News - Our Diocese Today RSS Feed

ALL ARE INVITED TO ATTEND the 9 a.m. Mass Oct. 1 in St. Dominic Church, 250 Old Squan Rd., Brick, where the Diocese of Trenton will welcome Antonia Salzano, mother of Blessed Carlo Acutis. On that occasion, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will dedicate the Shrine to Blessed Carlo Acutis whom he named “Diocesan Patron of Youth, Especially Those in Catholic Schools and Religious Education Programs” in St. Dominic Church.

In a letter sent Sept. 20, 2023 to all priests of the Diocese, Bishop David M O’Connell, C.M., called for prayer among the faithful to usher in the Synod of Bishops set to begin in October. Bishop O’Connell wrote: “The First Session of the Synod of Bishops 2021-2024 begins Oct. 4 and continues until Oct. 29, 2023 with the theme ‘For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission.’ Our Holy Father Pope Francis has said, ‘Without prayer there will be no Synod.’”

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES WILL OBSERVE NATIONAL MIGRATION WEEK from September 18-24. Each year, this week-long celebration culminates with the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, established by the Holy See over 100 years ago and commemorated by Catholics across the globe. Throughout this week, the faithful and others of good will are encouraged to reflect on the challenges facing migrants, refugees, and others impacted by the complex phenomenon of forced displacement, the ways these newcomers enrich welcoming communities, and how we are each called to respond to them as members of the same human family.   

More than 100 priests serving in the Diocese of Trenton gathered Sept. 12 for the opening of the Priest Convocation – three days set aside annually to spend in prayer and fellowship with one another and Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.

THE DEADLY TERRORIST ATTACKS ON THE UNITED STATES ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 are as fresh in the minds and memories of those alive at the time as though they happened yesterday. Simply referred to as “9/11,” the events of that horrific day deeply affected not only our nation but also the entire free world.

BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THIS MESSAGE for World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Our Holy Father Pope Francis has announced that he will publish an apostolic exhortation on the environment on Oct. 4 of this year, the memorial feast of St. Francis of Assisi, as a follow up to his landmark encyclical on care for creation, Laudato Si (May 24, 2015).

CATHOLIC CHARITIES HAWAI’I IN THE HONOLULU DIOCESE has appealed for donations to help the agency meet the housing, food and other needs of what could be thousands of victims from wildfires raging on the island of Maui that wiped out an entire town and drove people to seek refuge in the ocean.

Yes, Tuesday, August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven and the Patronal Feast of the Diocese of Trenton, IS a holy day of obligation.  In other words, Catholics are obliged to attend Mass either on the vigil (the evening before) or on the day itself. Rather than focus on the “obligation,” which is described in the provisions of canon law (cc. 1246 and 1247) and supported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for our country, perhaps we should consider the reasons of faith behind the obligation.

JUST IN TIME FOR THE UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR, New Jersey nonpublic schools have been granted substantial increased funding for school transportation – a much-needed boost that may give Catholic schools a more attractive financial standpoint from which to accept transportation bids.

As Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, I join the Holy Father in those prayerful, good wishes, especially for those young Catholics from our Diocese and the other dioceses in New Jersey making the trip. “Our young Catholic faithful are not only the future but also the ‘present’ of the Church.  Whatever can be done to encourage, support and deepen their faith and their encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ in and with one another pro

BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE for the World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly, July 23. With a call to honor and never abandon grandparents, 86-year-old Pope Francis issued his third annual Message for World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly to be celebrated on the weekend of July 22-23, close to the feast of Jesus' own grandparents, Saints Joachim and Anne.

AS BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF TRENTON, I extend my heartiest congratulations on behalf of the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese to our Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, on his elevation to the College of Cardinals.  The relationship between the bishops of a country and their Apostolic Nuncio is an important and special one.

BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THIS MESSAGE for the month of July, Since 1849, the Catholic Church throughout the world has celebrated the month of July as the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Devotion to the Blood of Christ has been a pious tradition in the Church since its beginnings.

In homilies, addresses and countless messages, members of the Class of 2023 have been encouraged to take all that they gained in their Catholic school education, especially their faith in Jesus Christ, and use it to impact the world they are about to enter. This year, diplomas were handed to 1,230 graduates from Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Trenton.

Those wanting to learn more about the priesthood are invited to the annual “Come &See” event on June 29 which will begin with a Mass celebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., at 5:30 p.m. in St. John the Baptist Church, 1282 Yardville-Allentown Rd., Allentown, in which all are welcome to attend and pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood. After Mass, an outdoor barbecue will follow on the parish grounds. Those in attendance will have an opportunity to meet and talk honestly about the priesthood with priests of the Diocese and current seminarians.

GRADUATION SEASON 2023 IN THE DIOCESE OF TRENTON occurred during May and June with diplomas being awarded to more than 1,200 Catholic high school seniors attending diocesan, parish and independent schools as well as some 919 eighth graders. Along with the celebrating and cheering by the graduates, their family members and school faculty members,  members of the Class of 2023 were encouraged to take all that they gained in their Catholic school education, especially their faith in Jesus Christ, and use it to impact the world they are about to enter.

Beginning June 22, 2023, the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher — saints and English martyrs who fought religious persecution, notably objecting to King Henry VIII's claims to be the supreme head of the Church of England and who were executed for treason in 1635 as a result — until June 29, 2023, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops invites all Catholics in all the dioceses and parishes of our nation to pray, reflect, and act to promote religious freedom during Religious Freedom Week 2023.

BISHOP DAVID M. O'CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THIS MESSAGE FOR FATHER'S DAY A father is neither an anchor to hold us back nor a sail to take us there but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.

THE U.S. CATHOLIC BISHOPS ARE INVITING THE FAITHFUL to pray for challenges to religious liberty both within the United States and abroad during the upcoming Religious Freedom Week. The theme for this year's annual June 22 - 29 event is "Embracing the Divine Gift of Freedom." "Religious freedom allows the Church, and all religious communities, to live out their faith in public and to serve the good of all," the event's website stated. "Beginning June 22, the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, the USCCB invites Catholics to pray, reflect, and act to promote religious freedom."

BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THIS MESSAGE for the “World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.” Return to the ‘Upper Room’: World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests One of the greatest privileges and most humbling graces in the life and ministry of a bishop is the opportunity to ordain priests, to hand on to them a share in the very priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he first gave to his own apostles in the Upper Room on the night before he died for us.  And, consequently, one of the most important responsibilities the bishop has is to care for them, as a father cares for his sons. That, too, is a privilege and a grace.