Pope Appoints Saporito Bishop of Metuchen

Pope Leo XIV appointed Auxiliary Bishop Michael A. Saporito of Newark as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, ending a vacancy that began when Bishop James F. Checchio became coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans in November 2025. Saporito, 64, is a Newark native who worked in accounting before entering the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1992. He became an auxiliary bishop of Newark in 2020 after serving in several North Jersey parishes and holding archdiocesan evangelization and pastoral leadership roles. The Diocese of Metuchen encompasses Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Warren counties, with more than 670,000 Catholics across 90 parishes. Saporito said he was “deeply grateful and humbled” by the appointment and looked forward to meeting the diocese’s clergy, religious and lay faithful.