News - April 2020 RSS Feed

As the nation continues to battle the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Bishop James F. Checchio, the spiritual leader of the Diocese of Metuchen, will turn to Mary, Mother of the Church in prayer on May 1, joining the U.S. and Canadian bishops all seeking her protection and help.

I write to you with great hope and confidence that God is close to us in these very difficult days. We must never doubt that our daily concerns are His concerns too. And no one knows our needs better than Jesus’ own mother, Mary. 

For many in the Diocese of Metuchen, Easter was different this year, but for some, the day was business as usual. Staff of the Ozanam Inn, a men’s shelter in New Brunswick, operated by Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, served dinner to their 40 residents who would otherwise be homeless, much like they do every day.

As Catholics around the world entered into Holy Week on Palm Sunday with the commemoration of Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem, Catholics in the Diocese of Metuchen, unable to be physically present together in their local parishes due to social distancing, participated in livestreamed Masses from their own homes.

We have been alerted once again that many parishioners of the Diocese have been targeted by fraudsters and it’s not just happening in New Jersey. The Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida and others also have reported the scam and the Texas attorney general issued a consumer alert about it. The alert indicates that the scammers are probably using information found on church websites or in online parish bulletins to trick parish members into parting with their cash.