When he arrived in South Jersey, Bishop Sullivan was quick to emphasize his hopes for a close working relationship with his priests and his belief in the importance of parish life.
At his installation Mass, celebrated at Saint Agnes Church in Blackwood, on Feb. 12, 2013, Bishop Sullivan said the priests of the Camden Diocese — “our priests” — are “now my brothers and principal cooperators in ministry.”
“I walk in your footprints,” he added.
A few weeks earlier, when he was introduced at a press conference as the eighth bishop of Camden, he had been serving as auxiliary bishop of New York for eight years, but he gave more emphasis to his pastoral work.
“I bring here to this local church my experience as a priest, my experience as a bishop. They’ve been varied experiences, but in all of them I have been, and I am, a pastor,” he said.
The newly-appointed bishop expressed an instant feeling of solidarity with the priests of the diocese, saying, “I feel the strength of the local church in these priests, and I certainly look forward to serving with them in the church of Camden.”
He also identified the parish as the foundation of Catholic life. “That’s where the church is. That’s where the church exists; that’s where the Catholic center is,” he said.
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