Most Rev. Robert J. Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn

Bishop-Brennan

On November 30, 2021, Bishop Brennan was installed as the Eighth Bishop of Brooklyn, serving the people of Brooklyn and Queens.

Bishop Robert J. Brennan was born June 7, 1962, to Robert and Patricia Brennan in the Bronx, New York. The oldest of five children, Bishop Brennan has two brothers and two sisters, 14 nieces and nephews, and three great-nephews and niece.

He was raised in Lindenhurst, New York, where his parents still reside. Bishop Brennan attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School in Lindenhurst, and St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School, West Islip, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and computer science from St. John’s University, Queens, New York.
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Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop Emeritus of Brooklyn

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio

Born in Newark, New Jersey, on June 16, 1944, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, attended the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, New Jersey, was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest for the Archdiocese of Newark in 1970, and named Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II in 1986.
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Most Rev. James Massa, Ph.D., D.D., Auxiliary Bishop, Rector, St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers

Bishop James Massa

The Most Reverend James Massa was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to the late Andrew and Irene Gilbert Massa. He attended Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Theology and History in 1982. In 1985, he earned a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Yale University, and in 1997, a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Fordham University, where he wrote his dissertation under the late Cardinal Avery Dulles.
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Most Rev. Neil Tiedemann, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus

BISHOP TIEDEMANN

The Most Reverend Neil Tiedemann, born March 5, 1948, at Peck Memorial Hospital in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was raised in St. Catherine of Sienna Parish in Franklin Square, Long Island. He attended the Passionists’ Holy Cross H.S. Seminary in Dunkirk, NY; Holy Family Seminary in West Hartford CT; LaSalle University in Philadelphia, PA in 1970 received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology; and earned master degrees in Theology and Masters in Divinity in 1975 at St. John’s University in Jamaica, Queens. As a seminarian, Tiedemann was involved in outreach efforts with Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens near St. Barbara Parish in Bushwick.
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Most Rev. Raymond F. Chappetto, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Brooklyn

The Most Reverend Raymond F. Chappetto, D.D., was born on August 20, 1945, in Astoria. He studied at Cathedral College in Brooklyn and was awarded a Master of Divinity from Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Albany. Bishop Chappetto also holds a Master of Arts in Religious Education from St. John’s University and is certified in Pastoral Counseling.
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Most Rev. Octavio Cisneros, D.D., Retired Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar for Hispanic Concerns

Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros was born in Las Villas, a province of Cuba, on July 19, 1945, the third of four children of Roberto Cisneros and Olga Lezcano, both now deceased. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to La Habana, where he was baptized in Our Lady Montserrat Church.

The Piarist Fathers educated him as a youngster, and in October 1961, while a high school student, he came to the United States as a political refugee as part of Operation Peter Pan, a Catholic humanitarian effort that brought 14,000 unaccompanied minors to the U.S. from Cuba.
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