Diocese of Metuchen Dioecesis Metuchenis |
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The coat of arms of the Diocese of Metuchen |
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Location | |
Country | United States |
Territory | Counties of Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren, New Jersey |
Ecclesiastical province | Metropolitan Province of Newark |
Metropolitan | Metuchen, New Jersey |
Population - Catholics |
556,682 |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | November 19, 1981 |
Cathedral | Saint Francis of Assisi Cathedral |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Benedict XVI |
Bishop | Paul Gregory Bootkoski Bishop of Metuchen |
Metropolitan Archbishop | John Joseph Myers Archbishop of Newark |
Emeritus Bishops | Edward Thomas Hughes |
Map | |
Website | |
diometuchen.org |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen (Latin: Dioecesis Metuchenis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in New Jersey, centered in the borough of Metuchen. It was erected on November 19, 1981, from the territory of the Diocese of Trenton.
The Bishop of Metuchen presides from the Saint Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen.
The diocese encompasses the New Jersey counties of Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren.
Its coat of arms is blazoned Quarterly, Or and Argent, in dexter chief a tongue of fire Gules; in sinister base the letter "M" Azure, crowned Argent; overall a cross Moline Azure. The cross is taken from the arms of the See of Trenton from which the diocese was formed; the tongue of fire refers both to "metachen," Lenni Lenape for firewood, and the descent of the Holy Spirit; the crowned M refers to the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the diocesan patron, founding bishop Theodore McCarrick's arms, and Pope John Paul II's arms. Its four quarters represent the four counties comprising the diocese.
The diocese counts 600,000 Catholics within its purview, distributed across more than one hundred parishes, serviced by 160 priests residing in the diocese, with 100 non-resident priests and 150 deacons assisting. Six hundred religious serve the schools and various organizations throughout the diocese.
In 2006, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the diocese's founding, it began preparations for a synod, the First Synod of the Diocese of Metuchen.
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† = deceased
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