PATERSON (NJ)
Star-Ledger
Friday, July 08, 2005
BY JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff
Bishop Arthur Serratelli, installed as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson a year ago, put his personal stamp on his administration yesterday by replacing two longtime top church officials.
Naming a new vicar general, the highest-ranking diocese position after bishop, Serratelli replaced Monsignor Herbert Tillyer, a 31-year veteran administrator, with Monsignor James Mahoney, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham.
Serratelli also replaced Monsignor John Hart, who had been chancellor of the diocese since 1998, with Sister Mary Edward Spohrer, the provincial of the North American Eastern Province of the Sisters of Christian Charity.
Tillyer and Hart had served under Bishop Frank Rodimer, Serratelli's predecessor for 27 years. Among their other duties, they helped manage the diocese's response to the clergy sex abuse scandal. In a prepared statement, Serratelli praised their work yesterday.
"Both Monsignor Tillyer and Monsignor Hart served during an especially difficult time over the past several years in working with the many aspects of clerical sexual abuse of children," Serratelli wrote. "Few will ever know the full extent of their work and their great concern for all the victims as well as the rights of those accused."