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Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan admits he never aspired to being a bishop. He would have been happy, he said, being a parish priest in his hometown of New York. So when he is installed as the eighth bishop of Camden, N.J., at a 2 p.m. Mass at St. Agnes Church in Gloucester Township on Tuesday, Feb. 12, it will be with no small sense of wonder.
“I was in shock,” the outgoing vicar general of the archdiocese told CNY during an interview in the Chancery Office he would soon vacate to head down the New Jersey Turnpike. “It came out of the blue. It was certainly nothing I ever expected or anticipated,” he said of the appointment.
But he said it was not quite as shocking as the day he was named auxiliary bishop in 2004, something he also didn’t see coming.
Nevertheless, the experience he has gained in a rich variety of postings in the archdiocese will enable him to take on his new position with a sense of confidence as he shepherds more than 500,000 Catholics spread across six culturally, economically and geographically diverse counties in southern New Jersey.
Ordained by Cardinal Cooke in 1971, Father Sullivan traveled to the Dominican Republic to learn Spanish before taking his first position as parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth’s parish in Washington Heights. His knowledge of the language would hold him in good stead.
“That’s a big Dominican neighborhood now, it was not when I went there, but they were beginning to settle in the Heights,” he explained of his first assignment. “That was an incredible experience. There was such a mixture of people that I really think I learned a very valuable lesson, that a priest, and certainly a priest in an urban situation, has to be a bridge among different peoples not just between peoples but also among them.
“They had a large Irish-born community and also Irish Americans and then these Dominicans were coming in, there were Puerto Ricans. St. Elizabeth’s was a very good way to begin being a priest.”
That was followed by stints at Ascension parish in Upper Manhattan, and SS. Phillip and James parish in the Bronx.
When he was named pastor at historic St. Teresa’s on the Lower East Side in 1982, he hit his stride as a priest with a passion for his parish and how it and his flock fit into the changing community. He could frequently be seen at housing protests as the neighborhood began to gentrify, displacing long-time residents.
“There were a lot of community things I got involved in,” he recalled. “There were some wonderful lay people particularly who were committed to bringing decent housing and services to the poor and down there. They were influential on how I saw the role of the pastor while at the same time taking care of the pastoral needs of the people, burying the dead, baptizing the babies and trying to bring people to God.” He remained there for 21 years as the community surrounding his parish went through huge economic, demographic and cultural changes.
But another big change was in the offing. Then-Msgr. Sullivan had been planning a sabbatical and a possible trip to China when Cardinal Egan called and asked him to take over the parish of SS. John and Paul in suburban Larchmont. “I had made some inquiries into some of the programs Maryknoll offers,” he recalled, “and he said to me, ‘I would like you to go to Larchmont.’ He said one year from now if you don’t like it come to me and you can do that sabbatical.”
The thoroughly urban priest admits he was concerned about moving to the suburbs and how he would be received there. “Twenty-one years on the Lower East Side, they probably expected me to come on a motorcycle or something,” he said with a laugh. “But I absolutely loved it there and I’m still in contact with so many of those families.”
Eighteen months later Cardinal Egan was back on the phone: this time to tell him of his appointment as auxiliary bishop. He was ordained on Sept. 21, 2004, and has served as vicar general since later that year, first under Cardinal Egan and since 2009 under Cardinal Dolan.
“I came here (The Catholic Center) and undertook a program of what we called in those days, realignment, closing and merging parishes,” he explained. “We did a lot of listening, talking and listening; I certainly appreciate the love people have for their parish churches. I learned that.
“I think though being an auxiliary certainly gives you a sense of the governance of the Church. So my experience here has prepared me for the issues I will be facing as administrator of a diocese. For me now the biggest challenge is learning the issues, learning the priests.”
But one thing won’t change. Bishop Sullivan will remain a New Yorker. Camden happens to be Philadelphia Eagles territory. He was asked about his allegiance during his introductory news conference.
“I’m not going to lie,” he told the reporter, “I’m a Giants fan.”
