Seminary at Seton Hall University has new dean

NEWARK, NJ — Monsignor Gerard McCarren has been appointed rector and dean of the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University.

McCarren has served as interim rector and dean since July 1, and prior to that time, he was associate professor of systematic theology and the seminary’s spiritual director, according to a press release issued by Seton Hall and the Archdiocese of Newark.

“Monsignor McCarren is a well-respected priest, theologian, and spiritual director, with a depth of pastoral experience that will allow him to continue our vital mission of supporting the seminarians from the Archdiocese and other dioceses as they discern God’s call to the priesthood,” said Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, archbishop, Archdiocese of Newark.

McCarren is a scholar of St. John Henry Newman and was a member of the Newman Association of America’s board of directors from 2001 to 2016. In addition to his work at Seton Hall, he has taught and provided spiritual direction over many summers at the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, Nebraska, the release said.

“We are grateful to Monsignor McCarren for his leadership, spiritual service and devotion to preparing men for the priesthood with the support of an outstanding formation and academic faculty,” said Joseph E. Nyre, president of Seton Hall. “Nothing is more important for Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology than helping seminarians affirm the Lord’s call to a priestly vocation.

McCarren, a graduate of Delbarton School in Morris Twp.,, earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University with majors in history and in philosophy, a master of divinity from Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, and advanced theology degrees from The Catholic University of America.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1991. From 2007 to 2016, he served as a Vatican appointee to the Joint Commission for Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council.

McCarren served as president of the Federation of Seminary Spiritual Directors from 2018-2022. He also served as a weekend assistant priest at Holy Trinity Church in Westfield.

“When I entered Immaculate Conception Seminary on Sept. 2, 1987, ‘it was like coming into port after a rough sea; and my happiness on that score remains to this day without interruption,’ if I may borrow words from Saint John Henry Newman,” McCarren said. “I am deeply humbled and honored to be asked to pilot this barque that sails under a title of St. Mary.”