaking for our parishes. I continue to be in awe of the generosity of our parishioners in the Paterson Diocese, especially when I see that they are responsible for all the good work that continues to happen because of the campaign’s success,” Bishop Serratelli said. “St. Ignatius Loyola wrote, ‘Teach us to give and not count the cost.’ I am grateful to the thousands upon thousands of parishioners who looked at the important needs and ministries supported by Partners in Faith and responded with a generous heart. Our Church is blessed by such stewardship,” the Bishop said.
Pledges to Partners in Faith can be fulfilled through 2018. As many of the faithful continue to fulfill their pledges, these ministries continue to be fostered. The Diocese assigned each parish with a financial target as part of the overall campaign goal. It returns to parishes 25 percent of all the cash received up to their goals and returns to them 60 percent of cash received over their goals. To date, the Diocese has returned more than $11.5 million to parishes to be used for their own needs with the final distribution to be made in early 2019, said Timothy Potter, diocesan development director.
“Our parishes continue to benefit directly from the Partners in Faith campaign. This [$11.5 million rebate to parishes] is an extraordinary amount and a tremendous blessing in terms of diocesan support of parish ministries, services and other important initiatives that take place at the local level. This truly embodies the idea behind Partners in Faith,” Potter said. “We are grateful to the thousands of people who made one-time gifts to Partners in Faith and those who continue to fulfill their multi-year pledges. This ongoing support is so important and needed so that we can continue to provide the financial support necessary to do the important work of the campaign,” he said.
Partners in Faith helped the Department of Persons with Disabilities (DPD), a part of diocesan Catholic Charities, to purchase a ramp van for two developmentally disabled adults at Calabrese House in Parsippany. The donations also financed the purchase of vehicles for several DPD locations to provide transportation for persons with disabilities and capital improvements to group homes in Jefferson Township, Oak Ridge and Sparta, said Scott Milliken, chief executive officer of diocesan Catholic Charities.
In addition, Catholic Family & Community Services, another part of Catholic Charities, spent Partners in Faith funds on necessary technology upgrades throughout the agency, repairs to facilities, and improvements in security in the Early Learning and Youth Risk Reduction programs in Paterson and Passaic. Another Catholic Charities agency, Straight & Narrow, purchased two vans to transport patients of its Medical Day Care to medical appointments throughout the day, Milliken said.
“All of Catholic Charities has benefited — and continues to benefit — greatly from the generosity of the caring people in our Diocese. The quality of life of the people we serve, the poor, has been significantly increased through Partners in Faith,” Milliken said. “All of us at Catholic Charities would like to thank Bishop Serratelli and all involved for all that we have received to aid in our mission of providing help and creating hope to those we serve,” he said.
Also, the Diocese values its priests, so it helps offset the rising annual costs of the retired priests’ health care and special needs with Partners in Faith funding. Many of these priests need daily nursing care and other health-related services, as needs arise, Potter said.
“A number of our retired priests are infirm or incapacitated and require daily nursing home care. We are also experiencing an increase in the numbers of elderly priests requiring care, as well as in the rates charged by nursing homes,” Patrick Brennan, diocesan chief financial officer, said. “Your gift to Partners in Faith helps to ensure that each of these priests who have so faithfully served our Diocese, receives the high-quality healthcare and living assistance they need,” he said to donors.
Partners in Faith also aided in financing the extensive renovation of St. John’s Cathedral, which reopened last June. These gifts helped with the repair of extensive structural repairs to the Diocese’s mother church. The work included making roof trusses, installing new flooring; making the choir loft structurally sound; replacing the entire plaster ceiling; installing a fire alarm system; bringing the electrical and lighting systems up to code; and fixing the exterior masonry. It also included creating additional seating for the faithful, returning the altar to the front of the cathedral for a more focused celebration of the liturgy and refurbishing stained glass windows and the Stations of the Cross.
With Partners in Faith funds, the diocesan School Office started a classics program for grades 5-8 “to advance the critical, reflective thinking and social and civic engagement of readers of all ages through shared inquiry discussion of works and ideas of enduring values. Most importantly, the program supports our Catholic tradition by fostering the desire to seek truth, wisdom, and beauty; to recognize ethical and moral behavior; and to develop the responsibility to transform the world with Gospel values,” said Mary Baier, school superintendent.
Through its partner, the Great Books Foundation, Chicago, the Diocese introduced the program in 10 schools in Morris and Passaic counties and hopes to expand it into the high schools next year and looks to add younger students to the program in the elementary schools, Baier said.
“The Classics Great Books Program has great impact on teacher efficacy and student achievement. Students are guided by their teachers in developing skillsets conducive to a diverse, global education grounded in Gospel values and Catholic social teaching,” Baier said. “The program introduces students to a rigorous, high quality literature where a deeper understanding and appreciation of literature and a shared inquiry approach prevails through student engagement — collaboration, creativity, communication, critical thinking and problem solving,” she said.
Originally, Partners in Faith provided the “start-up” funds for the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, which opened in 2013. A collaboration between the Diocese and its religious communities, it provides a place for the women of Passaic to meet, share and grow in a peaceful and safe environment and to express their needs, discover community resources to fulfill their needs, and strengthen themselves and their families through educational growth. The women learn English; quilting, crocheting and knitting; gardening; and praying. The center also distributes diapers and baby wipes to mothers and helps women access the health and counseling services of Straight & Narrow’s Medical Day Care Center, said Sister of Christian Charity Ann Marie Paul, director of Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.
“Literally, the center would not exist without Partners in Faith,” Sister Ann Marie said. “Donors are performing works of mercy through our work at the center, which serves the poor of Passaic. We are so grateful to Partners in Faith,” she said.
For the Partners in Faith rebate, Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Pompton Plains, used its most recent allocation for repairs for the church, involving air conditioning, the roof, a bathroom and a sidewalk, said Father Steven Shadwell, Good Counsel’s pastor.
“The Partners in Faith rebate money is a gift to our parish for necessary infrastructure repairs,” Father Shadwell said. “I’m never surprised but always pleased by the generosity of our parishioners. They want to support those activities that Partners in Faith helps fund,” the pastor said.
Msgr. James Mahoney, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the Curia and pastor of Corpus Christi Parish, Chatham Township, noted, “We live in challenging times where so many people seem to be separated from one another and civility is too often lacking.”
“The very name of our campaign, Partners in Faith, reminds us that when we come together as a community of believers in Christ and the Gospel, we can accomplish great things,” Msgr. Mahoney said. “I thank our Bishop for his vision, our pastors for their hard work at the local level, our many volunteers for their invaluable help and leadership, and for all who financially supported Partners in Faith. Such unity makes us a better and more responsive Diocese and a stronger Church now and in the future,” he said.