Paterson Diocesan Center
777 Valley Road
Clifton, New Jersey 07013
973-777-8818

<official seal> Office of the Bishop

December 16, 1998

Very Rev. John Felice, O.F.M.
Provincial Minister
Holy Name Province
126 West 32nd Street
New York, New York 10001-3202

Dear Father John,

    I hope all is well with you and the Friars at 32nd Street.

    Father Alexius Mulrenan, who has required so much of you attention, has shared with me a good deal of his interchanges with the Province. In one of his communications he included a "request for a clear statement" from you and me restricting his offering of Holy Mass to private celebrations. With that in mind, let it be set for the record that I do not want him to celebrate Mass with a congregation, though he may celebrate Mass privately, no more than once a day, and I do not grant or authorize the granting of faculties of the Diocese of Paterson to him. If he has enjoyed the faculty to hear confessions in the past or is of the impression that he presently enjoys that faculty, it is revoked.

    All this is by way of stating that I support your decisions regarding Father Alexius. I hope that this clarification will be helpful.

    With best wishes for a Blessed and Merry Christmas, I remain

Fraternally yours in Christ,
<signed>
Most Rev. Frank J. Rodimer
Bishop of Paterson