Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton history

For the next thirty-three years, until 1938, Lawrence Catholics worshiped in Morris Hall's Holy Rosary Chapel, although many continued to travel miles to Trenton for Sunday services and Holy days.

St Bartholomew mission in Camden was opened in 1947.

On January 28, 1950, Ahr was appointed the seventh Bishop of Trenton by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following March 20 from Archbishop Thomas J. Walsh, with Bishops Bartholomew J. Eustace and Thomas A. Boland serving as co-consecrators.

In early 1954, Bishop Ahr launched The Monitor, the official weekly newspaper of the diocese, to serve primarily as a medium through which members of the diocesan family might gain a greater knowledge of all that concerned their faith.

In the midst of this period of growth, tragedy struck March 14, 1956, when fire destroyed St Mary of the Assumption Cathedral and claimed the lives of Msgr.

The school opened in September, 1964 with the first and second grades; one grade was added each year until all eight grades were accommodated.

A short time later, a two-story convent was erected adjoining the school on Rossa Avenue, which was dedicated on February 7, 1965.

One such example would be the establishment of the permanent diaconate program in 1974, with 46 men selected from 135 applicants.

A telling blow struck the parish on January 2, 1982, when fire caused irreparable damage to the church of forty-four years. "There was an emotional attachment to the church," Msgr.

Construction plans began immediately for the church that was to stand until the autumn of 1983.

The first Mass was celebrated in the new structure Saturday, December 21, 1985.

The first wedding, on December 28, witnessed the exchange of marriage vows between Mark Eggert and Anna Lieggi and the first Baptism, of John Emply, took place on January 12, 1986.

13, 1991, he opened the Fourth Diocesan Synod during a Mass in St Mary Cathedral.

On June 30, 1992, Bishop Reiss launched Faith-In-Service, a diocesan capital and endowment fund campaign, to ensure the financial stability of diocesan services.

Thomas J. Frain retired on May 23, 1994 after twenty-seven years of dedicated service.

21, 1995, Bishop John M. Smith was named Coadjutor Bishop of Trenton, to one day succeed Bishop Reiss as bishop of the diocese.

Celebrating in the 21st Century In 2005, in response to the growing needs of the parish, the Faith Development Center was built as an attachment to the church.

In January 2006, Bishop Smith announced the "Commitment to Excellence" initiative and action plan that enumerated new measures in school leadership, marketing and financial management, and benchmarks that schools needed to achieve in enrollment, class size and curriculum development.

In August 2009, Bishop Smith officially inaugurated and promulgated a new diocesan pastoral plan, "Led By the Spirit," the result of nearly two years of consultation with Catholics throughout the diocese.

Bishop David M. O’Connell (2010--) "Ministrare non Ministrari" “To serve and not to be served”

The Diocese mourned the death of retired Bishop John C. Reiss, eighth bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, who died Sunday, March 4, 2012, in Morris Hall, Lawrenceville, at age 89.

Faith and the Future Bishop O’Connell closed out the Year of Faith in 2013 with a series of pastoral essays on the new evangelization.

In 2015, two sweeping diocesan campaigns were instituted which would bolster the Diocese for years to come.