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September
10, 2003
This fall, Seton Hall University will showcase 150 years of Newark’s Catholic history in an expansive exhibition titled “People of Newark.” The exhibition explores the history of the Newark Archdiocese’s large, diverse Catholic community through rare archival documents, historical photographs, newspaper clippings and maps, alongside beautiful paintings, gold and silver chalices and intricate vestments. “People of Newark” officially opened Sept. 8 and remains on view through Oct. 22, Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., at Seton Hall University’s Walsh Library Gallery, 400 South Orange Avenue. “What will you get from the exhibit? You will be fascinated by the beauty of the display and humbled by the generosity and the faith of the Catholics who are our ancestors in the faith,” commented Msgr. Robert J. Wister, D. Eccl. Hist., associate professor of Church history and guest curator of the exhibition. “Why do we call the exhibit ‘People of Newark’? Because the entire Catholic community is represented.” “Preparing for this exhibition has been an adventure!” Msgr. Wister exclaimed. He, along with three other members of the committee organized the event. The committee members were Msgr. Francis R. Seymour, Archdiocesan Archivist, Alan Delozier, Seton Hall University Archivist, and JoAnn Cotz, Director of the Walsh Library Gallery at Seton Hall. “We visited catacombs and searched through church basements to gather the religious artifacts and unique documents,” Msgr. Wister noted. A significant number of historical records and artifacts were gleaned from the Archives of the Archdiocese of Newark, housed in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives and Special Collections Center in the Seton Hall University Library. Local parish churches, individuals and societies also loaned objects for the exhibition.
One of the most colorful highlights, for example, is the elaborately decorated crown portion of a vara, commissioned in 1936 by the Saint Sebastian Society of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Montclair. The vara, designed in Corinthian Baroque style, was carved as an exact replica of the wooden sculptured canopy crafted by Sicilian carpenters in Cerami, Sicily, to carry the saint through the neighborhood streets. The entire vara is carried in the Saint Sebastian Feast Day Procession each August. Members of the public are invited to attend the opening reception for “People of Newark” on Thursday, Sept. 18. Most Rev. John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark, will lead a prayer service at Seton Hall’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at 6 p.m. Viewing of the exhibit and a reception will follow in the Walsh Library Gallery. “Portraits of our bishops are side by side with objects that represent parish societies and popular devotions. The objects on display express the ethnic and racial diversity of the people of Newark and their unity in the common faith of the Catholic Church,” Msgr. Wister added. “Each ethnic group has its own ‘style’ of spirituality. So we have an Irish cross, an Italian processional float, a Polish banner, a statue of St. Andrew Kim, a crucifix with an African Christ. This shows the diversity. Yet all of us are Catholics. Therefore, we focus on the unity of our faith in the Eucharist. This unity is shown forth in several monstrances and chalices, liturgical instruments focused on the Eucharist. Among them are a spectacular German monstrance and a magnificent chalice given by Napoleon III.” JoAnn Cotz noted that there is a series of Madonna figures representing a wide variety of cultures. Among them: Cuban (Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre ), Ecuadorian (Our Lady of Quinche), a Korean Madonna, and a Madonna from St. Mary Church/Newark Abbey that dates to 1842. The oldest single object in the exhibition, the Madonna was damaged in the Newark Know-Nothing riots in the 19th century. There is also a typical 19th-century representation of the Madonna from St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral, an early 20th century Spanish Madonna wearing a mantilla from Immaculate Heart, Newark, and a contemporary rendering of Our Lady of Fatima. Msgr. Wister added, “There is something for everybody: an eighteenth century map of New Jersey, documents sealed with the papal ‘Fisherman’s Ring,’ a cloth of gold cope, the ring of a Polish archbishop who was a hero of Pope John Paul II, a 19th century ‘host maker,’ and the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously awarded to Chaplain Father Charles Watters. “My favorite object is the small ‘faldstool,’ or chair of our first bishop, James Roosevelt Bayley. It is the most uncomfortable piece of furniture I have ever seen. Please do not sit in it,” the Church historian advises, only slightly tongue-in-cheek. “It is very old!” JoAnn Cotz pointed out that there is a “wonderful series of photographs by Paul Porcelli from Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Montclair,” a contemporary photographer who specializes in images that document feast-day celebrations throughout the U.S. She summed up the idea of the exhibition, stating, “’People of Newark’ provides a broad historical look at the development of the archdiocese and its people over the last 150 years. In doing so it celebrates the diversity of the population and commonality of faith that characterizes Newark’s Catholics.” Admission to the Walsh Library Gallery and all special events is free. For more information, call (973) 275-2033. “People of Newark” is sponsored by The Archdiocese of Newark in conjunction with the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives and Special Collections Center at Seton Hall University. Educational programs will be offered for students in grades 8-12, with more than 600 already scheduled to attend, coordinated by Sally Meyer of Glen Ridge, curator of education for the project. Adult group tours and university classes are also being slated to attend the exhibition.
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