Cardinal Tobin Honors Law Enforcement Service, Sacrifice At Annual Blue Mass in Newark - TAPinto.net
NEWARK, NJ — Cardinal Joseph Tobin ascended the marble pulpit of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark at the annual Blue Mass and looked out at the hundreds of police officers staring up at him from the pews. The head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark then spoke reverently of the departed and respectfully of the dedicated men and women who watch over New Jersey's streets, a thin blue line stretched even more by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"What this assembly communicates is that a community, the love of a community, goes beyond the boundaries of this great house of worship to embrace four brothers who fell in the line of duty, as well as other officers who have died during the last two years when a global pandemic prevented us from gathering," Tobin said at Thursday's liturgy. "They left an indelible witness to the greatest love of all, which is not learning to love oneself, but rather the willingness to lay down one's life for one's friends."
The COVID pandemic has to date left 750,000 Americans dead. Close to 500 American law enforcement officers have died from COVID-19 infections related to their jobs since the start of the pandemic, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. The coronavirus is by far the most common cause of duty-related deaths in 2020 and 2021. Five times as many officers have perished from COVID-19 as from gunfire in that period.
One officer who was remembered at the Mass who died by gunfire was Jersey City Police Department Detective Joseph Seals, age 39. Seals was shot and killed in the line of duty as part of the events surrounding a December 2019 domestic terror attack on a Jewish business.
Another officer honored was U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, age 42. Sicknick, who hailed from South River, died on Jan. 7, one day after he defended the Capitol during an insurrection that tried to disrupt Congress' count of the electoral vote following the 2020 presidential election. The lives of more than 30 police officers from across New Jersey who died from COVID were also commemorated.
Notable politicians were present at the 28th Blue Mass. Governor Phil Murphy quietly said a prayer on the morning after he celebrated his very narrow reelection victory. Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. and Essex County Armando Fontoura, who was just re-elected for another four-year term, were seated a few feet away.
Vaccine hesitancy and resistance to vaccine mandates among law enforcement personnel continue to be hotly debated throughout the country. However, the service marked a day when politics were set aside. Newark Public Safety Director Brian O'Hara told TAPinto Newark what the day meant to him and for those who serve under him.
"Newark was hit particularly hard by COVID as the nine members we lost represent [approximately] one-third of all police deaths in the state," O'Hara said. "Our profession will always be inherently dangerous, but hopefully we are coming out of the worst time of our lives more resilient and grateful as we all will win the war against this virus."
Tobin lauded the recent performance of the Newark Police Department, New Jersey's largest municipal force. He cited the fact that during the 2020 calendar year, Newark police officers did not fire a single shot and that the city was not compelled to pay to settle any police brutality cases. The cardinal also noted that Newark police recovered almost 500 illegal guns from the city's streets during the past year, part of an overall significant drop in crime over the past five years.
Tobin wondered aloud what was the secret to Newark's success. Shortly before the Essex County Police & Fire Emerald Society Pipes & Drums and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department Pipes & Drums bands among others played at the end of the memorial Mass, Tobin answered his own question.
"If our actions demonstrate in a single voice the promise of respect, security, and peace, others will follow," Tobin said. "And in promoting respect, security, and peace, by working together, we pay our finest tribute to those who have demonstrated the greatest love of all."
source: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/newark/sections/police-and-fire/articles/cardinal-tobin-honors-law-enforcement-service-sacrifice-at-annual-blue-mass-in-newark
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.