Monsignor Mark Giordani, Paterson’s ‘motorcycle priest,’ dies at 78
PATERSON — Monsignor Mark Giordani, known as Paterson’s motorbike priest, has died.
Parishioners mourned Giordani’s dying immediately after it was announced during a Mass celebration at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on Saturday night. He was 78 years outdated.
Giordani started the Christian Riders, a bike club that nevertheless fulfills in the St. John’s rectory, in 1969 after his initial assignment at his to start with parish, Our Girl of Lourdes in Paterson.
For 50 a long time, Giordani and his annual Motorcycle Mass brought bikers in from all over for a blessing of motorcycles in front of the Paterson cathedral, in which he was rector from 1987 right up until 2018.
On the 49th anniversary of the Motorbike Mass, Giordani, stepping off his Harley Street King, adorned with flames and an airbrushed depiction of Jesus on the cross, traded his denim jacket for white and blue vestments to greet and bless motorcyclists as they highway previous.
The Rev. John Algera, who was a pastor for 40 years at Madison Avenue Christian Reformed Church, normally crossed paths with Giordani and constantly appreciated his “big see of the church.”
“It was more substantial than just the Roman Catholic church it was the church of Jesus,” Algera mentioned. “He was a wonderful, superb Christian leader in this time when we need examples of godly Christian men like that.”
Just one of Algera’s most loved recollections of Giordani was a time when Algera was standing in a group for the duration of a Stations of the Cross ceremony on Great Friday. Giordani, who was walking in the procession, stepped absent when he spotted him in the crowd to give him a major hug.
“It was so indicative of the type of human being he was,” Algera said. “He beloved the city, he loved his folks, he was liked by Jesus. He was properly appreciated by anyone.”
Mayor Andre Sayegh said Giordani was a source of non secular strength for so many people.
“Father Mark Giordani encouraged us with his phrases and his do the job,” Sayegh said. “I am grateful to God for blessing Paterson with these a magnificent man of the cloth.”
The Rev. James Kuykendall, who grew to become good friends with Giordani 20 yrs ago when they commenced doing the job jointly as chaplains to the Paterson Police Office, thought of him a expensive friend and a fantastic mentor. He claimed Giordani’s sensitive and caring character for people about him “will endlessly be remembered in my heart.”
“He was a stand-up man, walking integrity,” Kuykendall mentioned. “He had a compassion for the folks and he experienced a enjoy for God. He will eternally be pricey to me.”
In addition to the Paterson Police Office and Port Authority, Giordani served as chaplain for the Boy Scouts, the Haledon Law enforcement and Fire departments, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, the Passaic County Jail, the Constables Affiliation, the Passaic County Law enforcement Academy and the Fidelians in North Haledon for many yrs.
He worked as an assistant pastor and later an administrator and co-pastor at St. Gerard Majella Parish in Paterson from 1973 until 1987. He also served as an administrator at St. Agnes Church in Paterson from 2002 to 2007.
