News - April 2016 RSS Feed

America has always been a light to the world – a land of hope, freedom and prosperity. So why should we be surprised that poor neighbors, and persecuted refugees would want to come to America?

For well over a century, the Catholic Church in New Jersey has provided adoption services.  Throughout all those years, the Church promised to honor the privacy of birth parents and adoptees.  That promise of privacy also was assured by law and affirmed by the State Superior Court.

Thank you Doctor Conaway and members of the Committee for the opportunity to testify before you in opposition to Assembly Bill 3328 which we think has serious flaws.  Let me focus on just two.

On June 18, 2015, Pope Francis issued Laudato Si' - On Care for Our Common Home. Speaking as a pastor, Pope Francis described the environmental challenges facing the world as urgent as he called on all people to accept their shared responsibility for others and their moral obligation to help shape the future of our planet. In the encyclical, Pope Francis connects care for the earth with care of one another, especially the poor.

A Statement by Deacon Patrick Brannigan, Executive Director, New Jersey Catholic Conference For many months, Jesus has been walking across our border with Mexico but too few of us are recognizing Him in the faces of children fleeing violence, persecution and hunger – fleeing homelands where there are more gang members than police. Catholic bishops across the nation have called the plight of these children a test of the moral character of our nation – a test that we must not fail. Pope Francis has said that we face a humanitarian emergency that requires us to welcome and protect these children.

Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski says the Diocese “will do its best to welcome the stranger, with compassion and mercy, in unity with the call of our Holy Father and the US Bishops.”  

On Tuesday, March 8, Pope Francis appointed Msgr. James F. Checchio, a priest of the Diocese of Camden and the former rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, as the fifth Bishop of Metuchen. Bishop-elect Checchio will be ordained a bishop and installed formally in the Diocese of Metuchen on May 3, 2016. Until then, Bishop Bootkoski, who has been the Bishop of Metuchen since 2002, will oversee the diocese. A press conference introducing Bishop-elect Checchio was held at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway, at 11 a.m., Eastern Time.