Auxiliary Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan of New York delivers the homily during Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden, after being named bishop of Camden Jan. 8. He succeeds Bishop Joseph A. Galante, who resigned for health reasons.
Photo by James A. McBride
The Most Rev. Dennis J. Sullivan, ordained an Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of New York on September 21, 2004, was born in the Bronx on March 17, 1945. Bishop Sullivan is the third of four children to Hanorah Hayes Sullivan and John Sullivan who were members of St. Anthony’s Church in the Bronx.
Bishop Sullivan, together with his brothers and sister, were educated at St. Anthony Parish Elementary School in the Bronx. Afterward, Bishop Sullivan attended Mount St. Michael Academy and later Iona College in New Rochelle New York. As a sophomore, Bishop Sullivan left Iona College and entered St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York.
In 1969, Bishop Sullivan attended the Summer Spanish Language Institute at the Catholic University in Ponce Puerto Rico, and then returned to St. Joseph’s Seminary where he earned a BA in 1967 and a Masters of Divinity in 1970.
On May 29, 1971, Bishop Sullivan was ordained to the priesthood by Terence Cardinal Cooke at the Cathedral of St. Patrick. Before long, Bishop Sullivan traveled to the Dominican Republic to learn Spanish as a way of assisting the growing population of Hispanic immigrants who were arriving in New York. Bishop Sullivan attended the Dominican Institute for Pastoral Adaptation in Muca, and the Dominican Republic & Mission Experience in Tenares, Dominican Republic.
From 1971 to 1981, Bishop Sullivan was appointed Parochial Vicar at the Church of St. Elizabeth, the Church of the Ascension in New York City, and the Church of St. Phillip and James in the Bronx. In 1982, Bishop Sullivan was appointed Pastor of the Church of St. Teresa in New York City and in 1999 he was named a Prelate of Honor to His Holiness. After twenty-one years at the Church of St. Teresa, Bishop Sullivan was then appointed as Pastor to the Church of Sts. John and Paul in Larchmont, New York in 2004. He is currently the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of New York.
Throughout his ministry, Bishop Sullivan has served on various Boards and committees:
• Three terms on the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of New York as Representative of South Manhattan Priests
• Board Member of the Lower East Side Catholic Area Conference
• It’s Time Inc. Social Service Agency
• Immigrant Social Service, Inc.
• Two Bridges Neighborhood Associates
• Waterfront Coalition
• Asian Pastoral Immersion Experience
• Catholic Campaign for Human Development Committee
• Board Member of the Inter Parish Finance
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