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Jim Goodness |
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Reilly, O’Malley Named Rectors of Immaculate Conception Seminary, St. Andrew College Seminary
Bermudez to serve as Vice Rector of St. Andrew
The Most Reverend John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark, today announced several Archdiocesan appointments concerned with the development and training of candidates for Catholic priesthood.
Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Reilly, STB, STL PhD, has been named Rector of Immaculate Conception Seminary, the major seminary of The Archdiocese of Newark located at Seton Hall University. Prior to this appointment, he had served for some ten years as Rector of St. Andrew Hall, the College Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, also at Seton Hall.
He succeeds Rev. Msgr. Robert F. Coleman, JCD, who recently was named Associate Vice Provost for International Programs and Development at Seton Hall University.
Rev. Mark Francis O’Malley, Hist. EcclD, KHS, assistant professor of Church History at Immaculate Conception Seminary, has been named Rector of St. Andrew Hall, succeeding Msgr. Reilly. Fr. O’Malley will continue to teach courses at Immaculate Conception Seminary.
Rev. Duverney Bermudez, currently a parochial vicar at St. Luke Parish, Ho-Ho-Kus, has been named Vice Rector of St. Andrew Hall.
The three priests will assume their new posts effective June 20, 2012.
In announcing these appointments, Archbishop Myers stated: “The task of identifying, forming and strengthening men for priesthood in the Catholic Church is central to the Church’s apostolic mission and to my ministry as chief shepherd of this local Church.
“I am thankful that these three good, true priests have willingly answered the call to assist me in this role, and to joyfully devote their genuine love for the priesthood, commitment to academic excellence, and energies to bring Christ’s peace and love to their brothers and sisters in the Church through formation of candidates for the priesthood.”
The Archbishop also spoke of the service that Msgr. Coleman has provided to the Archdiocese at Immaculate Conception Seminary. “Since becoming Archbishop of Newark in 2001, I have been most grateful for the service that Msgr. Coleman has provided to this local Church of Newark,” said The Most Reverend John J. Myers. “His presence, his guiding spirit, and his clear ability to identify and strengthen good holy seminarians have been key factors in the success of Immaculate Conception Seminary and its mission of preparing men for the priesthood and service to God’s people. Throughout his 16 years as Vice Rector and Rector of Immaculate Conception Seminary, he has enjoyed the respect and admiration of faculty and seminarians. I am thankful that, as he assumes new duties at Seton Hall University, the wider university community will come to experience his leadership, judgment and commitment to priestly ministry.”
Msgr. Joseph Reilly, a Mountainside native and 1987 graduate of Seton Hall University, was ordained a priest for service to the Archdiocese of Newark in 1991. His first assignments were as a parochial vicar at St. Paul, Ramsey and St. Andrew, Bayonne. In 1994, he served as priest-secretary to then Archbishop McCarrick and in 1995 joined the staff of Seton Hall Prep, where he served as a faculty member and chaplain. In 2002, he was named Rector of St. Andrew Hall. He holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Pontifico Instituto Terasianum, Rome, and a Doctorate in Philosophy from Fordham University. He has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, the Archdiocesan Vocations Board, and the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University.
Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain to His Holiness in 2005, with the title of Reverend Monsignor.
Fr. Mark Francis O’Malley, a Union City native and 1991 graduate of St. Andrew Hall, Seton Hall University, was ordained for service to the Archdiocese of Newark in 1995 after receiving a Master of Divinity from Immaculate Conception Seminary. His first assignments after ordination were at St. Aloysius Parish, Caldwell, and St. Genevieve Parish, Elizabeth. In 2002, he was named Director of Emmaus House, the Archdiocesan house of discernment for men thinking of entering the seminary, Campus Minister at the Rutgers-Newark/NJIT Newman Center, and member of the Vocations Board of the Archdiocese. He held these posts until 2004, when he began studies towards a doctorate in Church History at Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome.
Upon completion of his doctorate, Fr. O’Malley returned to New Jersey and joined the faculty of Immaculate Conception Seminary in 2009. In 2011, he was invested into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Fr. Bermudez, a native of Colombia and 2010 graduate of Immaculate Conception Seminary, Seton Hall University with a Master of Divinity and Master in Systematic Theology, was ordained for service to the Archdiocese of Newark in 2010. He has served as a parochial vicar of St. Luke Parish, Ho-Ho-Kus since his ordination and as a member of the staff of the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese since 2011.
Currently, 189 seminarians are studying for the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary and St. Andrew Hall. An additional 139 clergy, Religious Brothers and Sisters and lay men and women are pursuing academic degrees and certificates at Seton Hall University’s School of Theology, conducted through Immaculate Conception Seminary.
Immaculate Conception Seminary has been training men for the Catholic priesthood since 1861.
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