1700 to 1800

Although the British Provinces of East New Jersey and West New Jersey were not officially welcoming to Catholics, they tended to ignore their presence. During the mid 1700s, priests would periodically visit German Catholic workers at the iron mills in Passaic County. The first parish in New Jersey, Saint Joseph’s, was established in West Milford in 1765.^[4]

The assistance of Catholic French troops during the American Revolution helped to abate anti-Catholic sentiment in all of the 13 original colonies. In 1784, Pope Pius VI erected the Apostolic Prefecture of United States of America, including all of the new United States. In 1789, the same pope raised this prefecture to the Diocese of Baltimore.^[5]

1800 to 1900

As the population of the United States grew, the Vatican in 1808 established the Dioceses of Philadelphia and New York.^[6] In 1820, Bishop John Connolly of New York sent Richard Bulger to Paterson to serve as first resident priest in New Jersey to Paterson.^[4] In 1821, Bulger established St. John the Baptist Church, the first church of any denomination in Paterson.^[7] Waves of Irish and German Catholic immigrants flooded into the area during the mid-1800s.

In 1853, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Newark from the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Philadelphia. The Paterson area would remain part of the Diocese of Newark for the next 84 years. In 1867, the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth founded St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson.^[8]

Sacred Heart Church, the first Catholic church in Clifton, was dedicated in 1897.^[9] That same year, St. Mary's Hospital opened in Passaic.^[10] The College of Saint Elizabeth was founded in 1899 by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth.^[11] It was one of the first Catholic colleges in the United States to award degrees to women.

1900 to 2000

The Diocese of Paterson was established by Pope Pius XI on December 9, 1937, taking its territory from Diocese of Newark. The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Thomas H. McLaughlin of Newark as the first bishop of Paterson.^[12] St. John the Baptist in Paterson was designated as the diocesan cathedral.^[4] In 1938, Bishop McLaughlin established Associated Catholic Charities in the diocese.^[13]

Following the death of McLaughlin in 1947, Pope Pius XII that same year appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Boland of Newark as the second bishop of Paterson. He served in Paterson for five years before being appointed archbishop of Newark in 1952.^[14][15]

Boland was succeeded by Auxiliary Bishop James A. McNulty of Newark, named by Pius XII in 1953.^[16] During his tenure, he established thirteen new parishes.^[17] In 1963, McNulty became bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo. To succeed McNulty, that same year Pope John XXIII appointed Bishop James Navagh from the Diocese of Ogdensburg as the fourth bishop of the diocese of Paterson.^[18] He died suddenly in 1965.^[19]

Pope Paul VI in 1966 appointed Auxiliary Bishop Lawrence B. Casey from the Diocese of Rochester as Navagh's replacement in Paterson. Casey died in 1977.^[20] Frank Rodimer of Paterson was named by Paul VI as the next bishop of Paterson, the first native of the diocese to serve that role.

As bishop, Rodimer wrote a weekly column for the diocesan newspaper, The Beacon. He also established a $7 million diocesan endowment to support Catholic schools, parishes and other diocesan ministries through fund raising. With corporate leaders, Rodimer established the Tri-County Scholarship fund to provide scholarships to needy students attending Catholic schools.^[21] During his tenure, Rodimer expressed his opposition to capital punishment and to permanent replacements for striking workers.^[22]

2000 to present

After Rodimer retired in 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Newark as his successor.^[23][24] After Serratelli retired in 2020, Pope Francis named Kevin J. Sweeney of the Diocese of Brooklyn as the next bishop of Paterson.^[25][26]

As of 2023, Sweeney is the current bishop of Paterson.

Sexual abuse

In 1985, Mark Serrano reported to the Diocese of Paterson that he was sexually abused as a child by James Hanley, a pastor of St. Joseph's Parish. The abuse started when Serrano was age nine in 1974 and continued until he was 16. It included sodomy, oral sex and forced maturbation. The diocese removed Hanley from ministry in 1986 and paid a $241,000 settlement to Serrano and his family. Hanley was laicized by the Vatican at his own request in 2003.^[27]

Timothy J. Brennan pleaded guilty to 1987 to aggravated sexual contact in 1984 with a 15-year-old student while teaching at Delbarton High School in Morris County. Receiving a one year suspended sentence, his religious order, St. Mary’s Abbey, sent him to treatment. Brennan then went to work in the Diocese of Rochester, which was not alerted to his conviction. In 2002, St. Mary’s Abbey permanently removed Brennan from ministry.^[28][29]

The Diocese of Paterson in May 1987 received allegations of sexual abuse against Jose Alonso, rector of St. Joseph Cathedral. He was accused of abusing two teenage brothers. The diocese sent Alonso to the Servants of the Paraclete facility in New Mexico for treatment and immediately notified local authorities.^[30] Earlier in the 1980s, the diocese had received complaints about Alonso. After receiving reports supporting Alonso from two priests who worked with him, Bishop Rodimer had dismissed the accusations. Later in 1987, Alonso was charged with sexual abuse of the two brothers. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.^[31]

In 2004, the diocese settled lawsuits from 27 victims of sexual abuse by Hanley, Alonso and several other clerics.^[32][33] In February 2019, the diocese released the names of 28 clergy with credible accusations of sexually abusing children since 1940.^[34] In December 2019, more accusers of Hanley filed new lawsuits against the diocese.^[35] By 2020, the names of 40 accused clergy listed were made public.^[36]

On February 9, 2020, it was reported that all five Catholic dioceses across the state of New Jersey, which includes the Diocese of Paterson, had paid over $11 million compensate 105 claims of sex abuse committed by Catholic clergy. Of these 105 claims, 98 were compensated through settlements.^[37]

On August 10, 2020, former Bishop of Paterson Frank Rodimer's decision to approve of the Vatican naming Archdiocese of Newark Auxiliary Bishop Arthur Serratelli as his successor came under criticism, due to revelations that he had learned about sex abuse allegations facing Serratelli's former Newark superior, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.^[38] It was also revealed that a Diocese of Paterson official had informed Rodimer at the time of allegations that McCarrick had sexually abused boys at his beach house and that Rodimer then claimed to the official that he would contact the Vatican's U.S. representatives.^[38]

Bishops of Paterson

1. Thomas Henry McLaughlin (1937–1947)
2. Thomas Aloysius Boland (1947–1952), appointed Archbishop of Newark
3. James A. McNulty (1953–1963), appointed Bishop of Buffalo
4. James Johnston Navagh (1963–1965)
5. Lawrence B. Casey (1966–1977)
6. Frank Joseph Rodimer (1978–2004)
7. Arthur J. Serratelli (2004–2020)
8. Kevin J. Sweeney (2020–present)

Education

Higher education

• Assumption College for Sisters – Mendham (operated by the Sisters of Christian Charity)
• Saint Elizabeth University – Convent Station (operated by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth)

Diocesan high schools

• DePaul Catholic High School – Wayne
• Morris Catholic High School – Denville
• Pope John XXIII Regional High School – Sparta

Other Catholic high schools

• Academy of Saint Elizabeth – Convent Station (operated by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth)
• Delbarton School – Morristown (operated by the Benedictine monks of Saint Mary's Abbey)
• Mary Help of Christians Academy – North Haledon (operated by the Salesian Sisters)
• Villa Walsh Academy – Morristown (operated by the Religious Teachers Filippini)

Former diocesan high schools

• Neumann Preparatory School – Wayne (closed 1990)
• Paterson Catholic High School – Paterson (closed 2010)
• Paul VI Regional High School – Clifton (closed 1990)
• Pope Pius XII High School – Passaic (closed 1983)