Free Republic

The bishop of the Paterson Diocese has asked priests in Morris County to contact organizers of the Saint Patrick's Day parade in Morristown and express their concerns that a group that supports abortion rights plans to participate. In a letter dated Feb. 13, Bishop Arthur Serratelli wrote that the National Organization for Women's support for "abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women ... stands against the teachings of the Church and the Catholic values that St. Patrick in his life as a missionary and bishop worked tirelessly to promote." The county chapter of NOW has marched in the...

Politics And Logic Undoubtedly one of the most interesting figures to grace the stage of human thought was the 5th century philosopher Socrates.  Even when on trial for his life, he refused to abandon the pursuit of truth.  In defending himself before his accusers, Socrates says, "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Plato, Apology, 38a).  Socrates argues that, for human life to have its proper value, there must be public discussion of the issues of life and virtue as well.  Our nation is just hours away from another presidential election.  Public discussion is intense. The pundits and the...

More than 1,000 Teens, the Bishop and the Eucharist Focus on Eucharist is 'historic day' for diocese at its largest gathering of youthMORRISTOWN - Young people from parishes and Catholic high schools from every corner of the diocese - more than 1,000 - came to Delbarton School here May 1to be with Bishop Serratelli for a Day on the Eucharist, guided by the theme "Made Right in God's Sight by Faith." Activities for the day, which was hailed as  the largest gathering of youth in the diocese's history, were designed to awaken thee teens' faith and inspire them to examine...

Across the oceans and the tides of time, at the heart of ancient Rome, there once stood a sports arena on the Vatican hill. In the year 37 A.D., the Emperor Caligula took an obelisk from Alexandria in Egypt and placed it on this spot. This stone rising 83 feet high and weighing 331 tons stood as a symbol of Roman power and the vast kingdom under Caesar. But, like every other kingdom, that great empire died with the death of the last Caesar. Only once did a kingdom begin at the death of its king. At the death of...

Writer banned from speaking at retreat Diocese of Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli has banned a writer who supports abortion rights and female ordination from speaking to a lay Catholic group on church property. Angela Bonavoglia , a self-de­scribed "itinerant Catholic," was scheduled to speak tonight to a lo­cal branch of the lay group Voice of the Faithful at the Jesuit Loyola Retreat in Morristown. But at the last minute, the diocese asked the Jesuits there to "disinvite" Bonavoglia, saying that her views oppose church doctrine, according to a diocesan spokeswoman. The ban marks the first time a Paterson bishop...

Listed below is thread on Angela Bonavoglia. She will be speaking at the Loyola Retreat House, Morristown, NJ,  on Wednesday night, May 11, 2005, which is being sponsored by the Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), an apostate Marxist organization run by laypersons who don't like the traditional church. She is a pro-abortion feminist who wants a "new Catholic church" !   Angela's WebsiteContact Angela Here  The Local Catholic Bishop, Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, S.T.D., S.S.L., D.D;  needs to know what is going on in his diocese by religious orders who don't necessarily report to the local ordinary.Here is a story, written by...

Whose Moral Values?  Deeper Issues Just days after the presidential election, the press reported a change the Texas Board of Education made in a high school text.  When speaking of marriage, the textbook would now speak of marriage not as a union of partners but as a union of man and woman.  Not a startling definition in light of the common tradition of humanity stretching far back beyond the pages of Genesis.  Yet what is disconcerting is the remark reported of a board member who refused to endorse the change.  She labeled the change "political agenda."  She argued that the...

Vatican Announces New Leader For Paterson NJ Diocese For the last quarter century, Bishop Frank Rodimer has been the head of the Paterson Diocese. He has been a popular bishop. However, there have been some recent sex abuse scandals involving priests. Today, he will be replaced. The Paterson Diocese serves 377,000 Catholics in Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties. For 26 years, it has been run by Bishop Frank Rodimer. But today, he is expected to be replaced by Arthur Serratelli, currently Vicar General, the number two position, in the Newark Archdiocese. The 60-year old Serratelli is highly regarded as smart,...

PATERSON, N.J. -- The Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli, a Newark native with a command of Spanish and a preference for conciliation over confrontation, was named the seventh bishop of Paterson on Tuesday by Pope John Paul II. The pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, 76, who had passed the Vatican's mandatory retirement age for bishops more than a year ago. Serratelli, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Newark, where he served as vicar general, did not announce any sweeping reforms, saying he wants to listen and learn from the diocese's 111 parishes. But at a...