Church Roman Catholic Church Installed February 12, 2013 Ordination May 29, 1971 | Successor Incumbent Consecration September 21, 2004 Name Dennis Sullivan Appointed January 8, 2013 | |
Born March 17, 1945 (age 79)
New York, New York ( 1945-03-17 ) Diocese Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden Education Saint Joseph's Seminary, Iona College | ||
Predecessor Joseph Anthony Galante | ||
Dennis Joseph Sullivan (born March 17, 1945) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as vicar general and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York until he replaced Bishop Joseph Galante as Bishop of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey in 2013. He currently lives in Woodbury, New Jersey.
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Early life
Dennis Sullivan was born in the Bronx, New York, to John and Hanorah (née Hayes) Sullivan. One of four children, he has two brothers, Jack and Charlie, and one sister, Catherine.
He attended Mount St. Michael Academy before entering Iona College, but left in his sophomore year to study for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers. He earned a Bachelor's degree and a Master's in Divinity from St. Joseph's.
Priesthood
Bishop Sullivan was ordained by Terence Cardinal Cooke on May 29, 1971, and then sent to the Dominican Republic to learn Spanish, so as to better serve the Spanish-speaking Catholics of the Archdiocese of New York. He spent three months in the Dominican Republic, where he "learned to speak Spanish very fast because nobody spoke English."
Upon his return to the United States, Sullivan served as parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth's Parish in Washington Heights for five years. He also served as parochial vicar at Ss. Philip and James Parish in the Bronx (1976–1981) and at Ascension Parish in New York City (1981–1982). He was named pastor of St. Teresa's Parish on the Lower East Side in 1981, where he gained a degree of fluency in Chinese In 1999, he was raised to the rank of Honorary Prelate of His Holiness. Then, in 2004, he became pastor of Ss. John and Paul Parish in Larchmont.
Bishop Sullivan was also a member of the Lower East Side Catholic Area Conference, Archdiocesan Priests' Council, and Archdiocesan Review Board for sexual abuse cases.
Episcopal career
On June 28, 2004, Bishop Sullivan was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New York and titular bishop of Enera by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 21 from Edward Cardinal Egan, with Bishops Robert Brucato and Patrick Sheridan serving as co-consecrators. He selected as his episcopal motto: "In the Breaking of the Bread".
As an auxiliary bishop, Bishop Sullivan served as the vicar general for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. He celebrated the funeral Mass of Rev. Richard John Neuhaus in January 2009. Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he is a member of the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs, and sat on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development Committee from 2005 to 2008.
On January 8, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Sullivan Bishop of Camden. He was formally installed as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden on February 12, 2013.