Bishop Joseph A. Galante celebrates Mass for farmworkers at a portable altar on Larchmont Farm, Elmer, on Thursday, Aug. 27. Also pictured are Father Ariel Hernandez, left, and Msgr. Victor Muro. Below, Father Ronald S. Falotico is pictured with a group of workers.
HAMMONTON — For some 40 years Father Ronald S. Falotico has been ministering to farmworkers in South Jersey, some of whom are migrant workers, while a few are permanent residents.
“During the picking season,” he said, “after they finish their chores at 5 p.m., they’ll go back to their quarters and prepare for a Mass right on the farm.” Father Falotico said all the Masses are in Spanish, a language in which he has become quite fluent.
On Aug. 27 Bishop Joseph A. Galante celebrated Mass for the farmworkers at Larchmont Farm, Elmer, at the end of the picking day.
Father Falotico said that for years the migrant workers had come from Puerto Rico but today they come from many parts of Latin America. He said they are devout Catholics and want to continue practicing their faith, even away from home. That’s where the Camden Diocese’s farmworkers ministry is very important.
For some 30 years Father Falotico and other priests have celebrated Mass at farms in Bridgeton, throughout Cumberland County, and at Cedarville, among other locations.
“And for a long time we would have about a half-dozen priests from Rome who would assist us in this ministry,” the priest said, noting that this year there were problems with their visas so they were unable to visit this year. “But I was able to visit 15 farms this picking season,” he said, which runs from May to October.
Father Falotico has been at St. Joseph’s for some five years. “Since Hammonton is the blueberry capital of the world I spend a lot of time in the summer on the blueberry farms celebrating Mass,” he pointed out. “And many of these farmworkers are year-round residents who call the Hammonton area home.”
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