Msgr. Joseph A. Baran, pastor of St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Lansford, was a delegate to the 37th national convention of the First Catholic Slovak Union of the U.S.A. and Canada held at the Sheraton Park Hotel, Washington, D.C.

He joined about 600 other delegates at the event, which featured a message from President Richard M. Nixon, delivered by special assistant Patrick Buchanan, congratulating the Slovak organization on its 80th anniversary.

The First Catholic Slovak Union has a membership of 105,000 and was founded in 1890 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Msgr. Baran has been pastor at St. Michael’s since 1955.