English soon won't be the only language spoken at a Slovak church on Bayonne's east side. Sometime this summer, leaders of the Syriac Catholic Diocese of Our Lady of Deliverance, Eastern Rite, will establish their headquarters, residence, and sanctuary at St. Joseph's Church, Avenue E and 25th Street.

Members of the Our Lady of Deliverance Diocese, typically of Middle Eastern descent, owe their allegiance to Rome. But their priests - who come predominantly from Syria and Iraq - recite the Mass in Aramaic.

The Rev. ST Sutton, chancellor of the Syriac Diocese, said he'll be joining Bishop Joseph Younan in residence at St. Joseph's - at the invitation of the Archbishop of Newark, the Most Rev. John Joseph Myers, and the Rev. Gerard Lombardo, pastor of the linked St. Joseph's and St. Michael's Churches.

"I'm 'bi-ritual' so I've been helping Father Lombardo celebrate the Mass in English on Saturdays for the past few months," Sutton said. "But starting Aug. 3, we'll take the 12 noon slot for celebrating Sunday Mass in Aramaic."

St. Joseph's will continue to have its Masses at 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays and at 8 and 10 a.m. on Sundays.

"It's going to be wonderful and dynamic for the community to have both the Eastern and Western Rites in the same church," said Lombardo, adding St. Joseph's will be elevated to a Cathedral, probably this fall.

Our Lady of Deliverance Diocese, formed in 1995, has about 75,000 members spread among six parishes throughout North America, three in Canada, and four missions, Sutton said.

Before this move to Bayonne, the diocese was located in Newark, and then in Union City for 15 years.

The Bayonne parish will have about 80 families, mostly of Lebanese descent, who live within a 35-mile radius of Bayonne, Sutton said.

By Ronald Leir
www.nj.com