Bishop Joseph Galante
Bishop Joseph A. Galante, D.D., J.C.D. was born in Philadelphia and was ordained in 1964. He attended Lateran University in Rome, where he received his doctorate in canon law, and later the University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he received his Master’s Degree in Spiritual Theology.
He served in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia until he was named by Pope John Paul II in December 1986 to be Undersecretary of the Congregation for Religious in Rome. He was a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Communications.
In October 1992 he was named Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio, Texas. A year and a half later he was installed as Bishop of Beaumont, Texas. He became Coadjutor Bishop of Dallas in January 2000.
On April 30, 2004, Bishop Galante returned to the Philadelphia area and was installed as seventh bishop of the Diocese of Camden.
Soon after his installation in the Diocese of Camden, he hosted 138 “Speak Up Sessions” over 15 months, to obtain feedback directly from parishioners, clergy, religious and others on the ministerial priorities of the diocese. This consultation led to a multi-year planning process that has sought to address pressing challenges while revitalizing parish life in every area of the diocese.
To serve the needs of the people of the diocese as expressed in these priorities, the diocese took several ambitious steps. Parishes were reconfigured from 124 parishes to 70. Also deaneries, groupings of parishes that work together in particular regions, were reorganized to be more representative of the diversity of the diocese and to put them into a position to be more collaborative with each other.
Also the diocese established a virtual university by reaching agreements with several institutions of higher learning to provide cost effective education in ministry and Church administration.
Bishop Galante retired on January 8, 2013.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio
It was announced on June 8, 1999 that Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, 54, Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, had been appointed sixth bishop of Camden by Pope John Paul II. The canonical possession would be on July 21 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the installation at St. Agnes Church on July 22.
Bishop DiMarzio assumed a high-profile role in speaking out for immigrants and refugees. As chairman of the Bishops Committee on Migration, he testified before Congress about the effects of mandatory deportation and mandatory detention provisions of a 1996 immigration law. While he was director of the USCC Migration and Refugee Services Office, he created the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as CLINIC, a legal services corporation through which dioceses offer new immigrants help in resettling.
He also turned his attention to the needs of the local church in South Jersey. In response to the rapid growth in Catholic population in Atlantic County, Bishop DiMarzio established St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Egg Harbor Township. A new parish for all Hispanics in Vineland, Immaculate Heart of Mary (Immaculada Corazon de Maria), was founded in December at the former site of the Spanish Catholic Center.
In addition, the Vicariate for Pastoral Planning, with the collaboration of the Vicariate for Pastoral Life, developed a pastoral plan for meeting the needs of the approximately 110,000 Hispanics in the South Jersey area. To meet the needs of Hispanic workers who come to the United States on a temporary basis to work in the agricultural industry, an annual ‘œMass in the Fields is celebrated for the workers.
The Korean communities of the diocese benefited from the establishment of two missions to serve their spiritual needs and established individual missions at Holy Rosary Parish in Cherry Hill, and St. Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Mission in Pleasantville. Vietnamese, Haitian, Filipino and Polish apostolates were also established. Indeed, the high participation in the dioceses Pentecost multi-cultural events is a joyful tribute and celebration of the richness in diversity of the diocese, and a sign of the dioceses openness to welcoming the stranger.
Pastoral Planning and Research
Under Bishop DiMarzio’s leadership, new emphasis was placed on pastoral planning at the parish and diocesan levels, revitalizing structures of colloboration, including parish and diocesan pastoral councils. In his third pastoral letter, Laity in the New Millennium, Bishop DiMarzio noted that these structures of collaboration exist so the laity may ‘œtake their rightful place not only in the world, their primary calling, but also in the Church community where they can bring lay experience to bear on the Church’s mission of evangelization.
Citing the importance of Catholic schools as ‘œvalue-centered education, which not only strives for academic excellence, but also excellence in virtue, Bishop DiMarzio established a scholarship fund for low-income families who wish to send their children to Catholic schools. He also oversaw the dedication of new elementary schools, Bishop McHugh Regional Catholic School of Dennis Township, which opened in September 2000, and Guardian Angels Regional School in Gibbstown, which opened in September 2001. Regionalization plans also helped to alleviate situations of declining enrollment at several elementary schools.
Permanent Deacons
The last four years also saw a reorganization and strengthening of the Permanent Diaconate with new emphasis placed on recruitment and training of candidates for future ministry. Currently there are 124 permanent deacons (eight of which are in ministry outside the diocese) and 51 in formation.
