Dennis Joseph Sullivan


Dennis Joseph Sullivan is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as vicar general and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York until he replaced Bishop Joseph Galante as Bishop of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey in 2013. He lives in Woodbury, New Jersey.

Early life

Dennis Sullivan was born in the Bronx, New York, to John and Hanorah Sullivan. One of four children, he has two brothers, Jack and Charlie, and one sister, Catherine.
He attended Mount St. Michael Academy before entering Iona College, but left in his sophomore year to study for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers. He earned a Bachelor's degree and a Master's in Divinity from St. Joseph's.

Priesthood

Bishop Sullivan was ordained by Terence Cardinal Cooke on May 29, 1971, and then sent to the Dominican Republic to learn Spanish, so as to better serve the Spanish-speaking Catholics of the Archdiocese of New York. He spent three months in the Dominican Republic, where he "learned to speak Spanish very fast because nobody spoke English."
Upon his return to the United States, Sullivan served as curate at in Washington Heights for five years. He also served as curate at in the Bronx and at in New York City. He was named pastor of on the Lower East Side in 1981, where he gained a degree of fluency in Chinese. In 1999, he was made a monsignor. Then in 2004 he became pastor of in Larchmont.
Bishop Sullivan was also a member of the Lower East Side Catholic Area Conference, Archdiocesan Priests' Council, and Archdiocesan Review Board for sexual abuse cases.

Episcopal career

Auxiliary Bishop of New York

On June 28, 2004, Bishop Sullivan was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New York and titular bishop of Enera by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 21 from Edward Cardinal Egan, with Bishops Robert Brucato and Patrick Sheridan serving as co-consecrators. He selected as his episcopal motto: "In the Breaking of the Bread".
As an auxiliary bishop, Bishop Sullivan served as the vicar general for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. He celebrated the funeral Mass of Rev. Richard John Neuhaus in January 2009. Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he is a member of the , and sat on the from 2005 to 2008.

Bishop of Camden

On January 8, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Sullivan Bishop of Camden.
He was formally installed as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden on February 12, 2013.

Episcopal succession