Trenton bishop to ordain Rev. Mr. Alan Bridges to priesthood

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will ordain Rev. Mr. Alan Bridges to the priesthood for the Diocese of Trenton May 31 during a 10 a.m. Mass in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

Rev. Mr. (Deacon) Bridges, a native of New Jersey and a product of Catholic schools in Middlesex County, spent seven years in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserves. While serving in the military, the self-described “regular guy” began to discern God’s call to the priesthood, leading him on a journey that will culminate with his Ordination.

Born in 1996, in Rahway to Jack and Barbara Bridges, Alan and his family belonged to St. John Vianney Parish, Colonia, and later Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Newark. Alan and his older brother, John, attended St. John Vianney (Elementary) School, and Bishop George Ahr High School, Edison (formerly St. Thomas Aquinas).

Following graduation in 2014, Bridges joined the U.S. Navy and later the Navy Reserves. In 2017, while still in the Reserves, he entered Seton Hall University, South Orange, later followed by theology studies in St. Andrew’s Hall College Seminary. In 2022, after earning his bachelor’s degree in theology, Bridges entered Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md., earning a Master of Divinity degree early in May 2025.

Bishop O’Connell ordained Bridges a transitional deacon for the Diocese of Trenton in 2024, marking his final year of priestly formation. Rev. Mr. Bridges, whose home parish in the Diocese is St. Catherine Laboure, Middletown, served in several other parishes of the Diocese as a seminarian and a transitional deacon. His first assignment as a priest will be St. Joseph Parish, Toms River, where he will serve as parochial vicar and assist where needed in St. Joseph Grade School and Donovan Catholic High School.

More on Deacon Bridges’ biographical and ministerial background can be found HERE. 

The Ordination Mass is open to family, friends and well-wishers, and will be livestreamed on Youtube.com/trentondiocese. 

The Diocese of Trenton encompasses 97 parishes across Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, who together serve a community of approximately 700,000 Catholics. New priests are a cause for celebration for the entire Diocese and this news impacts those in your coverage area.