Programs to encourage vocations to priesthood and religious life also received major attention. Nazareth House at the former convent at Camden Catholic High School was founded by Bishop DiMarzio as a place for young men to consider a priestly or religious vocation. The residents receive support and spiritual direction, and engage in common prayer.
Bishop’s Pastoral Letter for Social Mission
In March 2001, Bishop DiMarzio published his pastoral letter, ‘œThe Church’s Social Mission in the New Century. In it, he called for a clearer communication of the Church’s social mission as a response to common human dignity elevated by the Incarnation; the development of a culture of life to upgrade respect for human life from conception to natural death and to promote human rights; a restoration of family as the fundamental cell of society and as the ‘œdomestic church; firm adherence to the sanctity of the marriage bond between husband and wife as the foundation for family; sustenance, housing and health care, especially for the needy; job opportunities for the unemployed, for permanent residents and immigrants; welcome of the newcomers and protection of their rights, especially reunification of family; substance abuse, emotional disturbance and mental illness; racism and the oppression of minorities; moral indifference of a large segment of the U.S. population; the suburban/urban divide in our Church with the obstacle and opportunities inherent in that situation.
Enhancement of the dignity of women as a constitutive element of justice and their special role in the Church and society; encouragement and utilization of government support of faith-based initiatives and advocacy of government responsibility in the struggle against poverty.
Human Services
Under Bishop DiMarzio, the Vicariate for Human Services was created and now incorporates Catholic Charities, the Division of Health Services and the Division of Housing Services. A new Human Services Center, housing the offices of the Vicariate, was blessed and dedicated on September 16, 2003 at the renovated site of the former diocesan offices on Haddon Avenue. Meanwhile, renovations at St. Pius X Retreat House and a new Newman Center at Stockton State College were completed under Bishop DiMarzio.
The parishes of the diocese also initiated a major Stewardship program which celebrates the universal call to holiness amongst the people of God in Camden by being generous with one’s time, talent and treasures.
Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs
The Bishop’s spiritual concerns, however, reached beyond the diocese’s own parishes and schools to include other faith communities. Joining in the celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Bishop addressed the local Jewish community of Temple Emmanuel in Cherry Hill, calling both faith communities to mutual respect and understanding. The Bishop presided at an ecumenical prayer service with the Lutheran community to celebrate the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification which was signed by Catholics and Lutherans in Augsburg, Germany.
He also participated in services at Temple Beth El Synagogue in Margate City with the local Jewish community. The establishment of the Catholic-Jewish Commission was a real sign of growth in interreligious affairs. It allows both faiths to speak at once on any issue where religious leaders must speak with one voice. The Catholic-Jewish Institute continues, and participants increase in the courses. Bishop DiMarzio was installed as seventh bishop of Brooklyn on October 3, 2003.
Bishop James T. McHugh
On May 21, 1989, it was announced that Auxiliary Bishop James T. McHugh of Newark had been appointed fifth bishop of Camden. He was installed on June 20, 1989.
For his ten years in Camden, upholding the teachings of the Catholic Church in a society that too easily dismisses religion was of paramount importance. He was an ardent defender of the faith and of the sanctity of human life, and, as architect of the plan of the American bishops to promote all human life, has been called the “father of the pro-life movement in America.”
During his ten years in Camden, Bishop McHugh undertook a major reorganization of the diocese’s administrative structure and pushed to safeguard Catholic education. A diocesan synod process, in which thousands of Catholics came together in locations all over the diocese to have their say in the future direction of the Church of Camden, culminated in a three-day Synod event September 11-13, 1992, at Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill.
Bishop McHugh also authorized the relocation of the Diocese’s headquarters from Haddon Avenue to downtown Camden in 1998 in the PNC Bank building at Market and Broadway, directly across from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the Mother Church of the Diocese. It was in the midst of the move to the new offices that it was announced, on December 7, 1998, that Bishop McHugh had been appointed coadjutor of Rockville Centre. Until the appointment of a new bishop for Camden, he served as apostolic administrator of Camden.
Bishop George H. Guilfoyle
Renewal for Evangelization
It was announced on Wednesday, January 10, 1968 that Bishop George H. Guilfoyle, 54, Auxiliary to Cardinal Spellman and pastor of St. Peter Parish, Staten Island, had been appointed the fourth Ordinary of the Camden Diocese by Pope Paul VI.
