Bishop Serratelli, who regards our parish highly and values the faith and joy that have always been evident here at Notre Dame, has assigned a worthy successor to Father Jude as our new pastor: Father Patrick (“Paddy”) O’Donovan. Father Paddy has served the Church of Christ the King in New Vernon for the past nineteen years, where he has been loved and treasured by his parish family. He will be missed by his flock as much as Father Jude will be missed by us.

Fr. Paddy was ordained in Ireland in 1972. His service to our diocese has included the parishes of St. Joseph’s in Newton and St. Patrick’s in Chatham, as well as pastoral service to both Drew University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. In 1996, Father Paddy was installed by Bishop Rodimer as Pastor of Church of Christ the King, where he has spiritually guided that faith community until the present.

Providentially for us, Father Paddy is an ardent believer in evangelization! He reminds his parishioners at Christ the King of the value of Pope Francis’s message that sitting in the pews is no longer enough: we must answer the gospel call to live our faith and act on our beliefs by spreading the good news to everyone we encounter. This is closely aligned with our own parish mission statement, which appears in our bulletin every week at the top of page two.

Father Paddy will feel blessed in joining our Notre Dame family, where he will be warmly welcomed and supported in whatever ways are most helpful and needed. He looks forward to this new journey, and to leading us ever closer to Christ in our next exciting phase of spiritual growth.

May God bless us all!