Happy 140th Anniversary!

Happy 140th Anniversary!

Wednesday, August 11, marks the 140th year since the creation of our Diocese. It was established by Pope Leo XIII, who appointed the Reverend Michael J. O’Farrell, a native of Limerick, Ireland, as its first bishop. Shortly after his ordination to the priesthood, Fr. O’Farrell joined the Society of Saint Sulpice, a French foundation dedicated to seminary education. This brought him to Montreal where he taught theology at the Grand Séminaire, after which he undertook hospital and parish ministry. In 1869, Fr. O’Farrell left the Society of St. Sulpice and was accepted as a priest of the Archdiocese of New York where he served at St. Peter’s, Barclay St., and St. Mary’s, Kingston/Rondout.

During the summer of 1881, Pope Leo XIII divided the Diocese of Newark, which comprised the entire State of New Jersey and assigned to Trenton, the seat of the new Diocese, the state’s fourteen southern counties.

Some confusion surrounded the appointment of Trenton’s first bishop. The names of three suitable candidates had to be submitted to the Pope for both Trenton and Newark. The See of Newark was vacant since its Bishop, Michael Corrigan, had been transferred to New York to eventually succeed Cardinal McCloskey. The task of submitting names to the Holy See fell to Cardinal McCloskey in consultation with the other bishops of New York. Fr. O’Farrell was placed first on the list for Newark, the See being vacant, and Fr. Winand Wigger was first on the list for Trenton. The two lists were sent to Rome, one for each diocese. However, when the appointments were announced, O’Farrell was assigned Trenton and Wigger, Newark. The contraposition of the names became widely known, causing considerable discussion and groundless causes were alleged. In any event, the appointments were fixed. On November 1, 1881, Fr. O’Farrell was consecrated Bishop in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York. At the time of his appointment, the diocese’s fourteen counties had a population of 415,693, 10 percent of which were Catholic.