Bishop Charles Patrick Crawford of New Jersey Marks Three Decades of Priestly Ministry

Our prayers and best wishes go out today to Bishop Charles Patrick Crawford of the Old Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, as he commemorates his 30th Anniversary of Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood. His Excellency was ordained on May 31, 1975 at St. Jude's ORCC in Brick Township, NJ, by the late Archbishop Joseph P. Napurano.

I first met the good Bishop shortly after his ordination. In 1975 I was an ORCC seminarian and he became one of my instructors. Later, after I was tonsured a cleric, he was elevated a monsignor and named Vicar General of the ORCC English Rite Archdiocese of New Jersey. When Archbishop Napurano suddenly vacated his Diocese six years later, Msgr. Charles Patrick Crawford was soon consecrated as the ORCC Tridentine Rite Bishop for New Jersey.

His Excellency was consecrated a Bishop on May 17, 1981 by Archbishop Leonard Curreri and his two co-consecrators in Paterson, NJ. Myself and several other clergy immediately incardinated into his newly erected Diocese. Over the course of those years I was raised to the remaining Minor Orders and Major Orders and ordained to the Holy Diaconate at his hands in 1984. While assigned to his parish, I also served as his diocesan chancellor before my transfer to Pennsylvania where I was ordained a priest in 1990.

All tributes and festivities planned for this week have been canceled because of the recent death of his mother who lived with the Bishop all of his life. The late Mrs. Mary Kelly Crawford reposed on March 21st - just two days shy of her 87th birthday. She became ill on the Feast of St. Patrick (their Diocesan Feast Day) and went home to our Lord four days later during Holy Week. Her beloved son was then priviledged to give her Extreme Unction (Last Rites) and to celebrate her Requiem Funeral Mass.

Therefore, in lieu of other plans (gratulatory and condolence messages can be e-mailed to him instead) the bereaved Bishop will celebrate a private Mass of Thanksgiving today in his oratory chapel at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Paterson, NJ. We join with His Excellency in thanking God for giving us a loving, dedicated mother who nurtured his vocation and gave The Church a fervent Traditional Catholic priest - and through His Holy Office: other clergy and faithful. (This is why Motherhood is the HIGHEST role in The Church and surpasses even the Pontificate.)

When Christ called His Apostles, He said to each one of them: "Follow Me!" (Matt. 4:19; 9:9; Mark 1:17; 2:14; Luke 5:27; John 1:43; 21:19). The good Bishop has been doing just that ever since his youth... AD MULTOS ANNOS, Bishop Charles Patrick!

The priest continues the work
of redemption on earth…
The Priesthood is the Love
of the Heart of Jesus.
(— The Curé of Ars)

The clergy and parishioners of
The Diocese of New Jersey
and the Northeast Province
Congratulate Bishop Crawford on his
30 Years of dedicated Priesthood.

With Thankful Remembrances

On this national day of recollection we must all remember the reasons why we observe this solemn Memorial Day. It can only become a festival for us if it is to celebrate the freedoms earned for all of by their military sacrifice of blood. Of our fallen soldiers - let us recall their selfless idealism, their hopes, their dreams, their valor. Let them never be forgotten -- nor taken for granted.

And in that spirit let us be thankful that, "....Two terrorist regimes are gone forever, freedom is on the march and America is more secure..." President Bush said that today at Arlington National Cemetery (of the end of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq.) More than 1,650 soldiers have given their lives for that cause.

I was named for a US Army fighter pilot who was killed in action during WWII. My fallen uncle whom I never met was the heroic Capt. Steve Brych who was shot down over Europe. So the tributes of this and every Memorial Day have a special poignancy for me.