On Dec. 15, 1937, it wasannounced that the firstbishop of Camden would be

Father Bartholomew J. Eustace ofNew York, then 50 years old.

On May 3, 1938, 5,000 people linedthe streets leadingfrom the railwaystation atHaddonfield asthe new bishopmade his way in amotorcade downHaddon Avenueto the rectory ofhis new cathedral,I m m a c u l a t eC o n c e p t i o nChurch, inCamden.

He dedicatedthe new dioceseto the Blessed Virgin Mary “to takeunder her care and protection fromthis moment henceforth the infantChurch of Camden.”

In human services, the establish-ment of St. Mary Catholic Home in1941 by the Little Servant Sisters ofthe Immaculate Conception wouldhave major implications on thegrowth of social ministry in the dio-cese. At St. Mary’s, the Sisters tilledthe land and raised the animals sothat the elderly and sick residentscould receive good care.

A major undertaking was the erec-tion of Our Lady of Lourdes MedicalCenter, still the only Catholic hospi-

tal in the diocese.Bishop Eustace’s support of

the Holy Name Society in

the parishes resulted in a series ofpre-war and post-war rallies withthousands present at each one.

In the early 1940s and duringWorld War II, with the expansion ofindustry in the area, the populationexperienced a rapid growth with thedevelopment of great numbers ofnew housing communities. Thegrowth continued throughoutBishop Eustace’s time. Census fig-ures and economic statistics demon-strate the changes from a poor,depressed industrial and agricultur-al area to a populous suburban resi-

dential communi-ty, at least finan-cially comfort-able, and in manyinstances, well-to-do. Largenumbers of fami-lies moved intoSouth Jersey dur-ing this time fromdirectly across theDelaware River.

Some 50 stu-dents fromIreland wererecruited, either

by the bishop or his vicar general,Msgr. Augustine Mozier, and wereeventually ordained priests for thediocese. The policy of recruitingyoung men with residence outsidethe diocese not only built up clergypersonnel numerically, but it alsoresulted in the advantages of diver-sity of family, cultural and geograph-ical backgrounds, adding to thestrength and depth of priestly min-istry in the diocese.

Under Bishop Eustace’s direction,31 new parishes were founded, 25missions opened (16 of which laterbecame parishes). Three new highschools were opened and sixexpanded; 22 elementary schoolswere opened and 14 existing onesexpanded.

The multi-ethnic characterof the Camden Diocesehad its beginnings in the

mid 1800s. A settlement ofblacks in Snow Hill built St.James Church in 1865, in what isnow Lawnside, belowHaddonfield. Black Catholiccommunities later gathered atSt. Monica in Atlantic City,which was founded at the turnof the century by Emma Lewiswith the help of St. KatharineDrexel. St. Bartholomew mis-sion in Camden was opened in1947.

The Germans and the Irishhad been the earlier settlers ofSouth Jersey, but by the begin-ning of the new century therewere 14,000 of Polish descent inNew Jersey; hence, St. JosephChurch in Camden, and thePolish missions in Egg Harbor,Mays Landing, Swedesboro andWoodbine.

By 1900, there were over32,000 Italians in North Jerseyalone, with thousands more set-tling the farms surroundingVineland, and building theirfirst church north of Vineland in1880. The early presence ofItalian citizens in South Jerseyis a presence crucial to thegrowth of Catholicism in theregion.

When the Diocese of Trentonwas founded in 1881, 11 of its 27priests were in South Jersey. By1900, 20 of the 81 parishes ofTrenton were in South Jersey. In1884, the Fathers of Mercy estab-lished their seminary and col-lege in Vineland, and Trenton’sbishop sent his seminarians fortraining and his priests forretreat to Sacred Heart Collegeand Theological Seminary,which lasted only 10 years.

The growth of South Jerseyand the church here began to

escalate through transporta-tion, industry and immigration.Prosperity and mobility createda new migration to the suburbs.The prosperity of the 1920sbecame translated into Catholicschools. During Bishop Walsh’s10-year office in Trenton, 45parochial and 11 secondaryhigh schools were established.High schools in Camden,Gloucester, Atlantic City andPenns Grove began during thisera.

