High-ranking Official in Archdiocese of Newark Named Bishop of Massachusetts Diocese

By Jeff Green
The Record
July 3, 2014

http://www.northjersey.com/news/high-ranking-official-in-archdiocese-of-newark-named-bishop-of-massachusetts-diocese-1.1045790

Bishop Edgar da Cunha, a high-ranking official in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, has been appointed by Pope Francis to lead the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, church officials announced this morning.

The new bishop, who is 60, served most recently as the top deputy to Newark Archbishop John J. Myers since his appointment in June last year, during fallout from a scandal involving a priest accused of sex abuse in a Wyckoff parish. In Fall River diocese, da Cunha will shepherd 300,000 parishioners in southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod.

He will succeed Bishop George W. Coleman, who announced his retirement in February upon turning 75. He is set to be installed on Sept. 24.

“I could never, in my wildest dream, imagine myself standing here as the future Bishop of this diocese,” he said in prepared remarks for an 11 a.m. press conference in Fall River. “Only God’s plan, and God’s will, could make it possible.”

A native of Brazil, da Cunha studied theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary and was ordained a priest in Newark in 1982. He served for several years as an assistant priest and then pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in Palisades Park and later as pastor of St. Michael’s Church in Newark. He was ordained a bishop in 2003 by Pope John Paul II, at which point Myers appointed him as regional bishop for Essex County. In a statement, Myers said he has the “heart of a pastor.”

“For some 36 years, Bishop da Cunha has been an integral part of the life of the Local Church of Newark,” Myers said. “He knows the people of God, knows the depth of their faith, and he knows the challenges of serving and leading in a Church with many cultural and ethnic traditions.”

Assistant Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda said, in a separate statement, that in his eight months as the archdiocese’s coadjutor, he has seen da Cunha masterfully revitalize parishes and promote the Catholic faith.

“I can personally attest to his pastoral zeal,” Hebda said. “If Pope Francis were ever to abandon the tango of his native Argentina for a Brazilian samba, I have no doubt that he would look and sound a great deal like Bishop da Cunha.”

Over the past year, da Cunha has been involved in the Newark archdiocese’s attempt at damage control over a number of controversies involving clergy sexual abuse. In March, he sent a letter to priests about a new policy for the funerals of pedophile clerics who were removed from ministry, saying it could help “avoid negative publicity or further embarrassment” to the archdiocese.

The archdiocese has no immediate plans to fill his position as vicar general, a spokesman said.

Email: greenj@northjersey.com