Vision Statement
Our vision for CFCS is for it to be recognized by all as a place that people can call or go to for immediate relief and as needed, to acquire the capabilities to pull themselves out of poverty; that CFCS be an effective voice for justice and just social structures; and the CFCS be an effective convener of other persons to assist in the delivery of services as well as to advocate for justice. We envision that our efforts will be part of the brick and mortar as we labor with others to build what the prophet Isaiah has called the "City of God," (9:1-7). We will work to "raise up the foundations of many generations; to be called the repairer of the breach; the restorer of streets to dwell in," (Isaiah 58:12). In so doing we seek to improve the level of civic, social and economic life for those in our immediate community, always with a Preferential Option for the Poor; and we will work to do the same on a global level by joining with others who share similar values.

Tracing Our Roots

In 1833 in Paris, a French layman, Frederic Ozanam (1813-1853), founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society for the alleviation of the poor and marginalized. Ozanam, who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in August 1997 at World Youth Day, saw the Society as a means of addressing the ills brought on by the growing industrialization of society with personal charity.

Just four years after Ozanam’s death, the first St. Vincent de Paul Society in New Jersey was organized in Jersey City to assist poor families and orphans. With the encouragement of Newark’s first Bishop, James Roosevelt Bayley, the Society rapidly spread to many parishes in the State. These Parish Societies represent the earliest organized effort at charity work under Catholic auspices in New Jersey.

In Paterson, Dean William McNulty, during his long tenure at St. John’s Parish (1863-1922), greatly enhanced the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society with a spate of charitable institutions which both extended and professionalized Catholic charity. The list of charitable institutions of the McNulty era included: St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum in Totowa (1867), St. Joseph’s Hospital (1867), St. Frances Home for Working Girls (1897), St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged (1901), and Mount St. Joseph’s Home for Boys (1911).

The St. Vincent de Paul Societies were organized into a central council in 1902 by Newark Bishop John J. O’Connor. The following year the Catholic Children’s Aid Association was founded and began placing children in foster homes for care and possible adoption. In 1925 Bishop O’Connor reorganized the Diocese’s charitable efforts, establishing Associated Catholic Charities. Under this new Agency, the old CCAA was absorbed as the Children’s Department, and a Family Department was created to provide counseling for families in trouble.

On December 9, 1937, Pope Pius XI separated the three northwestern New Jersey Counties from the Newark Diocese, and created the Diocese of Paterson with Newark Auxiliary Bishop Thomas H. McLaughlin as the first Bishop. Shortly after his installation in Paterson in April, 1938, Bishop McLaughlin established Associated Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Paterson on April 29, 1938. Father John T. Merrick, Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, Paterson, was named Executive Director, and Father John J. Shanley, Curate at St. Joseph’s, Paterson, was named Assistant Director. Father Merrick (1901-1944) had been active in community affairs and had served as a member of the Local Assistance Board during the Depression. Father Shanley (1901-1987) had begun his priestly career serving the African American community at Queen of Angels Parish, Newark. He went to Fordham University for a M.S.W. degree in 1934, and returned for a Ph.D. in 1940. 

On October 1, 1938, the newly formed Agency was ready to begin work, and on that day the Newark Associated Catholic Charities transferred the Paterson cases (193 children and 60 families) to the new Agency. Miss Helen J. Reed began working in the Agency the next day and was to remain for more than a quarter century, the first of a long line of dedicated professionals who would serve Catholic Charities. The Agency’s first full Report in 1940 revealed 140 families, 242 children, and 35 unwed mothers under its care. Although the Agency had just two divisions, Catholic Charities was in fact multi-functional, striving to meet the varied social needs of the Diocese as they arose. In 1947 the Agency was certified by the State to handle adoption cases on its own, apart from Newark.

Father Merrick’s practical experience and contacts complemented Father Shanley’s professional background, but the partnership was abruptly cut short with the sudden death of Fr. Merrick on March 18, 1944. Two weeks later Fr. Shanley was named Executive Director, a post he was to hold for the next twenty-five years. In 1947 the Agency became a separately incorporated, not-for-profit corporation in New Jersey. That same year the Agency was approved by the State as an adoption and child placement agency. The Agency moved in 1948 from the Chancery Office on DeGrasse Street, to new offices at 12 Jackson Street.

During this time, the Agency saw an increase not only in the numbers served, but in the variety of programs offered. Thus as needs arose, Associated Catholic Charities worked with displaced persons after World War II, refugees after the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, and Cuban children and families after the Castro takeover in that island nation. The Refugee Program was closed in 2009.

In 1969 Paterson’s fifth Bishop, Lawrence B. Casey, accepted Monsignor Shanley’s resignation and appointed his associate Father Joseph A. Ciampaglio as third Director of Catholic Charities. A trained social worker, Ciampaglio oversaw the renaming of the Agency as Catholic Family and Community Services and expanded its programs to include mental health services, refugee resettlement and crisis intervention at various sites in all three Counties. Ciampaglio was succeeded by Father Robert Vitillo (1979), Mr. Michael Maiello (1983), Mr. Joseph F. Duffy (1997), and Diane Silbernagel in 2010.

The children and family units of 1938 have given way to a full gamut of social service offerings, including Aging Services, Family Services, Day Care and After School Programs for Children, the Italian Catholic Center, Mount St. Joseph Children’s Center, the Multi-Lingual Center/Club De Padres, Parish Nursing, Disaster Assistance, Migrant Ministry, the Partnership for Social Services Family Center, Emergency Assistance, Legal Services, Meals on Wheels, Nutrition Sites, Senior Day Care, Senior Transportation, and the Marian Aids Ministry, at 24 sites. Since Father Vitillo’s tenure, the Executive Director of CFCS also served as Executive Secretary of the Diocesan Catholic Charities Secretariat which coordinates the activities of all the Catholic Charities Agencies, including CFCS, the Department for Persons with Disabilities, the Father English Multi-Purpose Community Center, the Hispanic Information Center, Hope House, Straight and Narrow, Inc., Parish Nursing, Migrant Ministry, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Last year, some 70,000 persons were serviced by these Agencies in over 60 different locations across Morris, Passaic, and Sussex Counties.

In 2010 our current Bishop, Bishop Arthur Serratelli, recognizing the increased workload, again separated the positions. Joe Duffy was appointed President of Catholic Charities and now oversees the Secretariat full time. Diane Silbernagel succeeded Joe Duffy as Executive Director of CFCS.