Father Jonathan S. Toborowsky to serve as Diocese of Metuchen’s new Administrator

On Nov. 20, 2025, the Diocese of Metuchen’s College of Consultors, in fulfillment of the Code of Canon Law, elected its Vicar General, Father Jonathan S. Toborowsky, to serve as Diocesan Administrator until Pope Leo XIV names a new Bishop of Metuchen.

The transition follows the September appointment of Bishop James Checchio by Pope Leo as Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans. When Bishop Checchio was formally installed during a Mass in that See city’s St. Louis Cathedral Nov. 18, the Diocese of Metuchen became a Sede Vacante (Vacant See). The College of Consultors, an ecclesial advisory body that exists in every diocese/archdiocese, appointed to advise their bishop in various temporal and pastoral matters, then had eight days to gather and elect a priest to serve as Administrator. They held that election two days later.

Father Toborowsky, a priest of the Diocese of Metuchen, was ordained to the priesthood in 1998. A native of Port Reading, he has served in the parishes of St. James in Basking Ridge, St. Mary in Alpha, St. Thomas in Old Bridge, St. Lawrence in Laurence Harbor, and Immaculate Conception in Annandale, and had served as Vicar General since 2022.

In a published column by The Catholic Spirit, Father Toborowsky asked the faithful for their prayers as he assumes this new role, and as they continue to pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in the Holy Father’s selection of the next Bishop of Metuchen.