Priests
Very Rev. Damian Mc Elroy, V.F., Pastor mcelroyd@olgcnj.org
Rev. James O’Neill, Parochial Vicar oneillj@olgcnj.org
Our Pastor
Rev. Damian McElroy, Pastor
Father Damian became administrator of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in 2004, and was installed as pastor in December 2005. He oversees more than 15,000 parishioners.
Father Damian arrived in the Diocese of Trenton from his native Ireland in 1997, and served in St. Martha Parish, Point Pleasant, for three years before he was assigned to St. Gregory the Great in Hamilton by Bishop John M. Smith. While at St. Gregory, Father Damian helped the parish build a new church.
Born in Newry, County Down, Ireland, in 1963, Father Damian attended Queens University, Belfast, Ireland, where he studied educational theory and philosophy and began his studies for the priesthood. Following his graduation, he went on to the Pontifical Irish College in Rome to study theology.
He was ordained a deacon in the Lateran Basilica in Rome in 1987, and returned to his home diocese of Dromore for priestly ordination in Newry Cathedral of SS. Patrick & Colman. After ordination, Father Damian oversaw the diocese’s 14 high schools as diocesan Vicar of Education for high schools, then as superintendent of high schools. Further diocesan and pastoral assignments followed.
Parochial Vicar
Rev. James O'Neill, Parochial Vicar
Bishop John M. Smith ordained Father Jim in May 2007 and sent him to OLGC three weeks later, where he serves as parochial vicar. Before being ordained a priest, Father Jim assisted as a seminarian at St. Catherine, North Middletown; St. Vincent de Paul, Yardville; St. George, Washington Crossing; and St. Aloysius, Jackson. Father Jim was ordained a transitional deacon in June 2006 at St. Aloysius. He served as a deacon at St. Peter, Riverside; St. Thomas More, Manalapan; and Our Lady of Mercy, Englishtown.
Father Jim, the oldest of six, was born in 1972 in Darby, Pa. His family moved to Ocean County three years later. He studied mathematics at Stevens Institute of Technology and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Returning home with an M.A., Father Jim worked at Monsignor Donovan High School for four years, maintaining the computer network.
Before entering the seminary, Father Jim was active in young adult ministry in the Diocese of Trenton. He assisted Msgr. Joseph Shenrock in the 1993 publication of Upon This Rock: A New History of the Trenton Diocese. Growing up in Whiting, Father Jim was active at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish as an usher, lector, and parish coordinator for Renew 2000. Father Jim joined the Knights of Columbus when he turned 18 and currently serves as chaplain to our Council 1082.
During World Youth Day 2000 in Rome, Pope John Paul II challenged all 2.1 million young people to make a radical gift of self. In August 2001, Father Jim entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, PA. He participated in the Spirituality Year at Mary Immaculate Center, Northampton, PA, during the 2002-2003 academic year. Father Jim’s greatest teacher during priestly formation was his brother Patrick, who suffered total paralysis from early 2001 until just two weeks before Father Jim’s diaconal ordination, when the Lord called him home in May 2006.
Assisting Priests
Rev. Neil Kilty, O.S.F.S.
Rev. Philip McGann
Rev. William Hart
Msgr. Joseph Devlin
Rev. Jeff Putthoff
Rev. Martin H. Padovani, S. V. D.
Msgr. William Graham
Rev. Charles Muorah
Officers
President (ex officio, the diocesan bishop) Most Rev. David M. O’Connell, C. M.
Vice-President (ex officio, the vicar general of the diocese) Rev. Msgr. Gregory D. Vaughan Secretary/Treasurer
Lay Trustees
Ms. Louise M. Carter
Mr. Arthur F. Bronzyck