When Bishop Walsh went toTrenton, a good part of theregion felt the strain of theDepression. Despite the odds,the number of Catholicschools in South Jerseyincreased with Sacred HeartHigh School in Vineland andVincent Pallotti Seminary, laterSt. Joseph High School inHammonton.

With continued growth in theCatholic population during thefirst decades of this century,Pope Pius XI on Dec. 9, 1937established the Diocese ofCamden for the people of thesix southern-most counties ofNew Jersey, a region containingnearly 2,700 square miles. Thisalso marked the time that NewJersey, previously part of theecclesiastical province of NewYork, became a separateprovince, with the metropolitansee at Newark.

The new diocese of approxi-mately 100,000 Catholics in 49parishes, 31 mission churchesand 35 parochial schools (30 ele-mentary and five secondary)was served by 75 diocesanpriests and 11 priests of reli-gious communities. In thewhole area there was not a sin-gle Catholic human servicesinstitution or school of higherlearning.

JUNE 8, 2012 CATHOLIC STAR HERALD — S9Full of Grace

Racial, ethnicdiversity ofSouth Jersey

Bartholomew J. Eustace is installed as Camden’s first bishop on May 4, 1938,in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Camden.

The years ofBishop Eustace,1938-56

Bishop Eustace dedicated the new

diocese to theBlessed Virgin

Mary.

“

“

S10 — CATHOLIC STAR HERALD JUNE 8, 201275 Years

PSE&Gcongratulates the

Catholic Communityof the

Diocese of Camden

In celebrating their75th Anniversary

as a dioceseWe make things work for you.

We have the energyto make things better.

[ ... for you and for New Jersey. ]

www.pseg.com

Congratulations

to the

Diocese of Camden

for 75 years

of Service to the Church

Aston, Pennsylvaniawww.neumann.edu

Bishop Justin J. McCarthy, 56,served a relatively short time asthe second bishop of Camden.

He was installed at the Cathedral ofthe Immaculate Conception on March19, 1957. He died after a heart attackon Dec. 26, 1959.

His chief historical legacy was hiscommitment to total Catholic educa-tion. The new schools that wereopened and the additions made tothe existing ones made room for anincrease of over 5,000 students at theelementary level and 1,000 studentsat the high school level.

A major effort was also undertak-en to upgrade the teaching of reli-gion to youth in public schools. Therenewal began with intensive train-ing for religious education teachers.At the time of Bishop McCarthy’sdeath, some 20,000 youth wereenrolled in the Confraternity ofChristian Doctrine classes, anincrease of almost 100 percent fromthe time of his installation.

The bishop’s second major prioritywas ministry to the rapidly growingHispanic population in the diocese.

There were at the time some 20,000Hispanics, mostly from Puerto Rico,many of whom had come to work onthe farms and then remained as per-manent residents.

As early as June 1957, the bishopdisplayed serious concern for thelarge number of Spanish-speakingimmigrants in the diocese, the diffi-culties experienced by the migrant

farm workers, and their need to beserved by the church in their nativelanguage.

A Mobile Chapel for migrants,named Capilla Rodante Santa Ana,was dedicated in 1957 by BishopMcCarthy. Following a request fromthe bishop, four sisters of theOblates of the Sacred Heart arrivedin Camden in December 1959 fromEl Salvador to teach religion and todo social work among parishionersof Our Lady of Fatima Church inCamden. They helped train girls toteach catechism in the homes of theHispanic Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

Another priority of Camden’s sec-ond bishop was encouragement ofthe laity to participate actively incivic affairs. In addition, various laygroups were of special concern toBishop McCarthy, including theFriends of the Sacred Heart, theCamden County Bar Association, theMedical Guild, the St. Joseph’sGuild, the Knights of Columbus, theCatholic Daughters of America, OurLady of Lourdes Auxiliary, and theBishop’s Committee for Charity.

