Bishop Joseph A. Williams, auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, was named Coadjutor Bishop of Camden by Pope Francis on May 21, 2024.[3]
History
1700 to 1800
Although the British Provinces of East New Jersey and West New Jersey were not officially welcoming to Catholics, they tended to ignore their presence.[4] The first Catholic presence in South Jersey was a group of Catholic glass blowers brought to Wisterburg in present day Salem County in 1739. Traveling priests periodically traveled to the region to minister to the small congregation there.[5]
When Pope Pius VII in 1808 erected the Diocese of Philadelphia, he included the Camden area of New Jersey.[7] In 1830, Bishop Francis Kenrick Philadelphia dedicated the St. Mary’s Church in Pleasant Mills, making it the first Catholic church in the present day Diocese of Camden.
Around 1848, a large wave of Irish Catholic immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in Ireland arrived in New Jersey.[8] St. Mary’s Church in Gloucester City was the first parish in the area, established in 1849.[9] In Atlantic City, St. Nicholas Church opened in 1858. The first church in Camden, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, was finished in 1859.[5]
In 1853, when Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Newark in 1853, all of New Jersey was put in this diocese.[7] In 1881, Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Trenton, taking southern New Jersey from the Diocese of Newark.[10] The Camden area would remain part of the Diocese of Trenton for the next 56 years.
Bishop Francis Kenrick dedicated the St. Mary’s Church in Pleasant Mills on August 15, 1830, the fourth Catholic church in New Jersey and the first in the present-day Diocese of Camden. The first parish and school were established at St. Mary’s, Gloucester in 1849 and 1859, respectively.
When Eustace, became bishop, the new diocese had 75 diocesan priests and 11 religious priests to serve approximately 100,000 Catholics in 49 parishes and 31 missions, plus 30 elementary and five secondary schools.[9]
Two of the parishes that Eustace founded were established specifically for African-American Catholics; St. Monica's in Atlantic City and St. Bartholomew's in Camden.[12] When St. Bartholomew's fell into financial difficulties, Eustace recruited comedian Eddie Cantor to give a benefit performance for the parish in 1950.[13][14] Eustace also erected Our Lady of Fatima Parish for Spanish-speaking Catholics.[12] He opened Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital at Camden in 1950.[13]
Following completion of its construction in 1952, St. Joseph Church in Camden was declared to be a pro-cathedral because the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was too small for cathedral functions. Eustace opened Mercy Hospital at Sea Isle City in 1953, the Angelus Convalescent Home at Wildwood and St. Mary's Home for the Aged at Haddonfield.[13]
1956 to 1968
By the time that Eustace died in 1956, the Catholic population and the number of priests in the diocese had more than doubled. He founded 31 parishes, 25 missions, 50 churches, 20 convents, 22 elementary schools, and four high schools.[15]
The second bishop of Camden was Auxiliary bishop Justin J. McCarthy of Newark, appointed by Pope Pius XII in 1957.[16] He opened several new schools and expanded already existing ones, making room for an increase of over 5,000 students at the elementary level and 1,000 students at the high school level. At the time of his death, some 20,000 children were enrolled in CCD classes, nearly a 100 percent increase since his installation. McCarthy sent some clergy to Puerto Rico to learn Spanish so they could better serve Spanish-speaking Catholics.[17] In 1957, he opened a mobile chapel for migrant workers, and in 1959 secured the services of four Oblates of the Sacred Heart Sisters to teach religion and do social work at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Camden.[18] He also erected four new parishes, founded a diocesan commission on properties and buildings, and encouraged a Catholic Youth Council be established at every parish in the diocese.[18]
Following McCarthy's death in 1959, Pope John XXIII named Celestine Damiano, the apostolic delegate to South Africa, as the third bishop of Camden in New Jersey (with the personal title of archbishop) in 1960.[19] That same year, Damiano launched a drive to raise $5 million for the construction and improvement of Catholic secondary schools in the diocese.[18] He established the following high schools in New Jersey:
Damiano also opened 17 new elementary schools in the diocese, with total enrollment for all schools increasing by more than 3,000. He also founded a diocesan school board in 1965, and greatly expanded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.[18] He established the Spanish Catholic Center at Vineland in 1962.[20] Damiano initiated the diocese's Brazil mission project in 1961, and the House of Charity Appeal for funding diocesan human services in 1964.[20] He delivered the invocation for the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1966, Damiano established a new rule to allow interracial weddings in diocesan churches without permission from the diocese. Previously, these couples were married only in church rectories.[21] Damiano died in 1967.
