Father Ed Rama was installed as pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in the Mount Hope neighborhood of Rockaway Township by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney during a Mass he celebrated on June 1. The priest was named administrator of St. Bernard’s on July 1, 2024, and its pastor, effective May 1.
Bishop Sweeney was the main celebrant of the installation Mass. Concelebrating the liturgy were Father Rama, Father Nicholas Bozza, pastor of St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Chester, and Father Alfred Lampron, a retired diocesan priest who had served as pastor of St. Bernard’s for 18 years. Father Jared Brogan, diocesan Worship Office director, was the master of ceremonies for the liturgy.
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Congregants included parishioners, Father Rama’s friends and family, such as his mother, Marilyn; and women religious, including Salesian Sister Theresa Lee, chancellor of the Paterson Diocese and delegate for religious, Sister of Christian Charity Theresa Yeakel, and Sister Dorothy Armstrong of the Sisters of the Precious Blood.
Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli ordained Father Rama to the priesthood on May 26, 2012. He served Our Lady of Holy Angels in Little Falls for three years. Then, he was the pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Branchville for four years. Father Rama recently completed six years as diocesan vocations director.
