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As the doors to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist opened wide onto Main Street in Paterson and bishops and priests processed out of the mother church of the Diocese on July 1, the music and voices singing grew louder. Directly across the street from the cathedral were family members who belonged to the Neocatechumenal Way at two parishes. They were playing instruments and drums while singing “Alleluia” as they awaited their first official look at the new bishop of Paterson who had just been ordained to the episcopacy and installed as Paterson’s eighth bishop.

Last week a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe found it was illegal for N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) to limit religious worship services over the coronavirus while condoning and encouraging massive anti-police brutality protests.

All the faithful in the Diocese of Paterson are looking forward to joyfully celebrating the ordination/installation of Bishop-elect Kevin Sweeney as the eighth bishop of the Diocese on Wednesday, July 1, the feast day of St. Junipero Serra. Often called the “Apostle of California,” this Franciscan priest not only helped to convert thousands of Native Americans to Christianity and taught them new agricultural technologies but also was a staunch advocate for them and a champion of human rights.

It is never easy to say goodbye. And sadly, the pandemic in our nation has only made farewells even more difficult: no huge gatherings to pay tribute to one’s lifetime of achievements, not even a handshake for a job well done is safe to do. In this “new normal” has come the time for the Diocese of Paterson to bid a fond farewell to Bishop Serratelli upon his retirement.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted on and passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omni­bus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act along party lines with the Democratic majority prevailing. The U.S. Senate is now in the process of reviewing the bill that has an issue that should concern every Catholic.

There is still hope that Congress can once again take up the Born Alive Act. The optimism comes from two newly elected members of Congress who signed a petition May 26 to bring a key pro-life bill to the House floor for consideration. That same day, Reps. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) and Tom Tiffany (R-Wisc.) were both sworn in to the House, and signed the discharge petition for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act afterward according to the office of Minority WHIP Steve Scalise (R-La.).

The Paycheck Protec­tion Program (PPP) under the CARES Act was an emergency loan measure to help eligible small businesses and non-profits with 500 employees or lesss. Under the Small Business Association (SBA), these loans kept employees on the payroll during the pandemic with the specific understanding that the loans could become grants. If a business was affiliated with a larger national organization under existing SBA rules, then it would be counted together with the larger organization and all its affiliates.

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. Pope John Paul II on May 18, also the first day public Masses resumed throughout Italy, Pope Francis offered his morning Mass in the chapel of the saint’s tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica. The legacy this Pope who became a saint left to us is undoubtedly unprecedented in the more than 2,000-year history of our Catholic Church.

It is deeply disturbing that the Little Sisters of the Poor again find themselves in court defending their community against attempts to force this religious order to violate their conscience. The Supreme Court of the United States began hearing oral arguments May 6 in the case of Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Other states have joined this suit against the Little Sisters including California, and sadly, New Jersey.

One good thing that has evolved during the pandemic is that telemedicine has started to become more prevalent as patients are now able to have appointments with their doctors and interact with them over their smart phone, tablet or home computer. This digital linking of physicians and patients has become a much-needed staple since the pandemic that has separated patients from visits to their doctor’s office due to shelter-in-place edicts.

As our nation continues to be gripped in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, the challenge to find a vaccine for COVID-19 for the general population is going on at breakneck speed by Ameri­can companies. However, what is most important as these firms work tirelessly to find a vaccine is that they develop an effective and safe one that avoids unethical links to aborted fetal cells.

The period the Church celebrated last week from Easter Sunday on April 12 through Divine Mercy Sunday on April 19 is an especially joyful time for the Catholic Church. The Church refers to these eight days (counting both Easter Sunday and Divine Mercy Sunday) as the Octave of Easter. Every day in the Octave of Easter is so important that it is treated as a continuation of Easter Sunday itself when we celebrated with truth and certainty that Jesus Christ is Risen!

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare workers on the front lines are treating more patients than they can possible handle at one time, forcing them in some cases to make life and death decisions. This is especially true at the epicenter of the pandemic in New Jersey and New York.

During a Holy Week like no other in the history of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis sent a video message to Catholics around the world, urging them amid the global coronavirus pandemic to have hope, solidarity with those who suffer, and to pray. “In the risen Jesus, life conquered death,” Pope Francis says in the video, speaking about Holy Week that will culminate with Easter this Sunday.

Healthcare facilities across the United States, and most especially here in the hard-hit New York-New Jersey Metropolitan area, have postponed elective surgeries in order to save personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves for treating COVID-19 patients amid the effort to stem the ongoing pandemic.

As Catholics know, Lent is a time of penance, prayer and charity. Yet, no Lent in our lifetime has ever been as challenging as the Lent of 2020. Just a short time after Ash Wednesday, we were all relegated to our homes, working from there and taking care of children, whose schools have been closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In Alabama, one of America’s most pro-life states, a state representative has introduced a bill in the state legislature that would require men of a certain age or state to have a vasectomy. The legislation is the brainchild of Democrat Rep. Rolanda Hollis. Her bill provides that a man must undergo a vasectomy “at his own expense” within one month of his 50th birthday or the birth of his third child, “whichever comes first.”

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Consolation Parish (OLC) in Wayne Saturday, March 7, where he celebrated the 5 p.m. vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Lent.

St. Patrick Parish in Chatham welcomed Bishop Serratelli during his pastoral visit March 8 where he celebrated Mass to mark the Second Sunday of Lent.

“Keep your steps small. It will make it easier to keep in time to the music.” Franciscan Father John Aherne, a parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Pompton Lakes, calls out this suggestion to a class of 55 people — lined up in rows in the gathering space in the parish center — as they attempt to follow his nimble footwork in learning a “reel,” the most basic routine in Irish dance. On the night of March 4, students — from St. Mary’s and elsewhere — share lots of smiles and laughs as they succeed, or sometimes fall short of, mastering the steps as demonstrated with great skill by Father John, a certified teacher with the Irish Dance Commission of Dublin, Ireland.