By Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.
As Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, I am delighted to extend prayerful congratulations to Cardinal-designate Joseph Tobin, CSSR, until now Archbishop of Indianapolis, as the new Archbishop-designate of Newark. The Archdiocese is the Metropolitan See of New Jersey and its Archbishop coordinates the statewide activities of his brother bishops when they act together as an ecclesiastical province for the Catholic Church in the Garden State. Currently there are four other dioceses in New Jersey that, with the Archdiocese of Newark, constitute the New Jersey Catholic Conference.
A native of Detroit, Cardinal-designate Tobin joins our province having served as Archbishop of Indianapolis for the last 4 years and, prior to that, Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (2010-12). A member of the Redemptorist Order, Cardinal-designate Tobin also served as its Superior General (2009-2011). At age 64, he will be the first Cardinal and the first Redemptorist appointed to lead the Archdiocese of Newark.
Cardinal Tobin’s many and diverse gifts, coupled with such diverse pastoral experience, make him a great choice for the diversity he will find in the Archdiocese of Newark. His widely recognized commitment to the poor and marginalized will be warmly welcomed by the clergy, religious and faithful of northern New Jersey’s Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties. He is insightful, kind and blessed with a really great sense of humor that will quickly earn him a joyful, effective place in the Garden State.
I am grateful to our Holy Father Pope Francis for assigning Cardinal-designate Tobin to the Archdiocese of Newark and I look forward to working with him as he assumes his new episcopal ministry here in New Jersey. I likewise express my gratitude and best wishes to Archbishop John J. Myers as he retires after 15 years of leading the local Church of Newark. May he enjoy God’s grace and blessings in the years ahead and may the Archdiocese of Newark flourish under its new Archbishop’s leadership.
