Paul Gregory Bootkoski

Paul Gregory Bootkoski (born July 4, 1940) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. Bootkoski served as bishop of the Latin Church Diocese of Metuchen in New Jersey from 2002 until March 8, 2016; he was replaced by Monsignor James Checchio. Bootkoski previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 1997 to 2002.

Biography

Early years Paul Bootkoski was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 4, 1940, to Peter and Antoinette Bootkoski. He attended Our Lady Queen of Peace School in North Arlington, New Jersey, before continuing at St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey. After graduating from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, with a degree in classical languages, Bootkoski entered Immaculate Conception Seminary at the university. He also received a Master of Education degree from Manhattan College in New York City. In 1980, Bootkoski was appointed assistant vice president for student affairs at Seton Hall. In 1983, He became pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Elizabeth, New Jersey and was named by the Vatican as an honorary prelate with the title of monsignor in 1991.

Auxiliary Bishop of Newark On July 8, 1997, Pope John Paul II appointed Bootkoski as an auxiliary bishop of Newark. He was consecrated by then Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick on September 5, 1997, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. In 2005 and 2007, the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark paid financial settlements to two priests who had accused McCarrick of abuse. According to Cardinal Donald Wuerl, nobody from the Diocese of Metuchen informed him of these settlements, even after the retired McCarrick began living on the grounds of a seminary in the Archdiocese of Washington.