Fr. Joseph G. Celano was born in Newark, NJ and grew up in Somerset, NJ. He attended the University of Scranton and was awarded a B.S. in Human Resources in 1983. Fr. Celano completed his priestly formation at Mount St. Mary`s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD where he received both his M.Div. and M.A. in Biblical Studies and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Metuchen on May 30, 1987.

Since his ordination, Fr. Celano has served as parochial vicar for several parishes in the Diocese of Metuchen and in 1993 was appointed Chaplain to the Catholic Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick where he served until 1999. In addition to these assignments, Fr. Celano has also served as Director of the Department of Pastoral Life of the Diocese of Metuchen, Vocation Director for the Diocese of Metuchen, Advisor to the Diocesan Office of the Catechumenate; Member of the Commission for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs; Director of Zacchaeus House for vocational discernment and program host of Proclaim The Good News, the award winning radio talk show of the Diocese of Metuchen.

In 2005, Fr. Celano was inducted into the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher.

He currently is pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church in Bridgewater, N.J.