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Bishop Serratelli dedicated and blessed the refurbished organ in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on Sunday, April 15, before a recital by Stephen Tharp, a world-renowned musician, composer, recording artist and educator. The Paterson-based Peragallo Organ Company, which had designed and built the organ for the Cathedral, sponsored the 4 p.m. concert, which also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the company and was part of ongoing celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Diocese.

Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit on Saturday, April 14 to St. Catherine of Bologna Parish here, where he served as main celebrant and homilist of the 5 p.m. vigil Mass for the Third Sunday of Easter. He also administered the Sacra­ment of Confirmation to 36 candidates.

Already dynamic, the Hispanic Ministry in the Church of Paterson received a major jolt of momentum, inspiration and focus on both the diocesan and parish levels on Saturday, April 7, during the historic diocesan-wide V Encuentro gathering in the Bishop Rodimer Center of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. During the all-day event, 400 delegates of Hispanic Ministries from 30 parishes came together in prayer and reflection to choose the five most important pastoral priorities that they think the Diocese should address in serving the needs of its ever-growing Hispanic and Latino population.

Bishop Serratelli visited St. Philip the Apostle Prep in Clifton on Monday morning to offer a heartfelt “welcome home” to its administration, faculty and students. There was a sense of overwhelming joy that day, the first back in their fully-restored classrooms since a fire on Jan. 11 destroyed a section of the building and caused smoke damage in other parts of it. The damage also forced the students to be relocated to two other facilities in the Diocese — Mary Help of Christians Academy, North Haledon, and the John Paul II Pastoral Center, also in Clifton — for 11 weeks, during the clean-up and restoration of the classrooms and other rooms in the building.

Following the revelation that millions of Facebook users’ personal data had been compromised, protecting their privacy was front and center before Congress last week. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder, chairman and CEO was grilled for two days by members of Congress on how to solve his global social media platform’s innumerable failures in this regard.

Bishop Serratelli administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 40 candidates at the 5 p.m. vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) on Saturday, April 7 at St. Mary Parish in Denville during a pastoral visit. Concelebrants of the Mass included Father Martin Glynn, St. Mary’s pastor, and Father Richard Tartaglia, parochial vicar. Assisting was Deacon Jim Rizos.

Bishop Serratelli installed Father Michael Rodak as pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Hardyston on April 8, Divine Mercy Sunday, during the 11:30 a.m. Mass. The Bishop served as main celebrant and homilist for the liturgy. Father Rodak and Father Kevin Corcoran, diocesan vice chancellor and the Bishop’s priest-secretary, concelebrated the Mass. Afterward, parishioners attended a reception that was held for Father Rodak.

Bishop Serratelli installed 15 candidates, who have been studying to become permanent deacons in the Diocese for the past three years, to the Ministry of Reader, during the Rite of the Institution of Lectors at a Mass on April 6 in St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Parsippany. The installation of these men as readers marks the next step in their continuing formation as they advance closer to their anticipated ordination as permanent deacons of the Diocese in 2020.

Choirs and ensembles from several of the communities of religious sisters that serve the Paterson Diocese displayed their considerable musical talents with a varied and multicultural program, during “Our Sisters in Concert” on April 8, Divine Mercy Sunday, in St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Paterson. Among the more than 300 people, who attended the 3 p.m. concert was Bishop Serratelli, who delivered remarks following the concert.

In marking National Child Abuse Prevention Month during April, the Diocese’s Office of Child Protection and Youth Protection has announced the implementation of its new website for Virtus Online and Fastrax Select, along with other child protection initiatives. A service of Selection.com, it simplified the registration and verification process of criminal background checks for the more than 20,000 clergy, employees and volunteers, who minister, work or serve in parishes, schools and agencies of the Diocese. Since its implementation was completed in February, the Diocese has registered more than 300 new volunteers and employees with “relatively few issues.”

Jennifer Nelson and Faith Rose enjoyed the Bible study offered by St. Cecilia and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parishes in Rockaway on Thursday mornings, but for the busy moms who home school their children, it was tough getting there during the week. “It’s so hard to have that quiet time when you’re a mom or a caregiver,” said Nelson, who has five children ranging in ages from 14 months to 11 years old.

On Palm Sunday, Confirmation candidates of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) Parish in Swartswood heard from teens like them, who had experienced attempts to muffle their religious expression in public school. Those stories were part of a short video they watched that delivers an eye-opening message: that public schools are not “God-free” zones and that students and teachers have the right to express their faith, as protected by the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Department of Education guidelines.

This year, the Church is marking the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical “Humanae Vitae.” On July 25, 1968 Pope Paul VI promulgated his prophetic encyclical letter courageously reaffirming the Church’s constant teaching about the joyful duty of married couples to collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator in the creation of new human life.

Bishop Serratelli served as main celebrant and homilist of Mass in Spanish at 1 p.m. on Easter Sunday, April 1 in St. Paul Church in Clifton. Easter, the chief feast of the Church’s ecclesiastical year, commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Concelebrants of the Mass were Father Leonardo Jaramillo, St. Paul’s pastor, and Father Kevin Corcoran, diocesan vice chancellor and the Bishop’s priest secretary.

Bishop Serratelli presided at the Easter Vigil Mass in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on Holy Saturday, March 31. This is the night that “shall be as bright as day” as proclaimed by the Exsultet, an ancient church hymn, as the Church joyfully anticipates Christ’s Resurrection.

Parishioners of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson re-enacted the Passion of Christ on March 30, Good Friday. The annual tradition in the city included a procession through the streets of Paterson which concluded at the Bishop Frank J. Rodimer Center next to the cathedral on Grand Street.

Bishop Serratelli presided at the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, March 30, at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. The solemn service begins with the Liturgy of the Word, including the account of the Passion and Death of Jesus from the Gospel of John. The Veneration of the Cross, an ancient practice that allows each person to touch or kiss the Cross, the instrument of torture that leads to salvation, followed.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening, March 29, in the Cathe­dral of St. John in Paterson. The Mass commemorates the institution of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders by Jesus Christ.

St. Paul Parish and the impoverished town its serves, Nanpol — home to a vibrant Catholic faith community — seemed overdue for a physical rebirth by last year. Nestled in the mountains of northwest Haiti, it has a 60-year-old church that had been suffering from the ill effects of time and weather. The pump for its only well stopped working, leaving residents without well water. A lack of funds halted construction of its rectory, which consisted of only a concrete slab.

As Holy Week began, there was a major court decision that proved to be an important victory for our religious freedoms. The decision by the U.S. District Court dealt a final, crushing blow to Obamacare’s Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, which had forced Catholic non-profits to provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization in their health care packages to their employees.