Paul Gregory Bootkoski
Paul Gregory Bootkoski is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who formerly served as the bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey from 2002 until March 8, 2016; he was replaced by Msgr. James Checchio, as Bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen.Biography
Bootkoski was ordained on May 28, 1966 as a priest for the Archdiocese of Newark. He was assistant vice president for student affairs at Seton Hall University, his alma mater, for three years beginning in 1980. In 1983 he became pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Elizabeth and became an honorary prelate in 1991.
He was named auxiliary bishop of Newark on July 8, 1997, and consecrated bishop on September 5 of that year. He was vicar general of the diocese and later diocesan administrator when Theodore Edgar McCarrick became Archbishop of Washington.
In 2002 he was appointed bishop of Metuchen.
In 2005 and 2007, the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark paid financial settlements to two priests who had accused McCarrick of abuse. According to Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, nobody from the Diocese of Metuchen informed him of these settlements, even after the retired McCarrick began living on the grounds of a seminary in the Archdiocese of Washington.
Having passed the normal retirement age of 75, Bishop Bootkoski's resignation was accepted by Pope Francis on March 8, 2016.Episcopal succession
