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.