[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 15, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H4193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   BISHOP JOHN M. SMITH'S GOLDEN JUBILEE, 50 YEARS OF PRIESTHOOD AND 
                         EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, words are inadequate to convey 
my profound respect, admiration, and gratitude for Trenton Diocese 
Bishop Emeritus John Mortimer Smith, who celebrated his golden jubilee, 
an amazing 50 years as a Catholic priest, on May 22 at a mass attended 
by over 800 people at the St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in 
Trenton, New Jersey.
  The mass, concelebrated by several bishops, including Bishop David M. 
O'Connell, now bishop of Trenton, and several priests, including Bishop 
Smith's brother Father Andrew Smith, was filled with joy and 
reflection, befitting acknowledgement of a great servant of God.
  In his moving homily, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick noted that Bishop 
Smith is an ``extraordinary brother and an extraordinary friend. A man 
filled with faith, filled with zeal--zeal for the church, zeal for the 
people he serves, and, in a special way as a bishop, zeal for his 
priests.'' The cardinal said we are called to ``model Jesus Christ to 
our people and imitate Christ. Mort Smith,'' he continued, ``has lived 
it well.''
  Cardinal McCarrick brought smiles and laughter throughout the 
cathedral when he said, ``I'm not here to canonize Bishop Smith, 
although that may come,'' and then went on to call Bishop Smith ``the 
world's greatest kibitzer'' due to his legendary penchant for telling 
stories, usually long, no usually very long, and happily, usually very 
funny.
  Once when I was about to give an address at the St. Thomas More 
dinner in Trenton, I turned to Bishop Smith, seated with my wife and me 
at a table, desperate for a joke. He gave me two, and I, courtesy of 
his jokes, had them rolling in the aisle. Bishop Smith's uncanny 
ability to infuse humor and hope-filled lightheartedness into almost 
all things is not only entertaining but makes presentation of the 
gospel to an often confused and stressed-out world more efficacious.
  Bishop Smith connects amazingly well with the youth. I have witnessed 
it many times at schools and at the annual Catholic Men's Rally. Bishop 
Smith has an uncanny way of challenging everyone, especially our young 
people, to faithfully and courageously live the gospel. And you know, 
it never fails. Within a minute or two of being with Bishop Smith, you 
always find yourself smiling and your spirits lifted.
  For the many years that I have known him, Bishop Smith not only 
radiates the love of Christ, but he works hard and smart. Often I don't 
know where he finds the time.
  Ordained a priest on May 27, 1961, he has really done it all. Bishop 
Smith has earned several degrees and got his doctorate from Catholic 
University of America in the sixties and was deployed as a pastor in 
the Newark Archdiocese.
  Over the years, he has chaired or been the director of numerous 
boards, including the Institute for Continuing Theological Education, 
the U.S. Bishops Consultation IV, and the Archdiocesan Vocational 
Board. He has also served in leadership positions on the Bishops' 
Committee on Migration and Refugee Services and served on the board of 
directors for St. Vincent de Paul Seminary, Notre Dame Seminary, St. 
Joseph College Seminary, Catholic Relief Services, St. Francis Medical 
Center in Trenton, and Pontifical North American College in Rome. I 
would note, parenthetically, he made five humanitarian trips to Africa 
as part of Catholic Relief Services' mission there.
  As bishop, his pastoral plan, Led by the Spirit, identified seven 
pastoral priorities, including dealing with charity and justice, 
pastoral leadership, ethnic diversity, youth and young adult ministry, 
faith formation, and Sunday worship. Today, all 111 parishes in the 
diocese of Trenton are developing action plans to implement Led by the 
Spirit.
  Bishop Smith also created the Institute for Lay Ecclesial Ministry, 
which has formed and commissioned approximately 100 people to date. He 
also updated and expanded the strategic use of media to advance the 
gospel and the culture of life and created Realfaith TV, an award-
winning teen talk show. And he has boosted the Trenton diocese's online 
outreach to the Hispanic community to protect the sanctity of human 
life and to reach an even wider audience with news and commentary 
published in the excellent diocesan newspaper, The Monitor.
  Faced with declining enrollment in the diocesan schools, largely due 
to escalating costs, which include some 36 elementary schools and eight 
high schools, Bishop Smith's ``Commitment to Excellence'' initiative 
established benchmarks to make an already effective education program 
even better.
  Mr. Speaker, my wife, Marie, and I were among those offering prayers 
of thanks at Bishop Smith's jubilee mass. We rejoiced with his family 
and friends for his accomplishments that are without number. We 
rejoiced over his bold, consistent, and compassionate commitment to 
defending unborn children, their mothers, and the sanctity of life. We 
rejoiced and were inspired anew by his life well lived.
  And, Mr. Speaker, we gave thanks that, while his extraordinary 
ministry has changed in ``retirement,'' he is far from done.

                          ____________________