| Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Brooklyn | |
| Province | New York |
| Diocese | Brooklyn |
| Enthroned | 2003 |
| Reign ended | current |
| Predecessor | Thomas Vose Daily |
| Successor | incumbent |
| Other posts | Bishop of Camden Auxiliary Bishop of Newark |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 30, 1970 |
| Consecration | October 31, 1996 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 16, 1944 Newark, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Styles of Nicholas DiMarzio |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Bishop |
| Posthumous style | none |
Nicholas DiMarzio (born June 16, 1944) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the seventh and current Bishop of Brooklyn, having previously served as Bishop of Camden[1] from 1999 to 2003.
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Nicholas DiMarzio was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Nicholas Sr. and Grace (née Grande) DiMarzio, both deceased. His father served in the military at the time of his birth and later worked as a health inspector for the city of Newark. All four of his grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from southern Italy. He is the oldest of three children.
DiMarzio grew up across the street from Sacred Heart Cathedral Basilica, Newark, and attended the Cathedral's grammar school. He then went on to graduate from St. Benedict's Preparatory School in 1962. He attended Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlington, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University (1966). He holds a Bachelor's degree in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America (1970), a Master's in Social Work from Fordham University (1980) and a doctorate in Social Work Research and Policy from Rutgers University, New Brunswick (1985).
He is also a certified social worker and fluent in Italian and Spanish and proficient in French.
DiMarzio was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Newark on May 30, 1970 by Archbishop Thomas Boland. He began his ministry among migrants in 1976, where he served as the archdiocese's refugee resettlement director for nine years, during which time he also served a two-year term as director of the Office of Migration of Newark's Catholic Community Services, now Catholic Charities.
He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1985, when appointed executive director for Migration and Refugee Services for the U.S. Catholic Conference and served there for six years. A year after arriving in Washington, he was named a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II.
While he served as executive director of Migration and Refugee Services, he also created the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., known as CLINIC, a legal services corporation through which dioceses offer new immigrants help in resettling. He later served as its chairman for six years.
When he returned to his home archdiocese in 1991, Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick appointed him to be the associate executive director of Catholic Community Services and a year later was advanced to executive director, a position he held for five years. He also held the title of Vicar for Human Services, and Vice President of the Board of the archdiocesan Cathedral Healthcare Systems, overseeing its hospitals.
In 1996, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the rank of Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark. From 1998 until 2001 he chaired the Migration Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
DiMarzio has also served as an associate pastor at St. Nicholas Church, Jersey City, 1970–77; associate pastor in-residence at Holy Rosary Church, Jersey City, 1977–79; administrator and pastor of St. Boniface Church, Jersey City, 1979–80; chaplain of Holy Rosary Academy, Union City, 1980–84; pastor of Holy Rosary Church, Jersey City, 1984–85; associate pastor in-residence at Mount Carmel Church, Newark, 1985–88 and 1996; and pastor at Mount Carmel Church, Newark, 1996-99.
In 2000, he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
Appointed the sixth Bishop of Camden June 8, 1999, Bishop DiMarzio undertook several initiatives, including establishing an Office of Ethnic Ministries, an Office of Black Catholic Ministry and an Office of Hispanic Ministry. He also created an apostolate to the Haitian community and founded two missions to serve the Korean and Vietnamese communities.
Named to lead the Brooklyn Diocese Aug. 1, 2003, after four years as the Bishop of the Diocese of Camden, Bishop DiMarzio was installed in his new See at Mass of Installation at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, Brooklyn on Oct. 3, 2003.
One of Bishop DiMarzio's first acts after his installation as Bishop of Brooklyn was to speak at the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Rally at Flushing Meadows Park. In November 2003 he spoke before Brooklyn's Muslim community at a Ramadan celebration and attended the Fifth World Congress of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People in Rome.
Shortly after his installation as Bishop of Brooklyn, Bishop DiMarzio was invited to be a member of the Global Commission on International Migration, sponsored by the Secretary General of the United Nations and a number of governments. It began its work in December 2003 and concluded Dec. 31, 2005 after completing a report, entitled "Migration in an interconnected world; New directions for action". The Bishop was the only U.S. resident on the 19-member commission.