I t was announced on Feb. 10, 1960,that the third bishop of Camdenwould be Archbishop Celestine

Damiano, 48, then Apostolic Delegateto South Africa. The Archbishop wasa priest of the Buffalo Diocese, wherehe had been a pastor, and afterward,from 1947-52, a member of the staff inRome of the Congregation for thePropagation of the Faith.

Shortly after his installation inCamden, the archbishop spoke pub-licly of the plight of the 25,000 PuertoRicans in the diocese. For the nextseven years of his time in Camden,the archbishop put into action sever-al initiatives to provide a better lifefor Hispanics. Particular significantcontributions made under his direc-tion were the opening of a pre-natalclinic for expectant mothers in NorthCamden, staffed by the HospitalerSisters he brought from Rome in1966, and the establishment in 1962of the Spanish Catholic Centerwhich is now a parish for allHispanics in the city of Vineland.

The works of the NeighborhoodApostolate were also importantachievements in the upgrading ofpastoral care for Hispanics.

A ministry began in 1961 withFather (later Monsignor) EdwardKennedy and Father (laterMonsignor) Felix O’Neill assigned towhat would be known as Camden’sBrazil Missions.

Probably the most lasting memori-al of the archbishop’s ministry inCamden was his establishment ofthe House of Charity Appeal forfunding the human services of thediocese.

In rapid succession, several newsocial ministries to the poor and needywere announced: the pre-natal clinicon State Street in North Camden,additional classes for the developmen-tally disabled and handicapped per-sons, the construction of a new com-plex planned for the educable andtrainable in Deptford Township, andthe opening of new nursing homes inPleasantville and Upper PittsgroveTownship near Elmer. A new chapeland convent were added to St. Mary’sHome, and by 1965 the services therehad been expanded to house 95 chron-ically ill patients.

Just three weeks after his arrival inCamden, Archbishop Damianoannounced that his main work inCamden would be to advanceCatholic education. By September1962 the new Camden Catholic HighSchool on Cuthbert Boulevard inCherry Hill opened to replace theCamden building substantiallydestroyed by a fire on Easter night inApril 1960. St. James High School wasbuilt and an addition to GloucesterCatholic High School. The newHoly Spirit High Schoolopened in Absecon in 1964,

and in the winter of 1965 the arch-bishop broke ground for the thirdnew high school, Pope Paul VI inHaddon Township. The old CamdenCatholic High School reopened as agirls’ academy, Cathedral Academy,in September 1965.

Other new high schools were alsorising. St. Augustine Preparatorywas opened in Richland, Our Lady ofMercy Academy in Newfield, and anaddition to St. Mary of the AngelsAcademy in Haddonfield. BishopEustace Preparatory in Pennsaukenwas extensively expanded.

On the elementary level, 17parish schools were built

during the archbishop’s

time; other schools were modern-ized and expanded.

A diocesan board of education wasestablished in 1965, a board whichhas been instrumental in recom-mending policies to furtherChristian formation and educationalquality in the schools of the diocese.

On the post-secondary level, OurLady of Lourdes School of Nursingopened in January 1961. In addition,the Confraternity of ChristianDoctrine (CCD) program experi-enced major growth duringArchbishop Damiano’s time.

The archbishop also fosteredinvolvement in ecumenical andinter-religious activities.

JUNE 8, 2012 CATHOLIC STAR HERALD — S11Full of Grace

The years of Bishop McCarthy, 1957-59

The years of Archbishop Damiano, 1960-87

Bishop McCarthy greets Mayor Arthur E. Armitage in Collingswood, in this 1957file photo.

A r c h b i s h o pDamiano presentsa souvenir Paul VIgym bag toCardinal AngeloRossi of Sao Paulo,Brazil in this 1967file photo. The car-dinal visited thehigh school andparticipated in adeparture ceremo-ny for priests of thediocese who weregoing to serve inBrazil.