1968 to 2000
To replace Damiano, Pope Paul VI named Auxiliary Bishop George Guilfoyle of New York as the next bishop of Camden in 1968.[22] Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, Guilfoyle described racism as "not a mere myth but an ugly reality" and urged Catholics to "purge every fragment of racism among us."[23] He established a diocesan pastoral council and directed every parish to establish a parish council in 1968.[23] He also established the Office of Pastoral Planning, Office of Evangelization, and Secretariat for Education.[24] He advocated "the right to life from conception to old age," and established the Pro-Life Office in 1973.[23]
During his tenure, Guilfoyle erected eight parishes, eleven convents, twenty-three churches, thirty-seven rectories, and six schools.[23] A retreat house was acquired by the diocese, special education facilities were expanded and a Newman Centre erected at Glassboro State College in Glassboro.[24] The diocese built nursing homes and established two residences for the elderly, Victorian Towers and St. Mary's Village.[24] Guilfoyle established an Hispanic Apostolate; Spanish-language Masses in many South Jersey parishes were instituted, while the diocese worked to obtain Spanish-speaking priests, brothers and nuns.[23]
After Guilfoyle retired in 1989, Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop James T. McHugh of Newark as the next bishop of Camden.[25] During his nine-year tenure, he reorganized the diocese's administrative structure and relocated the diocesan headquarters to downtown Camden.[26] He presided over a diocesan synod in September 1992.[26] McHugh created a $63 million Catholic Education Endowment Fund for schools and religious education programs, a five-point plan to reinvigorate Catholic high schools, and supported school voucher legislation in the New Jersey Legislature.[18]
While bishop, DiMarzio established an Office of Ethnic Ministries, an Office of Black Catholic Ministry, and an Office of Hispanic Ministry.[28] DiMarzio also created an apostolate to the Haitian community and founded two missions to serve the Korean and Vietnamese communities. In 2000, DiMarzio established Mater Ecclesiae Chapel, the first canonically established mission owned by a diocese and staffed exclusively by diocesan priests to offer exclusively the Tridentine Mass.[29] John Paul II named DiMarzio as bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2003.
To replace DiMarzio in Camden, John Paul II selected Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante from the Diocese of Dallas in 2004.[30] In April 2008, Galante announced the closing of roughly half of the parishes in the diocese. This followed a previous announcement of the closing of various Catholic schools. In January 2011, a group of parishioners of the closed St Mary's Church in Malaga re-entered the building and began an around-the-clock vigil, attracting regional and national media attention.[31]
In July 2008, the New York Post reported Galante's involvement in a scandal involving Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri and investor Ronald Burkle.[32] The Post reported that Galante sold Follieri a private beach house in Wildwood for $400,000 in 2007. It also reported that one of Galante's priests misrepresented himself to potential investors. At the time, Follieri was negotiating with the Diocese of Camden and other US and Canadian dioceses to buy churches with Burkle's money and then sell the properties for later profit.In September 2008, Follieri pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering charges, and received a 4+1⁄2-year prison sentence.[33] The beach house was sold in 2010 for $310,000.[34] Galante and Burkle were never charged with any crimes in relation to the scandal. Galantae retired in 2013.
