John Mortimer Smith

Styles of John Mortimer Smith
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	not applicable

John Mortimer Fourette Smith (born June 23, 1935) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the ninth Bishop of Trenton, having previously served as Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee from 1991 to 1995. He is currently the Bishop Emeritus of Trenton, having been succeeded upon his retirement for age reasons by his Coadjutor Bishop, former Catholic University of America President David M. O'Connell, on Wednesday, December 1, 2010.

Early life

John Smith was born in Orange, New Jersey, to Mortimer and Ethel (née Charnock) Smith. The oldest of three children, he has two brothers, Andrew (who later became a Benedictine monk) and Gregory. He attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark and John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1955, he entered Immaculate Conception Seminary, a branch of Seton Hall University, from where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in classical languages in 1957.

Priesthood

Smith was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Thomas Boland on May 27, 1961. He then served as Assistant Chancellor, Defender of the Bond of the Metropolitan Tribunal, and director of the Cursillo movement for the Archdiocese of Newark.

Smith earned a Bachelor's degree in Sacred Theology (1961) and a doctorate in canon law (1966) from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was also a visiting professor of pastoral theology at his alma mater of the Immaculate Conception Seminary, an elected representative on the Archdiocesan Council of Priests, and dean of central Bergen County. Smith was raised to the rank of Papal Chamberlain by Pope Paul VI in 1971, and assigned to the team ministry of St. Joseph Church in Oradell in 1973.

In 1982, he became a member of the faculty of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where Smith served as director of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education and program director of the U.S. Bishops' Consultation IV. Upon his return to the United States in 1986, he was named pastor of St. Mary's Church in Dumont and later vicar general and moderator of the curia.

Episcopal career

On November 20, 1987, Smith was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Newark and Titular Bishop of Tres Tabernae by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1988 from Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, with Archbishop Peter Gerety and Bishop Walter Curtis serving as co-consecrators.

Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee

Smith was later named the third Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, on June 25, 1991. He was formally installed on July 31 of that year.

Bishop of Trenton

On November 21, 1995, Smith was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Trenton in his native New Jersey. He succeeded John C. Reiss as the ninth Bishop of Trenton upon the latter's resignation on June 30, 1997.

In 2002, Smith removed a priest accused of molesting a young boy from an administrative position in the diocese. The diocese had reported the allegation to the Monmouth County prosecutor's office when it was first made in 1990, but prosecutors had decided not to file criminal charges because of insufficient evidence. Smith relieved the priest of his duties following a review of personnel files to ensure the public's confidence in the clergy.

On Wednesday, December 1, 2010, his resignation for reasons of age was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI, and his Coadjutor Bishop, David M. O'Connell, the former President of the Catholic University of America, succeeded him as the tenth Bishop of Trenton (he had reached the age of 75 in June 2010, which is when bishops must submit their letter of resignation to the Pope for possible acceptance; Bishop O'Connell was named as Coadjutor Bishop that month).

References

• "Biography of Bishop John M. Smith". Diocese of Trenton. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
• Stewart, Barbara (June 22, 1997). "New Bishop of Trenton Frets Over the Poor and His Priests - NYTimes.com". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 

Diocese of Trenton Ordinaries Bishops Michael J. O'Farrell James A. McFaul Thomas J. Walsh John J. McMahon Moses E. Kiley William A. Griffin George W. Ahr John C. Reiss John M. Smith David M. O'Connell Churches Cathedral Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, Trenton Parishes Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Moorestown Sacred Heart Church, Trenton St. Mary of the Lakes Catholic Church, Medford Lakes Education High schools Donovan Catholic High School, Toms River Holy Cross Academy, Delran Mater Dei High School, New Monmouth Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville Red Bank Catholic High School, Red Bank St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel St. Rose High School, Belmar Trenton Catholic Academy, Hamilton High schools, independent Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton Villa Victoria Academy, Ewing Township Catholicism Portal

Diocese of Pensacola–Tallahassee Bishops René Henry Gracida Joseph Keith Symons John Mortimer Smith John Ricard Gregory Parkes Churches Cathedrals Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Pensacola Co-Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, Tallahassee Basilica Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, Pensacola Parishes St. Joseph's Church, Pensacola Former Sacred Heart Church, Pensacola Education High Schools John Paul II Catholic High School, Tallahassee Pensacola Catholic High School, Pensacola Other Florida Catholic Catholicism Portal

Archdiocese of Newark Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Newark Bishops James Roosevelt Bayley Michael Corrigan Winand Wigger John O'Connor Archbishops Thomas J. Walsh Thomas Aloysius Boland Peter Leo Gerety Theodore Edgar McCarrick John J. Myers Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda Churches in the Archdiocese of Newark Cathedral Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart Parishes St. Henry's Church, Bayonne Madonna Church, Fort Lee Church of Our Lady of Grace, Hoboken St. Anthony of Padua Church, Jersey City St. Antoninus Church, Newark St. Casimir's Church, Newark St. Columba's Church, Newark St. John's Church, Newark St. Joseph's Church, Newark Pro-Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Newark St. Rocco's Church, Newark St. Mary's Church, Plainfield Former parishes Sacred Heart Church, Jersey City Abbey St. Mary's Abbey Church Education in the Archdiocese of Newark Higher education Seton Hall University Caldwell University Felician College Saint Peter's University Seminary Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology High schools Bergen County Academy of the Holy Angels, Demarest Bergen Catholic High School, Oradell Don Bosco Preparatory High School, Ramsey Immaculate Conception High School, Lodi Immaculate Heart Academy, Washington Township Paramus Catholic High School, Paramus Queen of Peace High School, North Arlington St. Joseph Regional High School, Montvale St. Mary High School, Rutherford Essex County Christ the King Preparatory School, Newark Immaculate Conception High School, Montclair Lacordaire Academy, Upper Montclair Mount Saint Dominic Academy, Caldwell St. Benedict's Preparatory School, Newark St. Vincent Academy, Newark Seton Hall Preparatory School, West Orange Hudson County Hudson Catholic Regional High School, Jersey City Marist High School, Bayonne St. Anthony High School, Jersey City St. Dominic Academy, Jersey City St. Peter's Preparatory School, Jersey City Kenmare High School, Jersey City Union County Benedictine Academy, Elizabeth Mother Seton Regional High School, Clark Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child, Summit Oratory Preparatory School, Summit Roselle Catholic High School, Roselle St. Mary of the Assumption High School, Elizabeth Union Catholic Regional High School, Scotch Plains Former Holy Family Academy, Bayonne Grade Schools St. Anne School, Fair Lawn All Saints Catholic Academy, Bayonne Clergy of the Archdiocese of Newark Auxiliary bishops Thomas Aloysius Boland Paul Gregory Bootkoski Joseph Arthur Costello Edgar Moreira da Cunha Manuel Aurelio Cruz Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio Gaetano Aldo Donato John Joseph Dougherty John Walter Flesey Joseph Abel Francis Robert Francis Garner William A. Griffin Dominic Anthony Marconi Justin J. McCarthy Charles James McDonnell James T. McHugh Thomas Henry McLaughlin Jerome Arthur Pechillo David Arias Pérez Michael Angelo Saltarelli Arthur J. Serratelli John Mortimer Smith Martin Walter Stanton Priests Peter Baldacchino Harold P. Darcy Robert Seton Cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Newark Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, East Orange Catholicism Portal