{{short description|American Catholic prelate (born 1966)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = James Francis Checchio | title = Archbishop of New Orleans | image = Archbishop James Checchio.jpg | alt = | caption = Checchio in 2025 | church = Catholic | archdiocese = New Orleans | appointed = {{br list | September 24, 2025 | (as Coadjutor)}} | enthroned = February 11, 2026 | retired = | predecessor = Gregory Michael Aymond | successor = | previous_post = {{ubil | Rector, Pontifical North American College (2005{{nbnd}}2016) | Bishop of Metuchen (2016{{nbnd}}2025) }} <!---------- Orders ----------> | ordination = June 20, 1992 | ordained_by = James McHugh | consecration = May 3, 2016 | consecrated_by = John Myers, Paul Bootkoski, Dennis Sullivan | rank = <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1966|4|21}} | birth_place = Camden, New Jersey, US | death_date = | death_place = | education = {{ubil | University of Scranton | Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas | La Salle University }} | motto = {{langnf|la|Reconciliamini Deo|Be reconciled to God|break=yes}} | coat_of_arms = }} {{Infobox bishopstyles | name = James Francis Checchio | dipstyle = {{blist | His Excellency | The Most Reverend }} | offstyle = Your Excellency | relstyle = Archbishop | image = Coat of arms of James F. Checchio (New Orleans).svg | image_size = 200px }} '''James Francis Checchio''' (born April 21, 1966) is an American Catholic prelate presently serving as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He previously served as Bishop of Metuchen from 2016 to 2025 and as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 2005 until 2016.
==Biography==
=== Early life === James Checchio was born on April 21, 1966, in Camden, New Jersey to James and Helen Checchio. He attended St. John School in Collingwood, New Jersey, then Paul VI High School in Haddon Township, New Jersey. After his high school graduation in 1984, Cheechio entered the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1988.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Office of the Bishop - Most Rev. James F. Checchio, JCD, MBA |url=https://diometuchen.org/our-bishop |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=Diocese of Metuchen |language=en}}</ref>
Offering himself as a candidate for the priesthood, Checchio was sent to study at the Pontifical North American College while taking a theology degree at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He received a Licentiate in Canon Law in 1993.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Pope Names Msgr. James Checchio Bishop of Metuchen, Accepts Resignation of Bishop Bootkoski |url=https://www.usccb.org/news/2016/pope-names-msgr-james-checchio-bishop-metuchen-accepts-resignation-bishop-bootkoski |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=US Conference of Catholic Bishops |language=en}}</ref>
=== Priesthood === Checchio was ordained a priest by Bishop James McHugh for the Diocese of Camden on June 20, 1992, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bishop James Francis Checchio [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bchecchio.html |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref> After his 1992 ordination, the diocese assigned Cheechio to the following positions in New Jersey parishes:
* associate priest at St. Peter Parish in Merchantville (1992 to 1993) * parochial vicar at St. Agnes Parish in Blackwood (1993 to 1995) * associate priest at St. Peter Celestine Parish in Cherry Hill (1996)<ref name=":1" />
In 1997, McHugh named Checchio as his priest secretary. At the same time, he served as defender of the bond, assistant director of the Office of Public Relations and Communications and vice chancellor. In 1999, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio appointed Checchio as his priest-secretary along with moderator of the curia.<ref name=":1" />
In 2000, Checchio was appointed a chaplain of His Holiness by Pope John Paul II.<ref name=":1" /> The next year, he was named as administrator of Holy Spirit Parish in Atlantic City, New Jersey and in 2004 was made episcopal vicar for administration.<ref name=":1" /> He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Wooden |first=Cindy |title=Camden, N.J., priest named rector of U.S. seminary in Rome |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0507059.htm |access-date=March 14, 2024 |website=Catholic News Service |archive-date=December 12, 2005 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20051212173447/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0507059.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>
=== Vice Rector and Rector of the North American College === thumb|289x289px|The Pontifical North American College in Rome, where Checchio was vice-rector from 2004 until he was elected rector from 2005 to 2016, when he became Bishop of Metuchen. Checchio left Camden for Rome in 2004 after being named as vice rector at the Pontifical North American College. On December 12, 2005, the oversight board for the college appointed him as rector. He would serve in this position for the next five years.<ref name=":2" /> Checchio was appointed honorary prelate by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.<ref name=":0" />
