Paterson Diocese Installs Brooklyn Priest As New Bishop

By Abbott Koloff and Deena Yellin
NorthJersey.com
July 1, 2020

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2020/07/01/paterson-diocese-installs-brooklyn-priest-kevin-sweeney-new-bishop/5352911002/

Bishop Kevin Sweeney emphasized a strong connection to the immigrant community and the importance of his family as he took over Wednesday as the leader of the Paterson Diocese in a ceremony held before a relatively small group of people amid the coronavirus pandemic.

His installation and ordination as bishop took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson three months after his promotion was announced, postponed because of the spread of COVID-19. About 100 people attended the invitation-only event, most wearing masks and sitting far apart to practice social distancing.

Sweeney, who had been working as a Catholic priest in Brooklyn, noted that a history of the Paterson Diocese mentioned that 1,400 people packed the cathedral for the installation of Bishop Frank Rodimer in 1978.

"Not today — we know that can't be," he said, drawing some laughter, adding that perhaps future histories written about the occasion would note that many people were able to watch the ceremony on a livestream broadcast on a number of internet sites.


The event had drawn some criticism from advocates for victims of sex abuse, because one of the featured celebrants was a Brooklyn bishop who is the subject of two abuse allegations. The bishop, Nicholas DiMarzio, has denied the allegations.

Sweeney, 51, 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.

He is taking over from Bishop Arthur Serratelli, who led the diocese for 16 years after 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, 75, is stepping down after reaching the church's mandatory age of retirement.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Newark's archbishop, and Serratelli participated in the ceremony, which was attended by numerous Paterson officials, including Mayor Andre Sayegh.

Sweeney, who spoke in Spanish for part of his homily, quoted Rodimer from when he was installed as bishop, saying he had expressed an enduring sentiment — a call for "a love that knows no bias but is Catholic, so it embraces all."

Sweeney praised Tobin for his work helping immigrants — a nod to the large immigrant population in Paterson and the larger Paterson diocese. He noted that the cardinal provided a "bright moment" several years ago during a challenging time for the community by accompanying a grandfather to an immigration hearing. Sweeney said it showed the man that the "church was with him."

The new bishop also complimented his predecessor, Serratelli, saying he'd been welcomed with open arms in his move to Paterson.

Sweeney emphasized the importance of embracing a diverse group of people in the Paterson Diocese and working with "brothers and sisters of all faiths." He also talked fondly about a high school mentor who had been arrested for civil disobedience during an anti-abortion protest.

He embraced DiMarzio as one of his mentors, saying the bishop has been the "shepherd" of the Brooklyn Diocese and that "we thank you and love you." In 2004, DiMarzio elevated Sweeney to director of vocations in the Brooklyn Diocese, a position that oversees the recruitment of priests.

Sweeney said he was on retreat with DiMarzio last month and that the bishop "encouraged me to think and pray about what I would say at this moment."

He said he followed that advice, opening his homily by quoting from St. Paul and St. John, discussing the importance of faith, hope and love. He talked about the importance of various teachers and of his family. He called himself the "son of immigrants" who had come to the U.S. from County Mayo in Ireland.

"I know in heaven my mom is saying, 'That's my son,' and I know my dad is right with her," the new bishop said.


Bob Hoatson, a victims' advocate and former priest, protested by himself outside the cathedral, calling for DiMarzio to be removed from ministry while the allegations of sexual abuse are being investigated.

Two men have accused DiMarzio of abusing them as children when the bishop was a priest in Jersey City. Mitchell Garabedian, their attorney, has said he plans to file lawsuits on behalf of the men — Mark Matzek and Samier Tadros.

In an emailed statement, Garabedian on Wednesday criticized Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the New York Archdiocese for allowing DiMarzio to continue to work, saying it shows that the cardinal "prefers to just ignore clergy sexual abuse victims when he so chooses."

Mark Crawford, the head of the New Jersey chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, said the church has routinely removed lower-ranking clerics while allegations of abuse are investigated.

"That apparently doesn't apply to bishops," Crawford said. "I can't fathom why they would let him continue in ministry without the resolution of those two allegations."

The first of the two allegations against DiMarzio was made public last year.

At the time, DiMarzio was conducting an investigation into the handling of child sex abuse allegations by the leadership of the Buffalo Diocese. Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone stepped down shortly after DiMarzio submitted his report to the Vatican.


When he was introduced during a video press conference in early April, Sweeney laid out a broad desire for a welcoming church.

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"I certainly want to reach out in Paterson to those who feel alienated from the church in any way," he said, adding that Pope Francis' teachings "have been a blessing for our church." The pope, he said, has reached out to people "deserving of dignity."

Pope Francis has been promoting priests who reflect his views to positions of power in the church.

Tobin, who was selected by the pope to take over from Archbishop John Myers in the Newark Archdiocese, 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 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 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 vocations director by DiMarzio 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.

Abbott Koloff is an investigative reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to his watchdog work that safeguards our communities and democracy, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: koloff@northjersey.com Twitter: @abbottkoloff