Bishop Serratelli was main celebrant at a Mass to mark the 80th anniversary of St. John Kanty Parish in Clifton Nov. 29, which was also the First Sunday of Advent. The Mass was concelebrated by the Conventual Franciscan priests, who have administered the parish since its was raised to parish status in 1935.

The Paterson Federation Knights of Columbus held their annual “Pride in Our Priests” dinner at the Hanover Manor here Nov. 24. Tradi­tionally, every November, the Paterson Federation encourages all its member councils in the diocese to invite local priests from their parishes to attend the dinner held in their honor as a way of thanking priests for their service to the Church, the diocese, their parish and the community.

Major superiors of religious orders serving the Paterson Diocese met with Bishop Serratelli at their annual meeting in the St. John Paul II Center in Clifton Nov. 24. Sister of Christian Charity Joan Daniel Healy, the Diocese’s chancellor/delegate for religious, coordinated the meeting and the agenda, which included the collaborative effort made by religious to successfully create the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women in Passaic; reaching out to immigrants; and updates about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) audit of the Diocese’s child protection program and the ongoing restoration project at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson.

As the Paterson Diocese prepares for the opening of the universal Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy on Tuesday, Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard in Madison and a some parishes already have started to get ready by scheduling a diverse array of spiritual and faith-formation events that highlight God’s forgiveness throughout this Holy Year.

CLIFTON  Amid the great anticipation sweeping through the universal Church, Bishop Serratelli will celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy — “a special time of grace” that “turns our minds and hearts to God, who is waiting with open arms to embrace us with His love” — in the Paterson Diocese with a Mass on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Philip the Apostle Church in Clifton.

In 1988, bishops of the United States launched the Retirement Fund for Religious (RFR) to address the significant lack of retirement funding for sisters, brothers and priests in religious orders.