After his installation on March 4, 1968, The Bishop committed himself to ecumenism and inter religious affairs, the work of the community in alleviating; the inequities of society, and the priority need for justice.
Less than a month after Bishop Guilfoyle’s installation, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis.;In his first pastoral letter, in June 1968, Bishop Guilfoyle, called racism in America ‘not a mere myth but an ugly reality’ and urged his people to examine closely their attitudes toward the black community and where applicable, ‘purge every fragment of racism among us.’;
The hardest of the work, and its volume in respect to the renewal of the Church in Camden after the Second Vatican Council to date, took place in the time of Bishop Guilfoyle. He envisioned a renewal of the Church so that it could reach out and improve the spiritual and material well-being of humanity.;He believed strongly that the Church must remain faithful to the Word of God in its teaching of doctrine.;He likewise affirmed that the Church must adapt itself to the needs of the modern world if the Message of Christ was to be communicated more effectively and become more alive.;
Parish Councils in 1968 Less than a month after coming to Camden, the Bishop directed that each pastor in the diocese establish a parish council before the end of 1968.;Renewal simply could not happen, the Bishop felt, without the collaboration of bishops, clergy, religious and laity in pastoral work. He also established a Diocesan Pastoral Council the following year;to assist in the discernment of diocesan needs and to share in fostering a spirit of Christian cooperation among all the people of the diocese.;
Pastoral Planning In October 1971, a new Office of Pastoral Planning was established to chart the purpose and direction for the future of the Church in the diocese and which would ‘take account of all members and all functions which, in one way or another, contribute to the self-realization of the Church’s mission in the world.’
During 1976 the Office of Pastoral Planning coordinated a process of wide consultation about diocesan mission in light of the Exhortation on Evangelization issued by Pope Paul VI in December 1975.;RENEW, a three-year program to foster parish spiritual development, which originated in 1977 in the Archdiocese of Newark, was recommended for the Camden Diocese by the Diocesan Pastoral Council in response to Bishop Guilfoyle’s call for increased evangelization and was in place in many parishes by 1983.
The challenge of personal faith renewal was again directly addressed in early 1984, on the diocesan level, through planning for careful implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).
Rites of Seven Sacraments
During Bishop Guilfoyle’s time in Camden, the diocese witnessed the revision of the rites of all seven sacraments.;The Liturgical Commission was charged from the beginning to direct the changes in the rites, forms and methods called for by the Second Vatican Council and subsequent Church documents so that the faithful could participate in them actively and intelligently.;
The work of the commission reached a high point in the establishment of a School of Liturgy which provides a more organized and systematic approach to instruction as well as outreach to greater numbers with its services. Meanwhile, the diocese purchased the St. Pius X Retreat House in Blackwood from the Salvadorian Fathers in April 1969. It quickly became the chief center of spiritual and continuing religious education programs for the clergy, religious and laity of the diocese.
Bishop Guilfoyle, during his 19 years in Camden, invoked the intercession of the Blessed Mother, the patroness of the diocese, in countless addresses, homilies, columns in the Catholic Star Herald, and through events designed to render honor to Our Lady.;On October 24, 1970, the first Camden diocesan pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. took place.;Bishop Guilfoyle also established the diocesan Marian Commission in June 1976.;
Sensitivity to the needs of priests and their growth and development was paramount in Bishop Guilfoyle’s ministry in Camden.;In October 1980, a new vision for priestly development emerged in the beginnings of the Emmaus program in the diocese, a year-long program of spiritual renewal.
The first ordination to the permanent diaconate took place in the diocese on October 4, 1976, at St. Rose of Lima, Haddon Heights. In November 1984, Bishop Guilfoyle spoke of the role of the permanent deacons; the deacons are called to proclaim the good news of God’s saving love for humanity and to bring His love to others, especially in the Eucharist. The deacon’s vocation is also to an ordained ministry of service where he is to apply in public fashion his unique gifts and talents to the struggles for peace, justice, freedom, human rights and human dignity, both within and outside the Church.;
By ordination the deacon is empowered to be a minister of the Word, of the altar, and of charity.’ The range of services for the growth and development of family life also increased during the administration of Bishop Guilfoyle and in September 1973, Father Joseph DiMauro (now Monsignor and pastor of St. Agnes Parish, Blackwood) became the first full-time director of the Family Life Office and made it a well-known model of family life services in the country.
