Bishop Joseph Galante formally announced today that three new parishes will be established on September 22, 2010 through the consolidation of seven existing parishes. The announcement establishing the new parishes was made in three formal decrees, which were published in the August 20 edition of the Catholic Star Herald, the diocesan newspaper.
• City of Camden parishes, St. Bartholomew and St. Joan of Arc will unite to form St. Josephine Bakhita Parish. The new parish will be located at St. Bartholomew with St. Joan of Arc Church remaining open as a worship site for the new parish. Father Gerard Marable, Priest Convener for the consolidation, has been named pastor of the new parish for a six year term. St. Josephine Bakhita Parish, whose boundaries will be those of the existing parishes, will serve about 880 families in Camden County. Recognizing that the first Mass celebrated with the Black Catholic Community in Camden was in March 1940 when St. Bartholomew was a mission church, the Bishop has also decreed that St. Josephine Bakhita Parish will also serve as a personal parish for the African American Catholic Community in the county.
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