John Joseph McDermott
John Joseph McDermott is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who serves as bishop for the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont. He previously served as the diocesan administrator.
Biography
Early life
John McDermott was born on March 19, 1963, in Red Bank, New Jersey, the seventh of ten children of Robert and Jacqueline McDermott. At the age of two, his family moved to Hudson, Massachusetts, where he attended St. Michael's parochial school, He then went to Hudson Catholic High School until the family relocated to Central Valley, New York. McDermott graduated from Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley.After a year at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, McDermott decided to become a priest. He switched to Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, where he graduated with a double major in political science and philosophy.
Priesthood
McDermott was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Burlington on June 3, 1989 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Burlington by Bishop John Aloysius Marshall.McDermott holds a master's degree in divinity and theology from Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland and a degree in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.. He served as the Catholic chaplain to Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, from 1996 to 2001.
McDermott served as director of the Catholic Center at the University of Vermont in Burlington from 2021 to 2024.In January 2014, McDermott was voted to serve as administrator for the diocese. This role ended in January 2015.