S12 — CATHOLIC STAR HERALD JUNE 8, 201275 Years

The clergy and people of

Saint Rose of Lima Parish, Haddon Heights

celebrate the 75th anniversary of the

Diocese of Camden and asks God’s special blessing

upon our Diocese

Father Joseph Byerley, Pastor

Father Jerry Gomez, Parochial Vicar

Father Alfred Hewett, Retired, in residence

Deacon Brian Ayscue

Deacon Douglas Crawford

Bishop George H. Guilfoyle was54 when he was appointed thefourth Ordinary of the

Camden Diocese by Pope Paul VI.Less than a month after his instal-

lation, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wasassassinated. In his first pastoral let-ter, the bishop called racism inAmerica “not a mere myth but anugly reality.”

The bishop directed that each pas-tor in the diocese establish a parishcouncil before the end of 1968. Healso established a Diocesan PastoralCouncil the following year.

In 1971, an Office of PastoralPlanning was established to chartthe purpose and direction for thefuture of the church in the diocese.During 1976 the Office of PastoralPlanning coordinated a process ofwide consultation about diocesanmission in light of the Exhortationon Evangelization issued by PopePaul VI in 1975.

RENEW, a three-year program tofoster parish spiritual developmentwas recommended for the CamdenDiocese by the Diocesan PastoralCouncil and was in place in manyparishes by 1983.

During Bishop Guilfoyle’s time inCamden, the diocese witnessed therevision of the rites of all sevensacraments. The Liturgical

Commission was charged from thebeginning to direct the changes inthe rites, forms and methods calledfor by the Second Vatican Council.

On Oct. 24, 1970, the first Camdendiocesan pilgrimage to the NationalShrine of the ImmaculateConception in Washington, D.C.took place. Bishop Guilfoyle alsoestablished the diocesan MarianCommission in June 1976.

The first ordination to the perma-nent diaconate took place in the dio-cese on October 4, 1976, at St. Rose ofLima, Haddon Heights.

Like his predecessors, BishopGuilfoyle made Catholic schools andreligious education major prioritiesand in 1980 established the TuitionAssistance Fund to help parents infinancial need meet tuition costs fortheir children’s attendance atCatholic parochial schools.

Evangelization in the Hispaniccommunity, through religious serv-ice and social ministry, was accom-plished through a newly-establishedHispanic Apostolate. Spanish-lan-guage Masses in many South Jerseyparishes were instituted, while thediocese worked to obtain Spanish-speaking priests and religious forpastoral work among Hispanics.

Bishop Guilfoyle increased bothsocial services and the revenue to

fund them, including the HispanicApostolate, the hospital chaplains andprison ministry, Archbishop DamianoSchool in Westville - Grove and otherspecial education in the elementaryand secondary schools, the Apostolateto the Deaf, the works of Catholic

Charities; St. John the Baptist Pre-Natal Clinic, St. Luke’s MedicalServices and Legal Services to theneedy, all in Camden, the VisitingNurse and Home Health program.

A Department of Housing wasestablished in June 1969 by BishopGuilfoyle, specifically to look to theneeds of the aged and to seek toresolve some of the problems con-nected with the growing aged popu-lation.

Resulting from this work was thededication of the Victorian Towers inCape May in September 1973, withthe diocese serving as non-profitsponsor. The facility accommodateshundreds of older individuals in its205 residential units. The same typeof project was dedicated in CherryHill in April 1984 with 150 residentialunits for the elderly at St. Mary’sVillage. Davenport Village inHainesport, meanwhile, was estab-lished in 2002.

During Bishop Guilfoyle’s time inCamden, eight new parishes wereestablished, 23 churches were built,with many more renovated to meetthe changing needs, 11 conventswere erected, 37 rectories were built,a recreation center was erected, sixnew schools were built along with 14additions to existing schools, and 24parish halls were erected.

St. Pius X Retreat House wasacquired by the diocese, special edu-cation facilities were expanded, anda Newman Center was erected atGlassboro State College. Nursinghomes construction and acquisitionincreased to four.

Bishop James L. Schad wasthe Camden Diocese’s firstand only auxiliary bishop,

serving from 1966 until his retire-ment in 1993.

