Diocese of Camden gets new bishop - Philadelphia

The Diocese of Camden has a new Bishop. The Vatican has appointed Dennis J. Sullivan to replace the current Camden Bishop, Joseph Galante.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (Catholic Online) - Pope Benedict XVI appointed Dennis J. Sullivan to be the axillary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and he will be installed on Feb. 12.

Galante, 74 had asked the Vatican for permission to retire because of health concerns including diabetes and kidney disease. Galante is on dialysis.

Sullivan, 67, has been auxiliary bishop in New York since 2004 and vicar general of the archdiocese, which is one of the largest in the country. He has also served on the subcommittee for Asian Affairs under the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Sullivan, speaking at a news conference this morning, told the community that the Church must maintain its focus on the poor.

Many Catholics are welcoming the news, some because Galante deserves the retirement as a faithful servant, and others because he lost popularity by promoting a plan to close over a hundred parishes in the diocese. Despite the controversial plan, many of the closures were approved by the Vatican. The parishes were proving to be too costly to maintain.

Now, these concerns will belong to Sullivan. It remains to be seen how he will approach them.

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