Pastoral visit to Paterson parish
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December 7, 2017
BEACON PHOTO | JOE GIGLIPASTORAL VISIT Bishop Serratelli poses with Father Eider Reyes (left), pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Paterson, and members of the group Movimiento Juan XXIII (Pope John XXIII Movement) along with other parishioners including Adelaida Fernandes and Eva Yee, after the Bishop celebrated Mass there on Dec. 3.Bishop makes pastoral visit to St. Anthony Parish in Paterson; meets members of Pope John XXIII MovementPATERSON Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit on Dec. 3 to St. Anthony of Padua Parish here where he served as the main celebrant and homilist of the 8 a.m. Mass for the First Sunday in Advent. He concelebrated the Mass with Father Eider Reyes, St. Anthony’s pastor.
St. Anthony’s serves the spiritual, social and material needs of many generations of newcomers, including immigrants from the Caribbean, Central and South America and Portugal as well as English speakers and older Italians. Salesian priests founded St. Anthony’s, located in the “Sandy Hill” section of Paterson, in 1909. A former Protestant church on Beech Street was purchased and renovated for use as St. Anthony’s Mission that same year. The mission was raised to parish status in 1911 and a new church was built in 1941. In 2008, the Salesians returned the parish to the administration of the Diocese.