After serving for 17 years in parish religious education and catechetical ministry, Jessica Donohue is beginning a fresh chapter with the Diocese of Trenton as the new director of the Department of Catechesis.
“Catechesis is so essential to the life of the Church,” Donohue said. “It encompasses efforts to form disciples, hand on the faith in all of its richness, and foster each person’s relationship with Christ.”
Donohue succeeds Denise Contino, who was appointed in June by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., as executive director of Pastoral Life and Mission. In her new role, Donohue will support parish catechetical leaders, catechists, pastors and Catholic school educators as they work to form disciples and hand on the Catholic faith to people of all generations.
“I see this position as a call to return to what has been so generously given to me by others, and I am so very grateful to Bishop O’Connell for the opportunity to do so through this role,” she said.
Ministry Minded
Donohue’s journey began in 2009 in Sacred Heart Parish, Mount Holly, where she was assistant to the parish’s director of religious education. Donohue later went on to lead the parish’s religious education program.
In 2021, Donohue moved to St. Joan of Arc Parish, Marlton, where she served as director of religious education until accepting her new position with the Diocese.
Throughout those years, Donohue continued to develop her own knowledge in the ministry, completing catechetical leadership formation offered by the Diocese and earning master’s degrees in religious education from Felician University, Lodi, and theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary, Cromwell, Conn. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in liturgical catechesis at The Catholic University of America, Washington. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Donohue’s involvement in diocesan ministry includes serving as president of TRED, Trenton Religious Education Directors; an instructor for the Diocese’s Art of Catechesis formation program, and a diocesan columnist and freelance reporter for The Monitor Magazine and TrentonMonitor.com.
In 2023, the Diocese recognized Donohue with the Chick McGinty Award, which honors an outstanding parish catechetical leader.
A Desire to Serve
Donohue traces her interest in catechetical ministry to her years as a stay-at-home mother to two sons and an active member of Sacred Heart Parish. It was through her work in catechetical ministry, she discovered a desire to serve the Church professionally.
“I had no idea what that would look like,” she recalled, but she eventually realized her love for working with families, children, parents and catechists.
“It is really a great privilege and a blessing to play even a small role in helping children and families grow closer to Jesus,” she said.
Donohue credits her predecessor in Sacred Heart, the late Dr. Eileen Hoefling, and other mentors, along with the priests and parish communities she served, for helping shape her approach to ministry. She described Sacred Heart and St. Joan of Arc parishes as “equally wonderful communities” and expressed gratitude for priests who encouraged and supported her work, namely Father John Czahur, Sacred Heart pastor, and Msgr. Richard LaVerghetta and Father John Michael Patilla, St. Joan pastor and parochial vicar, respectively.
Support to All
As diocesan director, Donohue’s primary responsibility will be supporting those who lead faith formation throughout the Diocese, including nearly 100 pastors; 90 parish catechetical leaders; more than 2,000 parish catechists and Catholic school religious education teachers; more than 30,000 religious education students and about 400 leaders and team members serving in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.
Donohue will help PCLs pursue their own ongoing formation through diocesan and outside opportunities. She will also conduct parish visits, provide guidance on challenges and ideas, lead the Parish Catechetical Leadership Program and connect parish leaders with resources that can strengthen their ministries.
“I am really looking forward to learning about the unique ways each parish expresses the Church’s mission to hand on the faith,” she said.
During her years as a PCL, Donohue has had to problem solve and improvise as needed, allowing her to relate well to the challenges that ministry leaders face. Whether developing new programs to manage unmet demands and finding ways to stretch the number of catechists available to serve, Donohue has seen “blessings in disguise,” in which she has been able to get to know families better.
She has also learned first-hand that those who hand on the faith must continually grow in their own formation. “We have a great responsibility not only to form the faithful effectively and fruitfully, but also for forming those who possess this beautiful vocation to hand on the faith to others,” she said.