He was born in Philadelphia butwhen he was a child his familymoved to Vineland, which was partof the Camden Diocese when thediocese was formed in 1937.

He was ordained a priest April 10,1943. After six years as an associatepastor in Atlantic City, he did athree-year stint as an Army chaplainin South Carolina and Germany.

In 1958 he was made foundingpastor of Most Holy RedeemerParish in Westville Grove and earneda reputation among fellow priests as“bingo king.”Through parish collec-tions and bingo proceeds he pur-chased a rectory and convent andbuilt and completely paid off a newchurch and full-size school, leaving afully built parish facility that wasdebt-free within nine years.

Named a bishop in 1966, heremained pastor of HolyRedeemer for the next year

but also became diocesan consultorand vicar general and director ofCatholic Charities and the Houseof Charity.

From the early 1970s, when hewelcomed a new prayer group thatasked to meet in his parish, until1990 he was diocesan moderator ofcharismatic renewal.

He was pastor of St. Rose ofLima Parish in Haddon Heights1967-79, of Maris Stella Parish inAvalon 1979-85, and of ImmaculateConception Cathedral in Camdenfrom 1985 until 2002.

When he became pastor of thecathedral, its list of registeredparishioners had declined to 25and one of his first jobs was tocomplete the final phases of clos-ing the school.

Within a short time he turned thecathedral’s small soup kitchen intoa massive operation that since thenhas served hundreds of peopleevery night. He regularly servedthe food himself and delighted in

planning holiday meals.He died March 27, 2003.

JUNE 8, 2012 CATHOLIC STAR HERALD — S13Full of Grace

The years of Bishop Guilfoyle, 1968-89

Photo by James A. McBride

Bishop George H. Guilfoyle blesses oils during the Chrism Mass in this 1987file photo. Also pictured is Father (now Msgr.) Dominic J. Bottino.

Auxiliary Bishop James L. Schad

Bishop Schad is pictured with MichaelGideon in this 1986 file photo.

S14 — CATHOLIC STAR HERALD JUNE 8, 201275 Years

Congratulations

75th

Anniversary

DIOCESE OF CAMDENon your

Parishioners of

HOLY TRINITY PARISH,DOWNBEACH

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Congratulations to the

Diocese of Camden,

and our Bishop Joseph

Galante!

From the friars, parishioners,

students, staff, volunteers and Lupe

at St. Anthony of Padua in Cramer

Hill, Camden.

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We offer our best wishes as the

Diocese of CamdenCelebrates 75 years of service to the

Catholic Commuunity of South Jersey.

Eugene A. Gatti, M.D. • Gegory R. Toci, D.O. • Patrick M. Vannelli, M.D.

Adult and Pediatric Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Associated Pulmonary Diseaseswith locations in Marlton, Cherry Hill and Sewell.

Tele: 856-988-0570 • Fax: 856-988-0303

On May 21, 1989, it was announced thatAuxiliary Bishop James T. McHugh ofNewark had been appointed fifth bishop

of Camden. He was installed on June 20, 1989.For his 10 years in Camden, upholding the

teachings of the Catholic Church in a society thattoo easily dismisses religion was of paramountimportance. He was an ardent defender of thefaith and of the sanctity of human life, and, asarchitect of the plan of the American bishops topromote all human life, has been called the “fatherof the pro-life movement in America.”

Bishop McHugh undertook a major reorganiza-tion of the diocese’s administrative structure andpushed to safeguard Catholic education. A dioce-san synod process, in which thousands ofCatholics came together in locations all over thediocese to have their say in the future direction ofthe Church of Camden, culminated in a three-daySynod event Sept. 11-13, 1992, at Camden CatholicHigh School, Cherry Hill.

Bishop McHugh also authorized the relocationof the Diocese’s headquarters from HaddonAvenue to downtown Camden in 1998 in the PNCBank building at Market and Broadway, directlyacross from the Cathedral of the ImmaculateConception, the Mother Church of the Diocese. Itwas in the midst of the move to the new officesthat it was announced, on Dec. 7, 1998, that BishopMcHugh had been appointed coadjutor ofRockville Centre. Until the appointment of a newbishop for Camden, he served as apostolic admin-istrator of Camden.

