The Most Reverend Dominic Anthony Marconi was born in Newark on March 13, 1927, to Italian immigrants Sabato Joseph Marconi and Antonetta Ricciardi. He attended Saint Joseph Elementary School in Newark and Seton Hall Preparatory School in South Orange. In 1949, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Seton Hall University in South Orange. He studied for the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington from 1947 to 1952 and completed his seminary education at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1953, earning a Licentiate Degree in Theology (S.T.L.). He was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1953, in Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral in Newark.

As a newly ordained priest, Father Marconi was assigned to Saint Anthony Church in Union City, where he served as an associate pastor until 1966. In 1966, he was named associate director of the Family Life Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark before becoming director of the ministry four years later. In 1975, he was named co-director of the Division for Services to the Elderly of the Associated Catholic Charities. He was chaplain of St. Joseph Home for the Blind in Jersey City from 1966 until 1976.

Bishop Marconi was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of Newark on May 4, 1976, and Regional Bishop for Union County later that same month. He was ordained to the episcopacy on June 25, 1976, in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark. As Regional Bishop for Union County, Bishop Marconi was responsible for overseeing the general operations of parishes and for meetings with deans (and later with episcopal vicars) of that county.

During his years in the episcopate, Bishop Marconi served as president of the Northeast Italian Apostolate Conference, member of the Advisory Board of Seton Hall University Master in Business Administration Program, member of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Catholic Health Association, board member of the Alexian Brothers Hospital in Elizabeth, and chairman of the New Jersey Catholic Health Association. He also served as a consultor of the Archdiocese of Newark, chairman of the New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission, and episcopal advisor of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains for Region Ill.

As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he served on the Committee on the Parish, the Committee on the Laity, and the Committee on Women in the Church.

The Holy See announced Bishop Marconi’s retirement from active ministry on July 1, 2002.

Coat of Arms

Blazon: A shield bearing ancient and modern charges, namely a cross of stylized radio waves. The fleur-de-lis, a dog, a wagon wheel of eight spokes, and a Chi Rho entwined with interlaced rings. The shield is set before an episcopal cross and topped with a green galero with cords and twelve tassels disposed in three rows of one, two, and three; below the shield a scroll bearing the motto “Fidelity Through Service.” 

Explanation: Ancient and modern symbols combine in the coat or arms of Bishop Dominic A. Marconi. An interesting modern touch among the traditional heraldic symbols is the cross composed of radio waves to recall that it was another Marconi who invented the wireless.  

The fleur-de-lis in the upper left denotes the bishop’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The dog is in honor or his baptismal patron, St. Dominic, whose mother, accord­ing to tradition, dreamed before his birth that she brought forth a dog with a torch in his mouth. The dog, then, becomes a symbol of the Hound of Heaven. It also appears on the Marconi family coat or arms.  

The wagon wheel in the lower left represents the process of aging—the spokes are the various stages of life that make a complete cycle. The symbol appears on his shield for Bishop Marconi’s work as co-director of the Division of Services to the Elderly of the Newark Archdiocese and for his 10 years as chaplain to the elderly and blind at St. Joseph’s Home in Jersey City.  

The Chi Rho with entwined circles in the lower right is the symbol of the Family Life Apostolate, which he served and directed. The circles stand for the husband and wife who, in the sacrament of marriage, are joined in Christ, represented by the Chi Rho.  

Bishop Marconi chose the motto “Fidelity Through Service” because, in his words, “I see my whole role as a priest and bishop as one of faithfulness to God’s people.”