On Oct. 20, the Diocese of Camden recognized four individuals for their service to Catholic healthcare
with the presentation of the St. Luke Award at the annual White Mass for Healthcare Workers. The White Mass is traditionally celebrated in October around the feast of St. Luke, observed on October 18. St. Luke, the author of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, was a physician according to tradition.
The Mass and reception were held at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden. Msgr. John H. Burton was the principal celebrant at the Mass in the chapel.
The event, co-sponsored by the Diocese of Camden and the South Jersey Catholic Medical Association, recognizes individuals who exemplify the tradition of Catholic healthcare in southern New Jersey.
This year, four individuals were recognized: Dr. William J. DeLiberis, Dr. Claudia Petruncio, Dr. Joseph W. Sokolowski, Jr., and Dr. Edward Swibinski.
Dr. William J. DeLiberis is a member of the medical staff at Bishop McCarthy Residence in Vineland. Ordained a permanent deacon in 2005, he is assigned to Christ, the Good Shepherd Parish in Vineland as well as the healthcare ministry of the diocese. Prior to his ordination, Dr. DeLiberis was an active member of St. Isidore Parish where he served as a trustee, sacristan, eucharistic minister and lector. He was a founding member of the St. Vincent De Paul Conference in the parish and remains active today. He also works at the senior luncheon program in the parish. Dr. DeLiberis is the assistant spiritual director of the English Cursillo Movement and a member of the board of trustees of Bishop McCarthy Residence. Dr. DeLiberis is married to Maria Concetta DiFiore.
Dr. Claudia M. Petruncio is board certified in internal medicine and has certificates of additional qualification in both geriatric medicine as well as hospice and palliative care. She has been in private practice for 27 years. She divides her days in Cherry Hill between office and hospital practice. She is a medical consultant for the behavioral health unit at Kennedy Hospital. She has been a clinical preceptor for many intern and resident physicians. Dr. Petruncio is a medical director for Lighthouse Hospice. Dr. Petruncio is an active member of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Cherry Hill where she is a cantor and catechist. She is currently completing a masters degree in theology from Villanova University. Dr. Petruncio has three sons and was married to the late Dr. Murray Klein.
Dr. Joseph W. Sokolowski, Jr. served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years and retired as a Captain, Medical Corps. Board certified both in internal medicine and pulmonary diseases, Dr. Sokolowski is a clinical professor of medicine at Jefferson where he has taught for the past 41 years. In 1971, he joined the medical staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden and established a Division of Pulmonary Diseases which included respiratory care services, a pulmonary function laboratory and intensive care. He served as chief of this division for 17 years. Dr. Sokolowski has served as president of the Camden County Medical Society, the Medical Staff of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. In his parish of St. Mary of the Lakes in Medford, he is a Eucharistic Minister and a member of the Pre-Cana Ministry for Engaged Couples. In the Diocese of Camden, he has served on the Health Panel for Clergy and the Community Relations Advisory Board. Dr. Sokolowski serves on the Board of Directors of the Camden Area Health Education Committee. He is a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great and a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta on whose Board of Councilors he serves. He is active in a prison ministry for the children of the incarcerated and adjudicated youths and has been a volunteer physician at the Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti. He and his wife, Maureen, have served on the Medical Team for the past 11 years on the annual pilgrimage of the Order of Malta to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Dr. Edward Swibinski stated that he is grateful to the Christian Brothers De LaSalle who taught him in Queen of Peace High School, North Arlington, New Jersey 1964-1968. He did his internal medicine residency in New York metropolitan city hospital. He volunteered to join the National Health Service Corp., a federal program to place doctors in needy areas. He interviewed with Dr. Charles Brimm, a Camden family doctor, and joined Cooper Ambulatory Care Inc., the forerunner of Camcare in 1978. Although not originally from the South Jersey area, Dr. Swibinski has made the area his home since 1978. After practicing general medicine he decided he wanted to do an endocrine fellowship. He trained 1979-80 at the University of Pennsylvania and 1980-81 at University of Medicine in New Brunswick.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Thomas A. Cavalieri, dean of the Rowan University, School of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Cavalieri and his wife, Donna are members of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Cape May. Dr. Cavalieri was instrumental in spearheading the South Jersey Catholic Medical Association in the Diocese of Camden.
For more information on the White Mass, please email Katherine.Boyer@camdendiocese.org.