News - June 2026 RSS Feed

In response to the catastrophic twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela June 24, 2026, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., asked the faithful of the Diocese of Trenton to pray for the victims and support the relief effort.

In response to the catastrophic twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela June 24, 2026, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., asked the faithful of the Diocese of Trenton to pray for the victims and support the relief effort.

Ginther, diocesan chancellor and executive director of Pastoral Life and Mission, was feted June 25 during a Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold, with Bishop O’Connell serving as principal celebrant and homilist. He was joined by some 40 concelebrating priests, many who benefited over the years from Ginther’s counsel and collaboration.

With school on break and the pace of daily responsibilities easing, we find more time for the people who matter most. Picnics and barbecues, trips to the shore or the mountains, long evenings of sunlight and star‑filled skies, games in the backyard, parish carnivals, outdoor concerts, leisurely walks, renewed exercise, gardening, and the taste of fresh strawberries, Jersey tomatoes and corn on the cob – all of these moments and things remind us in summertime how richly God blesses us through creation and through one another.

Summer invites us to slow down and rediscover the simple blessings God places in our lives. With school on break and the pace of daily responsibilities easing, we find more time for the people who matter most. Picnics and barbecues, trips to the shore or the mountains, long evenings of sunlight and star‑filled skies, games in the backyard, parish carnivals, outdoor concerts, leisurely walks, renewed exercise, gardening, and the taste of fresh strawberries, Jersey tomatoes and corn on the cob – all of these moments and things remind us in summertime how richly God blesses us through creation and through one another.

IN OBSERVANCE OF FATHER’S DAY, let us keep the gift of our fathers before us and remember them in our daily prayers. Blessings to all our fathers, from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.

THE CHANCERY OFFICES IN LAWRENCEVILLE will be closed today, Friday, June 19, in observance of the federal holiday, Juneteenth. Office hours will resume Monday at 9 a.m.

BISHOP O’CONNELL INVITES ALL THE CLERGY, SEMINARIANS, RELIGIOUS AND FAITHFUL of the Diocese of Trenton to pray the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) “Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart” throughout this week as the USCCB celebrates the 250th anniversary of our nation by dedicating the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Thursday, June 11, the Vigil of this Solemnity.”

Outside my office window at the chancery, two flags rise and fall together in the same breeze—the “Stars and Stripes” of the United States of America and the yellow-and-white banner of the Holy See. Their colors catch the morning light in different ways, yet they move in a shared rhythm, reminding me that the story of this nation and the history of the Church --- although the Church is far more ancient --- have long unfolded side by side.