Pope Francis named Bishop Joseph A. Williams as coadjutor bishop on May 21, 2024.[37]
Sexual abuse scandal
John P. Connor was arrested in October 1984 on charges of sexually assaulting a 14 year old boy when he was a teacher at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken. The assault happened at Connor's trailer in Cape May after a golf outing, with Connor describing it to the boy as a "religious experience". In a pretrial intervention with the local prosecutor, the diocese in 1984 sent Connor to the Southdown Institute in Holland Landing, Ontario, for eight months of psychological treatment. After Connor finished treatment in 1985, the Diocese of Pittsburgh accepted his transfer, where new allegations of abuse would later arise.[38][39] A Diocese of Camden spokesman in 2005 said they had notified the bishop of Pittsburgh about Connor's arrest.[40]
In 2003, Bishop DiMarzio approved an $880,000 settlement to 19 plaintiffs who had sued the diocese in 1994. The plaintiffs alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the diocese from 1961 through 1985. Seven of the plaintiff complaints had been dismissed in court over the years due to lack of evidence.[41]
The Catholic dioceses in New Jersey in February 2019 released the names of clergy who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children since 1940.[42] Of the 188 clerics listed, 57 were based in the Diocese of Camden.[42] In February 2020, it was reported that the dioceses had paid over $11 million to compensate 105 claims of sexual abuse claims[43] Of these 105 claims, 98 were compensated through settlements.[43]
In July 2020, the Diocese of Camden suspended future payments to victims of clergy sexual abuse, citing the financial impact stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.[44]
In August 2020, four new lawsuits were filed against the diocese involving three priests:
Kenneth L. Johnston. He was accused of sexually abusing a 10 year old boy when serving at St. Anthony's Church in Atco between 1973 and 1975.[45]
Eldridge Evans, a former teacher at St. James High School in Carneys Point.[45] Two men accused Evans of abusing them when they were students at St. James during the 1970s.
Gerald P. Clements.[45] The diocese had settled a 1993 lawsuit in which a man accused Clements of molesting him at Most Holy Redeemer Church in Westville Grove in the early 1970s.[46]
The diocese would filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2020, citing the combined impact from not only numerous sex abuse lawsuits, but also the COVID-19 pandemic.[47]
In April 2022, the diocese agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle its abuse claims, one of the largest such settlements in the United States.[48]
The Archdiocese of New York is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City and the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester to the north of the city. It does not include the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn or Queens, which are part of the Diocese of Brooklyn; however, the Diocese of Brooklyn is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of New York.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States.
The Diocese of Wilmington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory – or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the eastern United States. The diocese comprises the entire state of Delaware and the Eastern Shore Region of Maryland.
James Thomas McHugh was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York during the year 2000.
The Diocese of Paterson is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northern New Jersey. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Newark.
The Diocese of Trenton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in central New Jersey in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Newark.
The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey in the United States.
The Diocese of Beaumont is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory. or diocese. of the Catholic Church covering nine counties in the state of Texas in the United States. It is a suffragan see in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica serves as the cathedral church.
Joseph Anthony Galante was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Latin Church diocese of Camden in New Jersey from 2004 to 2013.
The Diocese of Metuchen is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in the borough of Metuchen in New Jersey in the United States.
The Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in central Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The mother church of the diocese is the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona.
The Diocese of Erie is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in western Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Western Pennsylvania in the United States. It was established on August 11, 1843. The diocese is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The Diocese of Dallas is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in North Texas in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic Cathedral located in Camden in Camden County, New Jersey. It is the seat of the Diocese of Camden, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Built in 1864, it was officially designated as a cathedral in 1937.
Bartholomew Joseph Eustace was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Camden in New Jersey from 1938 until his death.
Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn in New York City from 2003 to 2021.
Celestine Joseph Damiano was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as apostolic delegate to South Africa (1953–1960) and as bishop of the Diocese of Camden in New Jersey (1960–1967).
George Henry Guilfoyle was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Camden in New Jersey from 1968 to 1989. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1964 to 1968.
James Francis Checchio is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic church. Checchio served as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 2005 until 2016. On March 8, 2016, Pope Francis named Checchio as bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen in New Jersey.
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