=== Bishop of Metuchen === left|thumb|150px|Coat of Arms as Bishop of Metuchen left|thumb|150px|Coat of Arms as Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans On March 8, 2016, Checchio was appointed by Pope Francis to succeed Bishop Paul Bootkoski as the fifth Bishop of Metuchen.<ref name="nomine">{{cite press release |url=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2016/03/08/0176/00373.html |title=Rinunce e nomine, 08.03.2016 |publisher=Holy See Press Office |language=Italian |work=Bollettino |date=March 8, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2016}}</ref> Checchio's episcopal consecration took place on May 3, 2016, at the Church of the Sacred Heart in South Plainfield, New Jersey. The principal consecrator was Archbishop John J. Myers; the co-consecrators were Bootkoski and Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan.<ref name="ordinationprogram">{{cite book |url=http://diometuchen.org/assets/Uploads/Documents/Bishop/May3WorshipBooklet.pdf |title=The Ordination and Installation of the Most Reverend James Francis Checchio |publisher=Diocese of Metuchen |access-date=May 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509012445/http://diometuchen.org/assets/Uploads/Documents/Bishop/May3WorshipBooklet.pdf |archive-date=May 9, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In August 2018, Checchio said that he was "saddened and ashamed" by the reports of child sexual abuse by Theodore McCarrick, a former bishop of Metuchen. Checchio referred to McCarrick's acts as atrocities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-10 |title=Metuchen bishop ‘saddened and ashamed’ by Archbishop McCarrick case |url=https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/08/metuchen-bishop-saddened-and-ashamed-by-archbishop-mccarrick-case/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Crux |language=en}}</ref> The Vatican laicized McCarrick in February 2019.<ref name="WP21619">{{cite news |last=Harlan |first=Chico |date=February 16, 2019 |title=Ex-cardinal McCarrick defrocked by Vatican for sexual abuse |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ex-cardinal-mccarrick-defrocked-by-vatican-for-sexual-abuse/2019/02/16/0aa365d4-2e2c-11e9-8ad3-9a5b113ecd3c_story.html |access-date=February 16, 2019 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> In 2021, Checchio condemned the abuse of inmates at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey, by some correctional officers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheechio |first=James |date=2021-02-21 |title=Metuchen Bishop decries the abuse at Edna Mahan {{!}} Opinion |url=https://www.nj.com/opinion/2021/02/metuchen-bishop-decries-the-abuse-at-edna-mahan-opinion.html |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Star-Ledger |language=en}}</ref>
=== Archbishop of New Orleans === On September 24, 2025, Checchio was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Pope Leo XIV.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pope Leo XIV Appoints Bishop James Checchio as Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans {{!}} USCCB |url=https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/pope-leo-xiv-appoints-bishop-james-checchio-coadjutor-archbishop-new-orleans |access-date=2025-09-24 |website=www.usccb.org |language=en}}</ref>
On February 11, 2026, the Pope accepted the resignation of Gregory Michael Aymond, and Checchio became the next archbishop.<ref>{{cite web|title = Rinuncia e successione dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita di New Orleans (U.S.A.) |access-date = 2026-02-11 |publisher= press.vatican.va |url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/02/11/0119/00231.html}}</ref>
==See also== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== {{commons category|James Francis Checchio}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.arch-no.org/ Archdiocese of New Orleans Official Site] *[http://www.diometuchen.org/ Diocese of Metuchen Official Site]
{{s-start}} {{s-bef| before= Kevin McCoy | years=2005–2016}} {{s-ttl|title = Rector of the North American College, Rome }} {{s-aft|after = Peter C. Harman}}
{{s-bef|before= Paul Bootkoski}} {{s-ttl|title = Bishop of Metuchen | years=2016–2025}} {{s-vac}}
{{s-bef|before= Gregory Aymond}} {{s-ttl|title= Archbishop of New Orleans |years=2026–present }} {{s-non|reason=incumbent }} {{s-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans}} {{Diocese of Metuchen}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden}} {{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Louisiana}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Checchio, James F.}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Paul VI High School alumni Category:Chaplains of His Holiness Category:People from Camden, New Jersey Category:Diocese of Camden Category:Roman Catholic bishops in New Jersey Category:Pontifical North American College alumni Category:University of Scranton alumni Category:La Salle University alumni Category:Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Category:Pontifical North American College rectors Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States