Bishop Michael Saporito appointed to lead Diocese of Metuchen

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Michael A. Saporito as the new bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey. The announcement was made on September 15, 2026, by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Saporito, 64, currently serves as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Newark. He succeeds James F. Checchio, who was appointed archbishop of New Orleans earlier this year. The Diocese of Metuchen has been without a bishop since November 2025.

Born in Newark in 1962, Saporito holds an accounting degree from Rutgers University Newark and worked as an accountant before entering the seminary. He was ordained a priest in 1992 and was appointed auxiliary bishop in 2020. As the sixth bishop of Metuchen, he will oversee a diocese of approximately 1.5 million people, including more than 670,000 Catholics across Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, and Warren counties.