Bishop DiMarzio has issued three pastoral letters addressed to the parishioners of the Diocese of Brooklyn. The first, "The New Evangelization in Brooklyn and Queens", was presented in October 2004. The following October he wrote his second pastoral, entitled "The Family: The Hope of the New Evangelization".
In October 2007, the Bishop issued his third pastoral letter: "Do Not Be Afraid - A Pastoral Vision for the New Evangelization".
From 2004 to 2007, Bishop DiMarzio chaired the Domestic Policy Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. During his tenure, the committee formulated "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship", published in 2008, which was a call to political responsibility from the Catholic bishops of the U.S. It was approved by a historic number of bishops.
He has also served as chairman of the Bishops' Migration Committee, and currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services and chairman of its finance committee, and a member of the Bishops' Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Politicians.
Bishop DiMarzio's column of reflections on issues affecting the faithful, entitled "Put Out Into the Deep" appears weekly in the diocesan newspaper, The Tablet. He also appears weekly on Currents, a daily Catholic television news program that airs on NET in a segment titled "Into The Deep", where he discusses diocesan, local, national and international news.
DiMarzio has expressed his commitment to human life from the pulpit on many occasions. He also prays alongside Msgr. Philip Reilly, founder and executive director of Helper's of God's Precious Infants, on a routine basis, where he leads processions from area churches to local abortion mills with hundreds of faithful to pray for an end to abortion.
He also joined New York City religious leaders in January 2011 to call for new efforts to lower New York City's abortion rate, which stands at 40-percent of all pregnancies ending in abortion. It is twice the national rate.
DiMarzio visits with victims of clergy sexual abuse. In May 2009, he published a presentation to the people of the Diocese of Brooklyn entitled "From Shadow To Light And From Scandal To Healing: The Experience of the Diocese of Brooklyn with the Sex Abuse Scandal". The presentation was given so that the people of the diocese would have first-hand knowledge of what was being done in the diocese to assure protection of the youth and young adults from the scandal of abuse. It discussed investigating, reporting, responsibility of the Church, the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, accountability and reconciliation, prevention, victim assistance, the Safe Environment Office, effect on the laity, and youth in the Church. It also established a hotline, 1-888-634-4499, for anyone reporting suspected abuse.
In November 2009, DiMarzio signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration, a manifesto that was issued by Catholic, Orthodox Christian and Protestant leaders, and which called on Christians not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other social and moral matters that go against their religious consciences. It has been signed by more than 150 American religious leaders.
DiMarzio is known as a forceful voice on behalf of migrants and immigrants and has worked for these causes through the majority of his priestly ministry, beginning as a young priest in Jersey City. When he was appointed by Pope John Paul II to the Diocese of Brooklyn, it was an appointment that expressed the Pope's recognition of Brooklyn's well-known status as a Diocese of Immigrants and DiMarzio's knowledge and expertise in responding to the needs of the migrant and immigrant communities.
Because of his wide-ranging knowledge and experience in matters affecting migrants and immigrants, Bishop DiMarzio has testified frequently before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has lobbied Congress for more lenient laws while serving as head of the United States Catholic Conference's Office of Migration and Refugee Services.
The number of seminarians for the Diocese of Brooklyn has steadily increased since DiMarzio became Bishop, a reflection of his efforts and support for vocations. Current statistics show the number of seminarians has increased from 39 in 2006-07 to 61 in 2010-11. He has worked with other dioceses and seminaries in the U.S. to receive seminarians from Haiti, Korea, Vietnam, and Poland to serve the "Diocese of Immigrants".
DiMarzio also requested each parish establish a Parish Vocation Committee (PVC) and as of May 2011, there are close to 140 PVC's in Brooklyn and Queens.
He also celebrates an annual jubilee celebration of priests and men and women religious and holds twice a year gatherings with seminarians.
Part of Bishop DiMarzio's efforts for vocations included establishing the John Paul II House of Discernment in April 2008 which serves as both a residence for seminarians and a location for discernment events, including discernment retreats. Other programs included in his support for vocations are Cathedral Preparatory Seminary, the Cathedral Seminary Residence, and the Vocation Office.
| Episcopal lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Theodore Edgar McCarrick |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| Frank Joseph Caggiano | August 22, 2006 |
| Octavio Cisneros | August 22, 2006 |
| Guy Sansaricq | August 22, 2006 |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Vose Daily |
Bishop of Brooklyn 2003–present |
Incumbent |