Pope Name Auxiliary Bishop Paul
Bootkoski Bishop of Metuchen;
Accepts Resignation of
Bishop Vincent DePaul Breen
WASHINGTON (January 4, 2002) -- Pope John Paul II has named Newark Auxiliary Bishop Paul Gregory Bootkoski as Bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey. At the same time, the pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Vincent DePaul Breen from governance of the Diocese of Metuchen.
Bishop Bootkoski is 61. He succeeds Bishop Breen, who has headed the Metuchen Diocese since 1997.
Bishop Bootkoski was named auxiliary bishop of Newark in 1997. Prior to his ordination as auxiliary bishop of Newark, he had been Vicar for Priests and pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Church, Saddle River, New Jersey.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment.
Paul Bootkoski was born July 4, 1940, in Newark. He attended Catholic elementary and secondary schools, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, and Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington.
He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark on May 29, 1966. Following ordination, he served as assistant pastor at Sacred Heart, Bloomfield; Holy Spirit, Orange; and St. Michael's, Cranford.
In 1976 he was named archdiocesan Director of Campus Ministry, and in 1979 he was appointed Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Seton Hall.
Msgr. Bootkoski was named pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption, Elizabeth, and also appointed to the archdiocesan personnel board, in 1982. In 1990, he was appointed pastor of St. Gabriel and also Vicar for Priests of the Archdiocese of Newark.
The Diocese of Metuchen was established on November 19, 1981. It comprises the counties of Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset and Middlesex in the State of New Jersey and has a Catholic population of 483,000 in a total population of slightly more than 1.1 million.