The Catholic Youth Organization Recreation Center (now the Catholic Family Health and Recreation Center) in Blackwood opened in January 1971 and continues to provide an atmosphere of relaxation and an environment for improving in spiritual and physical fitness for all age groups.;
Like his predecessors, Bishop Guilfoyle made Catholic schools and religious education major priorities and in 1980 established the Tuition Assistance Fund to help parents in financial need meet tuition costs for their children’s attendance at Catholic parochial schools.
Evangelization in the Hispanic community, through religious service and social ministry, was accomplished through a newly-established Hispanic Apostolate.;Spanish-language Masses in many South Jersey parishes were instituted, while the diocese worked to obtain Spanish-speaking priests and religious for pastoral work among Hispanics.
Bishop Guilfoyle, who spent almost two decades as a leader of social ministry in the Archdiocese of New York, extensively increased both social services and the revenue to fund them, including the Hispanic Apostolate, the hospital chaplains and prison ministry, Archbishop Damiano School in Westville – Grove and other special education in the elementary and secondary schools, the Apostolate to the Deaf, the works of Catholic Charities,;
St. John the Baptist Pre-Natal Clinic, St. Luke’s Medical Services and Legal Services to the needy, all in Camden, the Visiting Nurse and Home Health program.;
Growing from one resident in 1941 to more than 770 residents in five homes in 2003, the Division of Health Affairs seeks to care for the individual’s spiritual, physical, emotional and social needs at St. Mary’s Catholic Home, Our Lady’s Multi-Care Center, Bishop McCarthy Residence, Mater Dei Nursing Home and The Manor at Saint Mary’s.;
A Department of Housing was established in June 1969 by Bishop Guilfoyle, specifically to look to the needs of the aged and to seek to resolve some of the problems connected with the growing aged population.
Resulting from this work was the dedication of the Victorian Towers in Cape May in September 1973, with the diocese serving as non-profit sponsor.;The facility accommodates hundreds of older individuals in its 205 residential units.;The same type of project was dedicated in Cherry Hill in April 1984 with 150 residential units for the elderly at St. Mary’s Village.;Davenport Village in Hainesport, meanwhile, was established in 2002.
Right to Life
Bishop Guilfoyle first established the Pro-Life Office of the diocese in 1973 after the United States Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.;In a pastoral letter shortly thereafter, the Bishop called for education in the value and meaning of human life, urged the manifestation ‘of our pastoral concern for all who face difficult problems which may lead them to see abortion as a solution,’ spoke of ‘the right to life from conception to old age.’;
Signs of Growth
During Bishop Guilfoyle’s time in Camden, eight new parishes were established, twenty-three churches were built, with many more renovated to meet the changing needs, eleven convents were erected, thirty-seven rectories were built, a recreation center was erected, six new schools were built along with fourteen additions to existing schools, and twenty-four parish halls were erected.
St. Pius X Retreat House was acquired by the diocese, special education facilities were expanded, and a Newman Center was erected at Glassboro State College.;Nursing homes construction and acquisition increased to four. Until 1969, the diocesan offices were housed in separate buildings on Cooper Street in Camden.;When those structures were taken over by the State of New Jersey for new access roads to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the diocese brought all departments together in a single structure at 1845 Haddon Avenue, Camden.
Bishop Guilfoyle died at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center on June 11, 1991 of complications from a respiratory ailment.;He was 77 years old.;He had been hospitalized for almost a month, but his illness did not seem fatal until almost the end.
Archbishop Celestine Damiano
New Bishop February 1960
It was announced on February 10, 1960 that the third bishop of Camden would be Archbishop Celestine Damiano, 48, then Apostolic Delegate to South Africa. The Archbishop was a priest of the Buffalo Diocese, where he had been a pastor, and afterwards, from 1947 to 1952, a member of the staff in Rome of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
From 1952 to 1960, Archbishop Damiano had in many ways, almost singularly, changed the face of the Church in South Africa. His great respect for the dignity of the human person, of whatever race or ethnic origin, would not permit him to silently fulfill the duties of a papal delegate in a country dominated by apartheid. As he worked in a pastoral manner with other bishops and with the priests of South Africa, he insisted quite vocally on new modes of Church advocacy for the equality of the races.
Shortly after his installation in Camden, where he described himself as above all a “citizen of the Church,” the Archbishop spoke publicly of the plight of the 25,000 Puerto Ricans in the diocese. “Give them an opportunity to belong, to be educated, to progress.”
