John M. Smith (bishop)

Styles of John Mortimer Fourette Smith
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

John Mortimer Fourette Smith (June 23, 1935 – January 22, 2019) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Trenton in New Jersey from 1997 to 2010. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in Florida from 1991 to 1995 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 1987 to 1991

John Smith was born on June 23, 1935, in Orange, New Jersey, to Mortimer and Ethel (née Charnock) Smith. The oldest of three children, he had two brothers, Andrew (who later became a Benedictine monk) and Gregory.

John Smith attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark and John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1955, he entered Immaculate Conception Seminary, a branch of Seton Hall University, obtaining a Bachelor's degree in classical languages in 1957.^[1]

Smith was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Newark by Archbishop Thomas Boland on May 27, 1961. He then served as assistant chancellor, as defender of the bond of the Metropolitan Tribunal, and director of the Cursillo movement for the archdiocese.

Smith earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree (1961) and a doctorate in canon law (1966) from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was also a visiting professor of pastoral theology at the Immaculate Conception Seminary, an elected representative on the archdiocesan Council of Priests, and dean of central Bergen County. Smith was raised to the rank of papal chamberlain by Pope Paul VI in 1971, and assigned to the team ministry of St. Joseph Church in Oradell in 1973.

In 1982, Smith became a faculty memberof the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he was director of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education and program director of the U.S. Bishops' Consultation IV. Upon his return to New Jersey in 1986, he was named pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Dumont and later vicar general and moderator of the curia.^[2]

On November 20, 1987, Smith was appointed Titular Bishop of Tres Tabernae and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1988, from Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, with Archbishop Peter Gerety and Bishop Walter Curtis serving as co-consecrators.^[3][4] From November 1985 to July 1991, including his time as auxiliary bishop of Newark, Smith lived with McCarrick at the Newark cathedral rectory.^[5]

Smith was named the third bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee on June 25, 1991, by John Paul II. He was installed on July 31 of that year.^[6]

On November 21, 1995, Smith was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. He succeeded Bishop John C. Reiss as the ninth bishop of Trenton upon the latter's resignation on June 30, 1997.^[7]

In 2002, Smith removed a priest accused of molesting a young boy from an administrative position in the diocese.^{[citation needed]} The diocese had reported the allegation to the Monmouth County prosecutor's office when it was first made in 1990, but prosecutors had decided not to file criminal charges because of insufficient evidence. Smith relieved the priest of his duties following a review of personnel files to ensure the public's confidence in the clergy.

On June 4, 2010, David M. O'Connell was named coadjutor bishop of the diocese,^[8] and on December 1, 2010, Pope Benedict VI accepted Smith's resignation as bishop of Trenton.^[2]

John Smith died in Morris Hall Meadows Home in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, on January 22, 2019, following a long illness.^[9]

In November 2020, a Vatican investigation into defrocked cardinal Theodore McCarrick identified Smith as one of three bishops who "provided inaccurate and incomplete information to the Holy See regarding McCarrick’s sexual conduct with young adults" when McCarrick was a candidate for the post of Archbishop of Washington in 2000.^[10][11]

• "Biography of Bishop John M. Smith". Diocese of Trenton. Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
• Stewart, Barbara (June 22, 1997). "New Bishop of Trenton Frets Over the Poor and His Priests - NYTimes.com". New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton Official Site

• v
• t
• e

Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton

Ordinaries

Bishops

Michael J. O'Farrell

James A. McFaul

Thomas J. Walsh

John J. McMahon

Moses E. Kiley

William A. Griffin

George W. Ahr

John C. Reiss

John M. Smith

David M. O'Connell

Churches

Cathedrals

Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, Trenton

Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, Freehold

Parishes

Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Moorestown

Sacred Heart Church, Trenton

Saint Agnes Catholic Church, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey

St. Mary of the Lakes Catholic Church, Medford Lakes

Education

Primary schools

St. Paul's School

High schools

Donovan Catholic High School, Toms River

Mater Dei High School, New Monmouth

Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville

Red Bank Catholic High School, Red Bank

St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel

St. Rose High School, Belmar

Trenton Catholic Academy, Hamilton

Primary schools, independent

Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart

High schools, independent

Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft

Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton

Villa Victoria Academy, Ewing Township

Holy Cross Preparatory Academy, Delran

• New Jersey portal
• Catholicism portal