Diocesan Media & Editorial Style Standards

Welcome to the official media and editorial style guide for the Diocese of Paterson. This resource serves as the definitive reference for ensuring a unified, professional, and reverent voice across all our communication platforms—whether you are reporting for The Beacon, writing social media posts, updating the diocesan or a parish website, or designing digital flyers and sliders. 

To maintain clarity and consistency, our house style is built upon the foundation of AP Style, integrated with the specialized ecclesiastical standards of the OSV (Our Sunday Visitor) stylebook. 

By adhering to these guidelines, we ensure that our outward-facing materials reflect both the excellence of our professional standards and the sacred dignity of our mission within the Church.

The following glossary outlines frequently used terms and their proper styling within the Diocese of Paterson. For more, consult the style guides mentioned above or contact the Communications Office. 

Bishop
In the teaching of the Catholic and Orthodox churches and others that have an episcopal or hierarchical form of government, bishop is the highest order of ordained ministry, or the fullness of the ordained priesthood.

Capitalize when used as a formal title before a name. Lowercase in other uses. When bishop is used as a formal title before a name, it is used before the name on all references.

When it is used as a formal title and accompanied by another modifier:
Capitalize auxiliary or coadjutor. In the Episcopal Church, also capitalize suffragan or assistant. Capitalize presiding when used as part of the title of the chief bishop of a denomination in a nation. All these modifiers are part of the formal title. On second reference the modifier should not be repeated as part of the formal title before a name. See auxiliary; coadjutor; and Episcopal Church.
Lowercase other modifiers, such as retired or -designate. These are merely descriptive, not part of the formal title.

In the Catholic Church, the proper term for the chief bishop of a diocese is diocesan bishop or residential bishop, not ordinary. 

Church
Uppercase Church when it is used in an institutional or general theological sense: Father Smith said the Church will not ordain women. The Church is the people of God.

Also capitalize when it is used as part of the formal name of a building, a congregation or a denomination. Holy Redeemer Church, the United Methodist Church.

Lowercase in plural uses when two formal names are combined: Trinity Lutheran and Holy Redeemer churches, the Catholic and Methodist churches, Orthodox churches.

In references to local Catholic entities, generally use church for the building, parish for the organization and its people: The roof of St. Odilia Church was destroyed by a tornado. Members of St. Odilia Parish raised the money for a new roof in two days. It is also correct, however, to use church as a synonym for parish in such contexts: the members of St. Odilia Church.

Use a possessive form (for example: St. Mary’s Church) in a full name only if it is officially in the formal name. For names of Catholic churches in the United States, consult the Kenedy directory.

See parish and saint.

Father
Use Father (not the Rev.) as the formal title before the name of Catholic and Orthodox priests in all references, unless they have a religious title that takes precedence, such as Msgr. 

Never abbreviate Father. Use the Rev. for Anglican or Episcopal priests to avoid problems with second reference to female priests. 

Do not use Father alone or the father to refer to a priest.
WRONG: He said Father told him so. The father has a new parish.
RIGHT: He said Father Smith told him so. The priest has a new parish.

Parish
In Catholic usage, most parishes are territorial: Their membership consists of Catholics within the parish’s geographic boundaries.

Some parishes are formed on a different basis. A national or ethnic parish may be established to care for people of a particular nationality. A parish established for the faculty and students of an educational institution may be called a campus or university parish.

The canonical head of a parish is a pastor. See that entry. If a parish has no pastor or is served by a nonresident pastor, it may be governed in many matters by an administrator. 

Capitalize as part of a formal name: St. Anne Parish, Resurrection Parish. Lowercase in other uses. Generally it is preferable to use parish when referring to the organization or congregation, reserving church for the building used for worship. See church.

For proper use of the possessive form when a parish is named after a saint, see saint.

Parish may be used to designate a local organization or its membership in Orthodox, Old Catholic and Anglican bodies. Many Protestant denominations prefer to use congregation.

In Louisiana, parish is also used as a term for a civil division, corresponding to a county in other states. For readers outside Louisiana explain the civil meaning when using parish in this sense.

Priest
Father John L. Smith; Father Smith; the priest. Never abbreviate Father. Do not use Father alone without the last name. Identify the religious community of an order priest in the first reference, if possible: Jesuit Father John L. Smith, Father Smith, the priest, the Jesuit. If the name of the religious order is more than one or two words, however, give the name of the order after the name or somewhere else high in the story: Father Tullio Favali, a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. 

Saint
Abbreviate as St. in proper names of saints and the places and institutions named after them: St. Patrick, St. Anne Church, St. Jude League, St. Louis (the city), St. Croix River.

Exceptions: Spell out Saint for the city of Saint John in New Brunswick, Canada, to help distinguish it from St. John’s, Newfoundland. Use the abbreviation Ste. in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

For use of alternate titles before the name of a saint, see canonization.

The standard plural form of the abbreviation is Sts.: Sts. Peter and Paul died in Rome. Do not use Ss. or SS.

When an institution or organization has a saint’s name as part of its formal name, use the possessive form only if that is the institution’s or organization’s official form of usage. For Catholic institutions in the United States, consult the Kenedy directory. In shortened references a possessive form is acceptable even if it is not used in the formal name: St. Mary Church, the people at St. Mary’s; St. Joseph Hospital, the staff of St. Joseph’s. See church and parish.

Sister
Capitalize when used as a title before the name of a woman religious or as part of the name of a religious order: Sister Mary Agnes Jones, a Sister of Mercy, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Always identify a woman religious by the community to which she belongs.

Lowercase sister when it stands alone: the sister, a group of sisters. Except in direct quotes do not use it in the singular without an article, as if it were a substitute for a proper name: Sister Mary Agnes Jones said or the sister said or the nun said, NOT: Sister said.

If it is not clear from the context whether sister refers to a woman religious or a female sibling, use more specific forms of reference such as nun, woman religious, religious sister and blood sister.

Use the religious and family name on first reference and identify by religious community: Sacred Heart Sister Jane M. Jones; Dominican Sister Regina C. Smith. On second reference, use the last name: Sister Jones, Sister Smith (or, if she prefers, Sister Jane, Sister Regina). Never abbreviate Sister. Do not use Sister alone without the first or last name. If the name of the religious order is more than one or two words, however, give the name of the order after the name or somewhere else high in the story. Sister Jean R. Abbott, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.