Joseph Anthony Galante

Joseph Anthony Galante (July 2, 1938 – May 25, 2019) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Camden, New Jersey, from 2004 to 2013. He held several positions as a bishop in Texas from 1992 to 2004, after serving in the Roman Curia as Undersecretary of the Congregation for Religious from 1986 to 1992.

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Joseph Anthony Galante
Bishop emeritus of Camden
Church	Roman Catholic
Archdiocese	Newark
Diocese	Camden
Appointed	March 23, 2004
Installed	April 30, 2004
Term ended	January 8, 2013
Predecessor	Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio
Successor	Dennis J. Sullivan
Orders
Ordination	May 16, 1964 by John Krol
Consecration	December 11, 1992 by Patrick Flores, Francis B. Schulte, and Francis X. DiLorenzo
Personal details
Born	July 2, 1938 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 25, 2019 (aged 80) Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S.
Previous post	Bishop of Beaumont Coadjutor Bishop of Dallas
Motto	Have the mind of Jesus

Styles of Joseph Anthony Galante
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Life and career

Born in Philadelphia, Galante attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, where he received his BA in 1960. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 16, 1964. At the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome he earned his doctorate in canon law and at the University of St. Thomas "Angelicum" a master's degree in spiritual theology.[1]

He was named Undersecretary of the Congregation for Religious in December 1986. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, Texas, in October 1992, and then held two other Texas positions: Bishop of Beaumont from 1994 to 1999 and Coadjutor Bishop of Dallas from 1999 to 2004. He was appointed Bishop of Camden in 2004.[1]

In a 2011 letter to Catholics in his diocese, he announced that he was suffering from chronic kidney disease caused by diabetes, but indicated that he could continue to serve as Bishop of Camden.[2] In 2012 he asked to be allowed to resign for health reasons, and he served until his resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on January 8, 2013.[3]

Galante died on May 25, 2019 at Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, New Jersey from a long illness.[4]

Church closings

On April 2, 2008, Galante announced large-scale mergers and closings of half of the parishes in the Camden diocese.

In January 2011, parishioners of the closed St Mary's Church in Malaga, New Jersey, re-entered the church and began an around-the-clock vigil that attracted regional and national media attention.[5]

Involvement in the Vati-Con scandal

On July 18, 2008 the New York Post reported Galante's involvement in the so-called Vati-Con scandal involving Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri, billionaire investor Ronald Burkle and Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway.[6] The Post reports that Galante sold Follieri a private beach house for $400,000 in 2007 and that one of Galante's priests misrepresented himself to potential investors. At the time Follieri was negotiating with the Diocese of Camden and other North American Roman Catholic dioceses to buy churches with Burkle money and sell the properties for later profit. In September 2008, Follieri pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering charges, and Manhattan Federal Judge John Koeltl and the next month, imposed a ​4 ¹⁄₂-year prison sentence.[7] The Galante/Follieri beach house in North Wildwood, New Jersey was put back on the market in 2008 and sold almost two years later for $310,000.[8][9] Galante was never charged in relation to the scandal.

References

1. "Bishop Joseph A. Galante". Diocese of Camden. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
2. "Camden bishop to continue to work while being treated for kidney disease". NJ.com. Associated Press. September 30, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
3. Babay, Emily (January 8, 2013). "New bishop 'delighted' to lead Camden diocese". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
4. Bishop Joseph Galante, 80, led Diocese of Camden
5. "Renegade parishioners defy order to close church". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
6. "A Deal with the Devil", New York Post, July 18, 2008
7. https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nys/pressreleases/October08/follieriraffaellosentencingpr.pdf
8. Fletcher, Juliet. "N. Wildwood condo sale links bishop, accused developer / Galante property buyer had Vatican endorsement", The Press of Atlantic City, July 17, 2008. Accessed May 28, 2013. "When Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Galante decided to put a North Wildwood townhome up for sale in 2006, the head of the Camden diocese dropped it into conversations he had with a jet-setting Italian developer."
9. Zillow.com 749 W Oak Ave., North Wildwood NJ.

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden Official Site