Pope Francis has named Bishop Neil E. Tiedemann as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Bishop Tiedemann, 68, has served as bishop of Mandeville, Jamaica, since 2008.
Neil E. Tiedemann was born March 5, 1948, in Brooklyn. He entered the Congregation of the Passionists in 1970 and professed perpetual vows on August 22, 1974. He was ordained a priest May 16, 1975. Following ordination, he served as parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Parish in Jamaica, New York (1975-1982) and was instructed to Caritas (1977-1978). He also served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Union City, New Jersey (1982-1984) and parochial vicar of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, Massachusetts (1984-1987).
He twice served in parish ministry in Honduras, from 1987-1994 and 2005-2006. In the interim, he did pastoral ministry at St. Joseph Parish in Union City (1995-1997) and Immaculate Conception Monastery in Jamaica (1997-1998). He was elected to the Provincial Council of the Passionist Congregation in 2006 and appointed bishop of Mandeville on March 20, 2008. He was consecrated a bishop on August 6, 2008.
The Diocese of Brooklyn comprises 179 square miles in the State of New York. It has a total population of 4,888,324 people, of whom 1,556,575, or 32 percent, are Catholic. The diocese currently has five other active auxiliary bishops.
Bishop Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio has been the bishop of Brooklyn since 2003.
