It’s been said that Alyssa Renovales has a smile that will change lives.
Recently, Renovales, 26, shared her smile, helping register attendees at an Indianapolis retreat for Corazón Puro. She joined this young adult organization, which promotes chastity and respect for human life. Her warm welcome sometimes led to “deeper conversations with people who felt comfortable opening up” to her.
Renovales’ bright smile and openness are essential in her new position as the new full-time respect life coordinator for the Paterson Diocese, which she began on April 28. She succeeds Dr. Mary Mazzarella, who served in the post for many years.
“I’m excited. I want to radiate joy when I engage with parishes. In the Church, we are all here to help each other get to heaven, said Renovales, recognizing the challenges of helping God transform society into a culture of life. “It’s disheartening that so many babies don’t get to live out their lives [because of abortion]. Many pregnant women are looking for support. We want to help them with the resources we have. Their situations aren’t perfect, but they will have a beautiful baby. We’re called to love at all stages of life.”
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Renovales is tasked with facilitating — and helping expand — the diocesan outreach of Walking with Moms in Need in her new role. It’s a nationwide program in dioceses that the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops started promoting in 2019. It began in Paterson in 2023 with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney’s encouragement.
Walking with Moms in Need is a developing network of parishes that help women facing unplanned pregnancies or other needs while parenting with compassionate care and practical assistance. It also partners with local resource centers and ministries.
Renovales will also engage with the diocese’s 109 parishes to assist those with existing Respect Life or Walking with Moms in Need ministries and help others establish such outreaches. She will coordinate diocesan participation in the N.J. March for Life in Trenton on Sept. 25 and Diocesan Convocation for Life on Oct. 25.
In a new dimension to the role, Renovales will expand the Respect Life Office’s outreach to advocate for all aspects of life, including the most vulnerable, such as the elderly and those on the fringes of society.
On behalf of Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, Msgr. Mark Condon, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the Curia, wrote a recent letter to the diocesan community announcing Renovales’ appointment.
Alyssa brings a wealth of experience to the effort to promote respect for the sanctity of human life as a gift from God to be enthusiastically protected and lovingly nurtured and cared for at all stages,” wrote Msgr. Condon. He cited Renovales’ background in health care and, as a member of Corazón Puro at the Prince of Peace Chapel in Haledon, a Franciscan Friars of the Renewal outreach. “We look forward to all she brings to this important ministry.”
Born in the Bronx, Renovales later moved with her family to Lodi. Raised in a non-practicing Catholic family, she later completed the Order of Christian Initiation program, urged by her Cuban grandmother, who taught her the Our Father. Renovales said her baptism “was the most joyful I ever felt.”
Renovales attended Sunday Masses with two Catholic friends while attending Stoney Brook University in New York. Later, she joined a friend at Corazón Puro in the Bronx.
“I felt the Father’s love and understood, ‘God loves and chose us.’ I started to have an encounter with Christ and appreciate the gift of life,” said Renovales, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Stoney Brook.
Renovales has worked as a scribe, continuing education intern, and nursing assistant in the medical field. She is discerning whether to pursue a career as a physician.
In a short time, Renovales has blossomed at Corazón Puro. She has already completed two formation retreats this year. She also joined members for the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Franciscan Friar Agustino Torres, the organization’s founder, quickly noticed Renovales’ warmth, remarking, “You have a smile that will change lives.”
Eniola Honsberger, diocesan Family Life Office director, and Father Paul Manning, diocesan vicar for evangelization and vicar for education, interviewed Renovales and others for the respect life position.
“What made Alyssa stand out was her eagerness to grow and learn. In ministry, it is not about having all the answers but being open to how God wants to use you. Alyssa has a receptive heart,” Honsberger said.
