New Rector and Dean for Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology

Reverend

McCarren, S.T.D.,

His appointment as rector and dean of the seminary’s School of Theology had been announced in March, following a national search, and he had been serving in the posts on an interim basis since July 2022.

The appointment was formalized on September 10 in a Mass of Installation led by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, who noted that the ceremony marked Monsignor McCarren’s official start as “father of the seminary community.”

In his homily, Monsignor McCarren noted that in the priestly vocation, “We are enjoined to be ministers of reconciliation, and this can take place only in love, and it leads to deeper love. … We are strengthened for the task before us because we do this in prayer, and we do this together.”

Katia Passerini, Ph.D., interim president of Seton Hall, noted that “His tenure as interim rector and dean brought a renewed sense of vitality and even greater enthusiasm to the seminary. I welcome his full-time appointment with confidence that his great faith, administrative expertise and outstanding scholarship will continue to enrich the seminary and its students.”