For the next seven years of his time in Camden, the Archbishop urged and put into action several initiatives to provide a better life for Hispanics. Particular significant contributions made under his direction were the opening of a pre-natal clinic for expectant mothers in North Camden, staffed by the Hospitaler Sisters he brought from Rome in 1966, and the establishment in 1962 of the Spanish Catholic Center which is now a parish for all Hispanics in the city of Vineland. The works of the Neighborhood Apostolate were also important achievements in the upgrading of pastoral care for Hispanics.
Brazil Missions
A ministry began in 1961 with Father (later Monsignor) Edward Kennedy and Father (later Monsignor) Felix O’Neill assigned to what would be known as Camden’s Brazil Missions. To this day it is one of Archbishop Damiano’s initiatives which broadened priests and people to understand the universality of the Church and to commit themselves to generosity beyond the borders of the local church.
Probably the most lasting memorial of the Archbishop’s ministry in Camden was his establishment of the House of Charity Appeal for funding the human services of the diocese. It is noteworthy that the idea of the House of Charity first came from remarks made by Pope John XXIII in 1962. The Holy Father saw all religions working together to help each other. The concept for the House of Charity was born with John’s words, “I am your brother Joseph, come into your Father’s house.”
In rapid succession, several new social ministries to the poor and needy were announced: the pre-natal clinic on State Street in North Camden, additional classes for the developmentally disabled and handicapped persons, the construction of a new complex planned for the educable and trainable in Deptford Township, and the opening of new nursing homes in Pleasantville and Upper Pittsgrove Township near Elmer. A new chapel and convent were added to St. Mary’s Home, and by 1965 the services there had been expanded to house 95 chronically ill patients.
Expansion of Catholic Education
Just three weeks after his arrival in Camden, Archbishop Damiano announced that his main work in Camden would be to advance Catholic education. By September 1962 the new Camden Catholic High School on Cuthbert Boulevard in Cherry Hill opened to replace the Camden building substantially destroyed by a fire on Easter night in April 1960. St. James High School was built and an addition to Gloucester Catholic High School. The new Holy Spirit High School opened in Absecon in 1964, and in the winter of 1965 the Archbishop broke ground for the third new high school, Pope Paul VI in Haddon Township. The old Camden Catholic High School reopened as a girls’ academy, Cathedral Academy, in September 1965.
Other new high schools were also rising. St. Augustine Preparatory was opened in Richland, Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Newfield, and an addition to St. Mary of the Angels Academy in Haddonfield. Bishop Eustace Preparatory in Pennsauken was extensively expanded.
On the elementary level, 17 parish schools were built during the Archbishop’s time; other schools were modernized and expanded.
A diocesan board of education was established in 1965, a board which during its history, to this day, has been instrumental in recommending policies to further Christian formation and educational quality in the schools of the diocese.
On the post-secondary level, Our Lady of Lourdes School of Nursing opened in January 1961, with diocesan clergy teaching philosophy and theology to the future nurses. In addition, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) program experienced major growth during Archbishop Damiano’s time.
The Archbishop was deeply committed to the renewed spirit of the liturgy which flowed from the Second Vatican Council, just as he was deeply convinced that the vision adapted by the Council Fathers had to be carefully understood. Hence, scores of programs, conferences and liturgical training programs were established.
The post-conciliar spirit of renewal was evident in a number of other initiatives led by the Archbishop. He fostered involvement in ecumenical and inter-religious activities, and when he received a B’nai B’rith Award, he was justly proud that he had helped to strengthen brotherhood.
Bishop Justin J. McCarthy
Total Catholic Education
Bishop Justin J. McCarthy, Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, 56 years old, was installed as the second bishop of Camden at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on March 19, 1957. The history of Bishop McCarthy in Camden is often glossed over quickly because of the brevity of his tenure. Camden’s second bishop died after a fatal heart attack on December 26, 1959. Yet, the shortness of time did not curtail the great impact this prelate made on the diocese.
His chief historical legacy was his commitment to total Catholic education. The new schools that were opened and the additions made to the existing ones made room for an increase of over 5,000 students at the elementary level and 1,000 students at the high school level.
A major effort was also undertaken to upgrade the teaching of religion to youth in public schools. The renewal began with intensive training for religious education teachers. At the time of Bishop McCarthy’s death, some 20,000 youth were enrolled in the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes, an increase of almost 100 percent from the time of his installation.
Hispanic Ministry
The Bishop’s second major priority was ministry to the rapidly growing Hispanic population in the Diocese. There were at the time some 20,000 Hispanics, mostly from Puerto Rico, many of whom had come to work on the farms and then remained as permanent residents.
