John Smith was born on June 23, 1935, in Orange, New Jersey, to Mortimer and Ethel (née Charnock) Smith. The oldest of three children, he had two brothers, Andrew (who later became a Benedictinemonk) and Gregory.
In 1982, Smith became a faculty memberof the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he was director of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education and program director of the U.S. Bishops' Consultation IV. Upon his return to New Jersey in 1986, he was named pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Dumont and later vicar general and moderator of the curia.[2]
Smith was named the third bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee on June 25, 1991, by John Paul II. He was installed on July 31 of that year.[6]
Coadjutor Bishop and Bishop of Trenton
On November 21, 1995, Smith was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. He succeeded Bishop John C. Reiss as the ninth bishop of Trenton upon the latter's resignation on June 30, 1997.[7]
In 2002, Smith removed a priest accused of molesting a young boy from an administrative position in the diocese.[citation needed] The diocese had reported the allegation to the Monmouth Countyprosecutor's office when it was first made in 1990, but prosecutors had decided not to file criminal charges because of insufficient evidence. Smith relieved the priest of his duties following a review of personnel files to ensure the public's confidence in the clergy.
Retirement and legacy
On June 4, 2010, David M. O'Connell was named coadjutor bishop of the diocese,[8] and on December 1, 2010, Pope Benedict VI accepted Smith's resignation as bishop of Trenton.[2]
John Smith died in Morris Hall Meadows Home in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, on January 22, 2019, following a long illness.[9]
In November 2020, a Vatican investigation into defrocked cardinal Theodore McCarrick identified Smith as one of three bishops who "provided inaccurate and incomplete information to the Holy See regarding McCarrick’s sexual conduct with young adults" when McCarrick was a candidate for the post of Archbishop of Washington in 2000.[10][11]
^Bishop John M. Smith Archived April 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Catholic Conference. Accessed November 29, 2017. "John M. Smith was born in Orange on June 23, 1935, the oldest son of Mrs. Ethel Charnock Smith and Mortimer F. Smith, now both deceased..... He attended Saint John Parochial Elementary School in Orange, New Jersey, and Saint Benedict Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey."