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Bishop Serratelli stepping down from Paterson Diocese, Brooklyn priest named as successor
By Abbott Koloff And Alex Nussbaum
A Brooklyn priest set to become the Diocese of Paterson's new bishop said Wednesday that he wants to reach out to people who feel estranged from the church and that he is eager to get started in his new job — though the coronavirus pandemic has pushed back his installation indefinitely. Bishop-elect Kevin Sweeney was introduced during a video press conference Wednesday morning after the Vatican announced that it had accepted the resignation of the current bishop, Arthur J. Serratelli, who at 75 had reached the age of retirement. Pope Francis has been promoting priests who reflect his views to positions of power in the church. Asked for his own thoughts on reaching out to gay Catholics and allowing Communion for people who have been divorced or don't accept all of the church's teachings, Sweeney, 51, didn't offer specifics. But he laid out a broad desire for a welcoming church. "I certainly want to reach out in Paterson to those who feel alienated from the church in any way," he said, adding that Francis' teachings "have been a blessing for our church." The pope, he said, has reached out to people "deserving of dignity." Sweeney grew up in Queens and has been pastor of St. Michael Parish in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, for the past decade. He will become the eighth bishop of the Paterson Diocese, which encompasses Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties, an area with an estimated 430,000 Catholics. The date of Sweeney’s ordination has yet to be scheduled because of the pandemic, but he said he may move into the Paterson Diocese sooner so that he can begin making connections here. "I want to be there now," he said. Serratelli praised Sweeney in a video message for his "pastoral zeal, his enthusiasm, his care and outreach to the poor, his good counsel and his good sense of humor." Sweeney learned that he would be promoted to bishop two weeks ago in a call from a Vatican representative in the U.S. He said he asked for a day to think it over — because he heard that others offered similar promotions had been allowed some time to decide. He called back the next day, March 31, to accept. Serratelli, who led the diocese for 16 years, will serve as an apostolic administrator of the diocese until Sweeney takes over. The move comes as priests across the region have been celebrating Mass virtually, streaming services while dealing with the devastating effects of the virus on parishioners. Sweeney said about a dozen members of his current parish have died as a result of complications from COVID-19, and perhaps more he doesn't know about. He said he prayed over the phone on Tuesday with family members who were at a funeral home. "We didn't have a class on that in the seminary," he said. Services at his church have been watched online by hundreds of people, he said, calling the experience of being a pastor at such a time "powerful." Good Friday services made him reflect on the "isolation of Jesus" and the pain of Mary "walking away from the cross." The bishop-elect said he had been moved by reports of Paterson emergency workers and firefighters responding to calls during the pandemic, calling it "truly inspiring" and adding that he wanted "to thank them for their service." "I look forward to the opportunity to be able to meet them in person," he said. Asked about calls for religious organizations to allow people back into the pews, he said Catholics "as good citizens" should heed leaders who have called for social distancing as the virus continues to take its toll. "That doesn't seem to be the best argument to have at this time," he said of opening church doors again, while acknowledging, "We all have the desire to be in church." His ordination as bishop will take place after he and other church officials "see what it's like to get back into church," he said. Such ceremonies typically would be held at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. Serratelli took over the diocese after Bishop Frank Rodimer's retirement in 2004 — a time of turmoil for the church in the aftermath of a child sex abuse scandal related to allegations of some church leaders covering up wrongdoing by priests. Serratelli gained a reputation for upholding traditional Catholic values and called on those who didn't believe in all of the church's teachings to refrain from receiving Communion. That mirrored the leadership of former Archbishop John Myers in the Newark Archdiocese, where Serratelli served before moving to Paterson. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who was selected by Francis to take over from Myers in Newark, has made a point to reach out to people who have been on the margins of the church community, holding a meeting with gay Catholics shortly after he was installed. Sweeney grew up in Queens, the son of parents who came from Ireland. He graduated in 1992 from St. John's University in New York, where he majored in philosophy. He received a master's degree in divinity from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, Long Island, in 1997, the year he was ordained as a priest. He worked at two Queens parishes — St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish in Jamaica and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Corona — before being named the Brooklyn Diocese vocation director in charge of recruiting priests in 2004. Sweeney said he learned to speak Spanish because some services in his prior parishes had been conducted in that language. He was named pastor of St. Michael in 2010. Contact: koloff@northjersey.com
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