Saints Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church

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.