{{Short description|American prelate}} {{Infobox Christian leader | honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = James Massa | honorific-suffix = | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn<br />Titular Bishop of Bardstown | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | church = Roman Catholic Church | archdiocese = New York | diocese = Brooklyn | appointed = May 19, 2015 | enthroned = July 20, 2015 | retired = | predecessor = | other_post = Titular Bishop of Bardstown <!---------- Orders ---------->| ordination = October 25, 1986 | ordained_by = Francis Mugavero | consecration = July 20, 2015 | consecrated_by = Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio, William Murphy, Raymond Chappetto<!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|09|03}} | birth_place = Jersey City, New Jersey, US | death_date = | death_place = | buried = | nationality = | alma_mater = | signature = | motto = ''Ut omnes unum sint''<br>(They may all be one) | module2 = | education = Boston College<br>Yale Divinity School<br>Fordham University }} {{Infobox bishopstyles | name=James Massa | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Coat of arms of James Massa.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''James Massa''' (born September 3, 1960) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn in New York City since 2015 and as rector of St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, New York since 2020.
==Biography==
=== Early life === James Massa was born on September 3, 1960, in Jersey City, New Jersey to Andrew and Irene Gilbert Massa. Having decided to become a priest, James Massa attended Boston College in Boston Massachusetts, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology and history in 1982. He continued his education at the Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, where he received a Master of Theology degree in 1985.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2015-05-20 |title=Most Rev. James Massa, Ph.D., D.D., Auxiliary Bishop, Rector, St. Joseph's Seminary, Yonkers |url=https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/bishops/bishop-james-massa-auxiliary-bishop/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Diocese of Brooklyn |language=en-US |author1=Changer |archive-date=2024-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515011926/https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/bishops/bishop-james-massa-auxiliary-bishop/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Most Reverend James Massa, Ph.D., D.D. |url=https://dunwoodie.edu/people/most-rev-james-massa-phd |access-date=2025-08-05 |website=St. Joseph's Seminary & College |language=en}}</ref>
=== Priesthood === thumb|292x292px|Queens College, City University of New York (2017) Massa was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Brooklyn at St. Theresa's Church in Woodside New York, on Oct. 25, 1986 by Bishop Francis Mugavero.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Bishop James Massa |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmassaj.html |accessdate=August 8, 2015 |website=Catholic-Hierarchy |publisher=}}</ref> After his ordination, the diocese assigned Massa to the following positions:
* Assistant pastor at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish in Forest Hills, New York (1986 to 1990). He also served as an adjunct professor at Saint John's University in Queens, New York (1987 to 1989) * Chaplain at Queens College, City University of New York in Queens (1990 to 1993) * Chaplain and professor at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas (1993 to 1996) * Professor at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts (1997 to 2001), Massa received his Doctor of Systematic Theology degree from Fordham University in New York City in 1997. * Professor at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Lloyd Harbor, New York, (2001 to 2005). <ref name=":0" /> In 2005, Massa moved to Washington D.C. to serve as the executive director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. In 2008, after being appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as consultor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Massa went to Rome. He also served as a member of the Joint Working Group between the Vatican and the World Council of Churches.<ref name=":0" />
After returned to Brooklyn in 2011, Massa helped coordinated the merger of the three seminaries in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the Diocese of Brooklyn, and the Archdiocese of New York. He was assigned in 2012 as a faculty member at Saint Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, New York. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio named Massa as moderator of the curia for the diocese and administrator of Holy Name Parish in Brooklyn in 2014. <ref name=":0" />
===Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn=== Massa was appointed titular bishop of Bardstown and auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn on May 19, 2015, by, Pope Francis. He received his episcopal consecration by DiMarzio on July 20, 2015. In 2020, Massa was named rector of Saint Joseph. In addition to English, Massa speaks Spanish and German.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/pope-francis-promotes-2-brooklyn-priests-auxiliary-bishop-article-1.2227852|title = Pope Francis promotes 2 NYC priests to auxiliary bishops, will serve borough and Queens' 1.5 million Catholics|date = May 19, 2015|accessdate = August 8, 2015|website = NY Daily News|publisher = |last = Siemaszko|first = Corky}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2015/05/19/0382/00828.html|title = Bishop James Massa|date = |accessdate = September 7, 2015|website = Vatican Bulletin|publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref><ref name=":1" />
==See also== {{Portal|Biography|Catholicism|New York (state)}} {{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== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.dioceseofbrooklyn.org/ Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn Official Site]
==Episcopal succession== {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | before = – | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn | after = - | years = 2015–present}} {{s-end}}
{{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|New York (state)|New York City}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn|state=collapsed}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massa, James}} Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Category:Yale Divinity School alumni Category:Boston College alumni Category:Fordham University alumni Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Category:Roman Catholic titular bishops of Bardstown Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Brooklyn