As early as June 1957, the Bishop displayed serious concern for the large number of Spanish-speaking immigrants in the diocese, the difficulties experienced by the migrant farm workers, and their need to be served by the Church in their native language.
A Mobile Chapel for migrants, named Capilla Rodante Santa Ana, was dedicated in 1957 by Bishop McCarthy. Following a request from the Bishop, four sisters of the Oblates of the Sacred Heart arrived in Camden in December 1959 from El Salvador to teach religion and to do social work among parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Camden. They helped train girls to teach catechism in the homes of the Hispanic Our Lady of Fatima Parish.
Another priority of Camden’s second bishop was encouragement of the laity to participate actively in civic affairs. In addition, various lay groups were of special concern to Bishop McCarthy, including the Friends of the Sacred Heart, the Camden County Bar Association, the Medical Guild, the St. Joseph’s Guild, the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Daughters of America, Our Lady of Lourdes Auxiliary, and the Bishop’s Committee for Charity.
Bartholomew J. Eustace
First Bishop Installed May 4, 1938.
On December 15, it was announced that the first bishop of Camden would be Father Bartholomew J. Eustace of New York, then fifty years old. On May 3, 1938, five thousand people lined the streets leading from the railway station at Haddonfield as the new bishop made his way in a motorcade down Haddon Avenue to the rectory of his new cathedral, Immaculate Conception Church, in Camden.
The past history of Catholicism in South Jersey strongly inspired Bishop’s Eustace’s homily at his installation May 4 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He dedicated the new diocese to the Blessed Virgin Mary “to take under her care and protection from this moment henceforth the infant Church of Camden.”
In the homily, Bishop Eustace committed his whole self to Camden when he said: “By the cross I bear I vow to be a faithful leader, gentle father and true Bishop. Floreat Camdenum! (May Camden flourish).” He pointed to the many challenges that he and his people were to face and said, “In proportion as afterwards a building rise high, so the foundation must be deep, and all that Camden is ever to be is rightly founded in commencement on my heart.”
A Beginning—St. Mary Catholic Home
In human services, the establishment of St. Mary Catholic Home in 1941 by the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, with the zealous support of Bishop Eustace, would have major implications on the growth of social ministry in the diocese. At St. Mary’s, the Sisters tilled the land and raised the animals so that the elderly and sick residents could receive good care.
A major undertaking was the erection of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, still the only Catholic hospital in the Diocese. Archbishop Walsh blessed the hospital on May 28, 1950. The inscription over the entrance to the hospital reads: “The body is often curable—the soul is ever so.”
Kingdom of God Primary Priority
In his first pastoral letter, Bishop Eustace joined the history of the past with the goals of the future when he wrote: “Intent as we are on one thing—the spreading, namely, of the Kingdom of God on earth, we confidently turn to you to ask your help…We must now ourselves begin to make such contribution as we can in order to assure that a glorious past may be crowned by a yet more brilliant future.”
Participation of Laity Widens
Bishop Eustace established structures for the participation of laity in the public forum, which indeed made him a forerunner of the Second Vatican Council. His great support of the Holy Name Society in the parishes resulted in a series of pre-war and post-war rallies with thousands present at each one. Bishop Eustace’s basic purpose was for the laity to demonstrate the strength of the Church and the character and faith of his people.
In the early 1940’s and during World War II, with the expansion of industry in the area, the population experienced a rapid growth with the development of great numbers of new housing communities. The growth continued throughout Bishop Eustace’s time, and indeed, the transformation of South Jersey during and after World War II seems almost incredible. Census figures and economic statistics demonstrate the changes from a poor, depressed industrial and agricultural area to a populous suburban residential community, at least financially comfortable, and in many instances, well-to-do. Large numbers of families moved into South Jersey during this time from directly across the Delaware River.
The Bishop’s record reads that some 50 students from Ireland were recruited, either by himself or his Vicar General, Monsignor Augustine Mozier, and were eventually ordained priests for the Diocese. The policy of recruiting young men with residence outside the Diocese not only built up clergy personnel numerically, but it also resulted in the advantages of diversity of family, cultural and geographical backgrounds, adding to the strength and depth of priestly ministry in the Diocese.
Under Bishop Eustace’s direction, 31 new parishes were founded, 25 missions opened (16 of which later became parishes). Three new high schools were opened and six expanded; 22 elementary schools were opened and 14 existing ones expanded.