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Seven parishes and agencies which serve the people of the Diocese of Trenton in diverse ways were awarded a total of $10,000 in grants from the 2021 Bishop George W. Ahr Endowment Fund. The fund, named for the seventh bishop of the Diocese, presents annual grants for projects which provide services for the poor and vulnerable population in Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties.

The Diocese of Trenton is joining its counterparts around the world in preparing to celebrate the first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, proclaimed by Pope Francis to occur on the fourth Sunday of July each year, close to the Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus.  Set to take place this year on Sunday, July 25, the special day will have as its theme “I Am With You Always.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will gather virtually for the 2021 Spring General Assembly starting today, Wednesday, June 16 in a virtual format.

The Bishops of New Jersey have ended the dispensation from the obligation to assist at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation effective June 5-6, 2021, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.  The faithful are to return to the practice of participating at weekly celebration of Mass in church.

Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., has announced the following appointment:

After five years of educational and pastoral formation, eight laymen will advance to the Order of Deacon in service to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton May 15 when they are ordained by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., has announced the following appointments for priests and deacons of the Diocese of Trenton, effective July 1, 2021, unless otherwise noted.

The Catholic Home Missions Appeal will take place in parishes across the Diocese of Trenton at all Masses on the weekend of April 24-25.

A civil lawsuit has been filed against the Diocese of Trenton alleging the sexual abuse of a minor in 1989-90 by Rev. Joseph Farrell, currently pastor of St. Isidore the Farmer Parish, New Egypt. The abuse was alleged to have taken place during Father Farrell’s ministry in Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish in Atlantic Highlands. A report was filed immediately by the Diocese with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Diocese has pledged its full cooperation to law enforcement. 

Since the establishment of Trenton Catholic Academy in Hamilton more than 15 years ago, the Diocese of Trenton has provided substantial support to make this Catholic educational experience available to students who live in and around the wider Trenton area.  However, the growing cost of providing this experience has consistently outpaced tuition and other revenue, requiring diocesan subsidy of more than $20 million over the last 12 years.

Overview and Streaming schedule for Holy Week and Easter This Holy Week and Easter, hundreds of thousands of Catholics in the Diocese of Trenton will take part in Masses and services either inside or outside their churches while observing pandemic precautions or at home via livestream.

Christ the Redeemer Parish in Mount Holly, which has experienced declining attendance and growing financial struggles over the last decade, will close its church and undergo canonical suppression, it was announced March 20 and 21. 

On this first anniversary of the World Health Organization’s March 11, 2020, declaration of COVID-19 as a world-wide pandemic, we continue to confront the challenges it has imposed.   I ask the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Trenton to pray for all those who have died from COVID-19 this past year and their families and loved ones; to pray for all those who still suffer from the pandemic and those caring for them; to pray for all health care professionals, support staff and first responders who have been and continue to be truly heroic throughout this difficult time; to pray for all those who are working to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further.  May God help us all remain healthy and safe.

On March 2, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee

As the pandemic passes the one-year mark and continues to stretch into 2021, a profound side-effect has emerged: isolation.  The experience not only leaves people separated from each other through illness, social distancing and quarantining, but often leaves them, “wondering where God is,” writes Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in his new release: “‘Behold, I Am with You Always,’  A Pastoral Letter on the Presence of God.”

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., has shared the following prayer request with the faithful of the Diocese of Trenton: Please pray for all those who have died or have been injured in the recent winter storms, especially in Texas. We pray especially for those whose homes have been destroyed or who are without power and heat and for first responders who are offering assistance to those with urgent needs. In our Lenten almsgiving, let us find concrete ways to help our brothers and sisters. Let us entrust them in prayer to Our Blessed Mother Mary and St. Joseph.

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Trenton will take part in the national observance of Catholic Schools Week, slated for Jan. 31 through Feb. 6. Now in its 47th year, Catholic Schools Week is an opportunity to highlight the value of a Catholic school education and focus on some of the exemplary programs underway in our schools.  The 2021 theme “Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service,” reflects all that is essential for forming intelligent and faithful citizens for the future.

Members of the Catholic community and people of good will across the nation will observe a Day of Prayer and Fasting for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Jan. 22, the 48th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States.

The Diocesan Chancery/Pastoral Center Building is closed through Feb. 1

Pope Francis has urged people to register and take a COVID vaccine as soon as possible, revealing in a new interview that he expects to get his own first dose this week. "I believe that, morally, everyone must take the vaccine … because it is about your life but also the lives of others."