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Newark, N.J. – The Archdiocese of Newark honored the dedication and sacrifices of New Jersey law enforcement personnel — plus two Newark firefighters whose deaths garnered national attention earlier this year — at the 30th Annual Blue Mass on November 2 in Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, presided over the liturgy, which featured a solemn procession of police honor guard units, bagpipers, and drummers.
This year Governor Phil Murphy, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, and numerous other dignitaries joined hundreds of law enforcement officials from throughout the state to pray for six police officers who recently died in the line of duty or while helping others: Bayonne Police Captain Paul Jamolawicz, Port Authority Police Officer Anthony Varvaro, Deptford Township Police Officer Robert Shisler, U.S. Customs Supervisor Jacqueline Montanaro, Timothy Sullivan of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, and New Jersey State Police Lieutenant Gerald Barbato. Six other deceased officers were also recognized.
Additionally, for the first time in its three-decade history, the Blue Mass honored two local firefighters — Captain Augusto Acabou and Captain Wayne Brooks, Jr., of the Newark Fire Department, who were killed while fighting a blaze aboard a Port Newark cargo ship July 5. The two men’s tragic deaths made headlines nationwide — President Joe Biden even expressed his condolences — but particularly impacted Newark, which is why they were specially included in the liturgy.
Reflecting on the deaths of these heroes in his homily, Cardinal Tobin stressed that the ultimate sacrifices made by the 14 memorialized at the Blue Mass were not done in vain: “(They) are at peace now because they are in the hands of God.”
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