Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden is a particular church or diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church located in New Jersey, United States and presides over Roman Catholic parishes and schools in the six southern New Jersey counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem.

Pope Pius XI established the Diocese of Camden on December 9, 1937 by breaking it off from the Diocese of Trenton. Today, the Diocese of Camden presides over 125 parishes. The oldest parish is St. Mary (Gloucester City), which was founded in 1848. Nearly 450,000 catholics live within this diocese.

The Bishop of Camden presides from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden. However, most major ceremonies are held at Saint Agnes Catholic Church in Blackwood.

The Diocese of Camden is currently led by Bishop Joseph A. Galante. On April 2, 2008, Bishop Galante announced the closing of roughly half of the parishes in the diocese. This followed a previous announcement of the closing of various Catholic schools. The closures are different from other dioceses in the United States because where in most locations churches and schools have been closed gradually as populations shifted or the number of priests declined, in the Camden Diocese, they have all been announced at once and are expected to be accomplished within twelve to twenty-four months. The massive closings have proved to be extremely controversial, even prompting protests and letter writing campaigns to Archbishop John J. Myers, the Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey and Archbishop Pietro Sambi the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Washington, D.C.