Dennis Joseph Sullivan (born March 17, 1945) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

and auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroug ...

in New York City until he replaced Bishop

Joseph Anthony Galante Joseph Anthony Galante (July 2, 1938 – May 25, 2019) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden, Diocese of Camden in New Jersey from 2004 to 2013. He previously held se ...

as bishop of the

Diocese of Camden The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden is a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin Church in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It consists of 62 parishes and about 475,000 Catholics in the Southern Jersey counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumber ...

in New Jersey in 2013. He lives in

Woodbury, New Jersey Woodbury is the county seat of Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the South Jersey region of the state.

Biography

Early life

Dennis Sullivan was born on March 17, 1945, in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, to John and Hanorah (née Hayes) Sullivan. One of four children, he has two brothers, Jack and Charlie, and one sister, Catherine. Dennis Sullivan attended Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx before entering

Iona College Iona University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochell ...

in New Rochelle, New York. He left Iona in his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

year to study for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York. Sullivan earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

and a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

degree from St. Joseph's.

Priesthood

Sullivan was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal

Terence Cooke Terence James Cooke (March 1, 1921 – October 6, 1983) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1968 until his death, quietly battling leukemia throughout his tenure. He was named a cardin ...

on May 29, 1971, and was then sent to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

to learn

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. He spent three months in the Dominican Republic, where he "learned to speak Spanish very fast because nobody spoke English." After returning to New York City, Sullivan served as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St. Elizabeth's Parish in Washington Heights for five years. He also served as curate at SS Philip and James Parish in the Bronx (1976–1981) and at Ascension Parish in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(1981–1982). Sullivan was named

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of St. Teresa's Parish on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

of Manhattan in 1981, where he gained a degree of fluency in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

. In 1999, he was made a monsignor by the Vatican. Then in 2004, he became pastor of SS John and Paul Parish in

Larchmont Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Larc ...

. Sullivan was also a member of the Lower East Side Catholic Area Conference, the Archdiocesan Priests' Council, and the Archdiocesan Review Board for sexual abuse cases.

Auxiliary Bishop of New York

On June 28, 2004, Sullivan was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Enera by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

on September 21, 2004, from Cardinal

Edward Egan Edward Michael Egan (April 2, 1932 – March 5, 2015) was an American Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut from 19 ...

, with Bishops Robert Brucato and

Patrick Sheridan Patrick Joseph Thomas Sheridan K.H.S., K.M., (March 10, 1922 – December 2, 2011) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1990 until his retirement in 2001. Biography ...

serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. Sullivan selected as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

: ''"In the Breaking of the Bread"''. As an auxiliary bishop, Sullivan served as the

for the archdiocese. He celebrated the

funeral mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

of the writer Reverend

Richard Neuhaus Richard John Neuhaus (May 14, 1936–January 8, 2009) was a prominent Christian cleric (first in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, then ELCA pastor and later as a Catholic priest) and writer. Born in Canada, Neuhaus moved to the United Stat ...

in January 2009. Within the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

, Sullivan 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.

Bishop of Camden

On January 8, 2013,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

appointed Sullivan as bishop of the Diocese of Camden. He was installed on February 12, 2013.

Controversy

In April 2022 Sullivan agreed to an $87.5 million payout to victims of clerical celibacy. This was widely seen as an expensive damage limitation exercise to avoid litigation in the course of which unwelcome details might emerge. In 2023 Bishop Sullivan was part of the team appointed by Pope Francis to investigate Bishop Joseph Strickland, after Strickland had offered a series of criticisms of the Pope's policies.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Dennis Joseph 1938 births Living people Clergy from New York City 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Iona University alumni People from the Bronx People from Woodbury, New Jersey Saint Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie) alumni Catholics from New York (state) Catholics from New Jersey