Robert Peter Deeley, JCD

Bishop Robert Deeley was named the 12th Bishop of Portland on December 18, 2013, and installed on February 14, 2014, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and raised in Belmont, Massachusetts, he entered Cardinal O’Connell Minor Seminary in Jamaica Plain, Mass., after high school to discern a vocation to the priesthood. After two years of college, he received a Theodore Basselin Foundation Scholarship and began philosophy studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1968. In 1972, he earned a degree in Theology (S.T.B.) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Following a year of continuing studies in theology, he returned to Boston and was ordained to the priesthood on July 14, 1973, at his home parish of Sacred Heart in Watertown. Along with parish assignments, Bishop Deeley spent more than 20 years in the Metropolitan Tribunal for the Archdiocese of Boston, including 10 as judicial vicar. In 2000, he was named president of the Canon Law Society of America. And in 2004, he went to Rome to assist as an official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He served at the congregation until being named vicar general and moderator of the curia of the Archdiocese of Boston in the summer of 2011. On January 4, 2013, he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Boston by Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap. And on December 18, 2013, he was named Bishop of Portland.
As Bishop of Portland, Bishop Deeley sought to strengthen parishes, partnering with the Catholic Leadership Institute to offer leadership training and assistance in pastoral planning for the future. Foreseeing an increasing shortage of priests, he engaged with international religious communities and the Diocese of Kumbo in Cameroon to bring priests from other countries to Maine. Currently, nearly 40 priests from African countries and India serve in the diocese, many as pastors or administrators.
Bishop Deeley also sought to preserve and enliven Catholic education, and it was his leadership that brought Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionaries to the University of Maine at Orono, enhancing campus ministry and promoting vocations. There was also an increased focus on Hispanic ministry and outreach to immigrant and refugee communities. And during his episcopacy, safe environment programs were evaluated and strengthened. 
Bishop Deeley guided the Church in Maine through the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited church attendance but saw a rise in livestreaming capabilities, which still benefit homebound residents.
Throughout his time as chief shepherd, Bishop Deeley traveled extensively, aiming to visit every Catholic church in Maine. The greatest gift of his episcopacy, he said, has been time spent with priests and parishioners and time spent celebrating the Eucharist.
In addition to his responsibilities within the diocese. Bishop Deeley served as chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance. He remains a member of the committee and is also chairman of the board of the National Catholic Risk Retention Group.