Most Rev. James Massa, Ph.D., D.D.

Biography

The Most Reverend James Massa is an Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the twenty-second Rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, New York. A graduate of Boston College and Yale University’s School of Divinity, Bishop Massa pursued his doctorate in systematic theology at Fordham University in New York. He wrote his dissertation on “communion ecclesiology” under the late Cardinal Avery Dulles.

While serving in various pastoral roles, and later on the faculty of several seminaries, Bishop Massa has lectured and published on topics pertaining to ecumenism and the theology of the church. In 2005, Bishop Massa was named the Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue, where he coordinated national meetings between Catholic leaders and their dialogue partners from other faith traditions.  Three years later, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and a Member of the Joint Working Group between the Holy See and the World Council of Churches. From 2013 through 2020, he served in diocesan administration, concentrating in the areas of Catholic education and faith formation of the laity.

In 2015 Pope Francis named him an Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn with the Titular See of Bardstown, Kentucky. Three years later, the Holy Father appointed him a Member of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. In the period of 2016-2021, he was a delegate of the Holy See to the KAICIID International Dialogue Center in Vienna, Austria. With the permission of the Holy See, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan appointed him Rector-President of St. Joseph’s Seminary of the Archdiocese of New York in 2020. In addition to serving as Rector, Bishop Massa continues to provide pastoral services to the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Currently, Bishop Massa serves on four committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Doctrine and Pastoral Practice; Catholic Education; Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; (Subcommittee) on the Catechism. He also represents the episcopal conference as a member of the Catholic-Modern Orthodox Jewish Consultation.