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With Election Day 2019 in the rearview mirror, all eyes are now intensely focused on the presidential election in 2020. And with every candidate for president in the Democrat Party in lock step with the party’s platform that supports abortion on demand at any time during a pregnancy, the stage has been set for the inevitable clash between politics and faith on this issue.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Wayne Oct. 26. During the Mass, he confirmed 11 young people of the parish.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Fatima Church in Highland Lakes Nov. 3 where he celebrated Mass for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time. During his celebration of Mass there, he named Father Julio Barrios as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish. Father Barrios had been serving as administrator of the parish.

At times, Catholics want to receive Holy Communion but run into a serious impediment. Sometimes, it’s physical, such as being too ill. Sometimes, it’s canonical, such as having been remarried after a divorce without an annulment. This year, Father Manuel de Jesus Guevara, a diocesan priest, finished the thesis for his newly-completed doctorate in canon law that gives priests and laity suggestions for ways to administer the Eucharist in these difficult situations — or to find an alternative.

Local organizations and people within the Diocese were recognized with awards for their commitment to helping the poor in the area through their longtime support of Catholic Charities of the Paterson Diocese at its 2019 Caritas Gala on Nov. 2 at the Birchwood Manor in Whippany. In attendance, Bishop Serratelli praised the recipients for helping Catholic Charities carry on its mission to “serve our brothers and sisters in need.”

More than 700 business people, friends and family, clergy and religious attended the Tri-County Scholarship Fund (TCSF) 38th annual awards dinner Oct. 28, at the Hanover Marriott in East Hanover. At the event, a record-breaking $1.3 million was raised to provide partial scholarships for financially disadvantaged children in Passaic, Morris, and Sussex counties, enabling them to attend accredited k-12 parochial and private schools.

Twelve faith-filled men took a step to ordination as permanent deacons for the Paterson Diocese during a Mass celebrated by Bishop Serratelli, which included the Rite of Candidacy, on Nov. 1, which also marked the Feast of All Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation, in Holy Family Church in Florham Park.

Construction started last month on Phase 1 of an ambitious two-phase, $4.5 million project at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, titled “Building on Tradition,” ­­— first to renovate its Bishop Frank J. Rodimer Center by December and then build a new two-story, 16,000-square-foot, 16-classroom Catechetical and Educational Building. It will house formation programs to help faithful of all ages to get to know Christ and answer his call to evangelize the “Good News” of the Gospel.

What could Gene Tunney — a former world heavyweight champion boxer in the 1920s and a loving husband and father — and St. Teresa of Calcutta — “lover of the unloved” poor in Calcutta, India, and around the world — possibly have in common? Lots — Tunney and St. Teresa were faithful Catholics; prayed to their favorite saint, Francis of Assisi; and pursued their God-given vocations with passion, said Thomas Michael Hardiman, a circuit judge of the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Pittsburgh, in his Oct. 30 talk at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Evangelization Center at Bayley-Ellard in Madison.

Every bride and groom is called to do two things on their wedding day — “love your spouse” and “let yourself be loved by your spouse.” That was the message heard by 119 couples, who celebrated milestone-wedding anniversaries this year at the annual Diocesan celebration marking Silver and Gold wedding anniversaries at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson Nov. 3.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson held its first praying of the Rosary for Life before the 11:30 a.m. Mass in English on Oct. 27. Bishop Serratelli, who served as main celebrant and homilist of the liturgy during his pastoral visit to the cathedral, joined participants in the rosary.

Serving a vital role for helping those in need in Dover and surrounding areas of Morris County, Hope House, a Catholic Charities agency under Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS), has a new home, centrally located in the downtown part of the city. To celebrate this new location, a blessing, rededication and ribbon cutting was held Oct. 25 at 101-103 Bassett Highway in Dover, Hope House’s new address.

A blessing ceremony for the gravestone of Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, the sixth bishop of the Diocese, was held in Calvary Cemetery, the diocesan cemetery in Paterson on Oct. 25. The date of the ceremony would have been Bishop Rodimer’s 92nd birthday. Bishop Rodimer died last Dec. 6. He served the Paterson Diocese as its bishop for 26 years and was a priest for 67 years.

Patrick Smart, a junior at Delbarton School in Morristown, seemed most fascinated to learn about the stages of development of an unborn baby: a heartbeat by three weeks; arms legs and mouth by four weeks; brain waves by six weeks; and all his or her organs by eight weeks. Like many of the 300 Catholic high-school students, who attended a pro-life rally on Oct. 25 at Morris Catholic High School in Denville, Smart, 16, knew that they would be praying for life and be reminded that all human life is sacred, because all are made in the image and likeness of God.

When Father Brendan Murray, pastor emeritus of Sacred Heart/Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Dover, retired this past summer, he moved to Nazareth Village, the retired diocesan priests residence here. He was drawn to the idea that the unique retirement facility offered him a place to live independently while still helping at local parishes and at the same time, to live in fraternity with his brother priests.

It was heartening to see the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) and the National Catholic Bio­ethics Center (NCBC), whose Director of Educa­tion, Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, is a regular columnist in The Beacon, respond to a misleading statement from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Physicians for Reproductive Health that abortion can be medically necessary when some issues occur during pregnancies. Its problematic statement read: “There are situations where pregnancy termination in the form of an abortion is the only medical intervention that can preserve a patient’s health or save their life.” The CMA and NCBC were quick to point out the fallacies in this statement stating that they each recognize the obligation to treat both patients, the mother and the unborn child, when a life-threatening pathological situation arises during pregnancy.

On Oct. 20, World Mission Sunday (WMS) was marked by the universal Church with Pope Francis leading the celebration at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In the Diocese, the annual World Mission Sunday celebration took place at St. Gerard Majella Church in Paterson with Bishop Serratelli as the main celebrant and homilist.

Fifty-seven members of the Permanent Diaconate celebrated significant anniversaries during a Mass with Bishop Serratelli on Oct. 18 at St. Peter the Apostle Church, Parsippany. Priests from the parishes that the deacons serve concelebrated the Mass with the Bishop, who was the main presider.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of the Holy Angels Parish in Little Falls where he celebrated the vigil mass for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time on Oct. 19.

The serious crises that the Church faces today — from dwindling numbers of faithful to the sex-abuse scandal — might also signal a “moment” now in its history to inspire Catholics around the world to help heal and renew the wounded Church. This historic inflection point also can inspire the faithful to take stock — and promote — all the good that the Church has done to enrich humanity and, through the power of the Eucharist, to help the Church continue to enrich the world by becoming forces for good in their own lives.