Photo by James A. McBride

Bishop James T. McHugh lays the cornerstone for Sacred Heart Residence for Priests in Cherry Hill.

It was announced on June 8, 1999that Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio,54, had been appointed sixth bish-

op of Camden by Pope John Paul II.Bishop DiMarzio assumed a high-

profile role in speaking out forimmigrants and refugees. As chair-man of the Bishops Committee onMigration, he testified beforeCongress about the effects ofmandatory deportation and manda-tory detention provisions of a 1996immigration law. While he wasdirector of the USCC Migration andRefugee Services Office, he createdthe Catholic Legal ImmigrationNetwork, known as CLINIC, a legalservices corporation through whichdioceses offer new immigrants helpin resettling.

Bishop DiMarzio established St.Katharine Drexel Parish in EggHarbor Township. A new parish forall Hispanics in Vineland,Immaculate Heart of Mary(Immaculada Corazon de Maria),was founded in December at the for-mer site of the Spanish CatholicCenter.

In addition, the Vicariate forPastoral Planning, with the collabo-ration of the Vicariate for PastoralLife, developed a pastoral plan for

meeting the needs of the approxi-mately 110,000 Hispanics in theSouth Jersey area.

The Korean communities of thediocese benefited from the estab-lishment of two missions to servetheir spiritual needs and establishedindividual missions at Holy RosaryParish in Cherry Hill, and St.Andrew Kim Korean CatholicMission in Pleasantville.

Vietnamese, Haitian, Filipino andPolish apostolates were also estab-lished.

Bishop DiMarzio established ascholarship fund for low-incomefamilies who wish to send their chil-dren to Catholic schools. He alsooversaw the dedication of new ele-

mentary schools, BishopMcHugh Regional Catholic

School of Dennis Township,

which opened in September 2000,and Guardian Angels RegionalSchool in Gibbstown, which openedin September 2001. Regionalizationplans were implemented to alleviatesituations of declining enrollment atseveral elementary schools.

A new Human Services Center,housing the offices of the Vicariate,was blessed and dedicated in 2003 atthe renovated site of the formerdiocesan offices on Haddon Avenue.

The bishop’s spiritual concernsreached beyond the diocese’s ownparishes and schools to includeother faith communities. Joining inthe celebration of its 50th anniver-sary, the bishop addressed the localJewish community of TempleEmmanuel in Cherry Hill, callingboth faith communities to mutualrespect and understanding. Thebishop presided at an ecumenicalprayer service with the Lutherancommunity to celebrate the JointDeclaration on the Doctrine ofJustification which was signed byCatholics and Lutherans inAugsburg, Germany.

He also participated in services atTemple Beth El Synagogue inMargate City with the local Jewishcommunity.

JUNE 8, 2012 CATHOLIC STAR HERALD — S15Full of Grace

The years of Bishop McHugh, 1989-99

The years of Bishop DiMarzio, 1999-2003

Photo by James A. McBride

Bishop DiMarzio greets students at San Miguel School in Camden.

S16 — CATHOLIC STAR HERALD JUNE 8, 201275 Years

BishopEustace Preparatory School congratulatestheDiocese ofCamdenon75 years of serviceto theCatholic community of South Jersey.

BISHOP EUSTACE PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 5552 ROUTE 70, PENNSAUKEN, NJ 08109 • (856) 662-2160 • WWW.EUSTACE.ORG

901 Hopkins Road • Haddonfield, NJ856.858.4900 • www.pvihs.org

freedom

responsibility

excellence

PAUL VI HIGH SCHOOL

thanks the Diocese for 75 years ofleadership in faith.

We are proud to be a member of theCatholic community of the Diocese of Camden.

Bishop John Barres

on behalf of the

clergy, religious and laity

of the

Diocese of Allentown

sends prayers and best wishes

to the

Diocese of Camden

on the 75th anniversary

of its founding