During the mid 1700s, priests would periodically visit German Catholic workers at the iron mills in Passaic County.

[4] The assistance of Catholic French troops during the American Revolution helped to abate anti-Catholic sentiment in all of the 13 original colonies.

[14][15] Boland was succeeded by Auxiliary Bishop James A. McNulty of Newark, named by Pius XII in 1953.

[19] Pope Paul VI in 1966 appointed Auxiliary Bishop Lawrence B. Casey from the Diocese of Rochester as Navagh's replacement in Paterson.

[22] After Rodimer retired in 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Newark as his successor.

[23][24] After Serratelli retired in 2020, Pope Francis named Kevin J. Sweeney of the Diocese of Brooklyn as the next bishop of Paterson.

In August 2024, the Diocese, including its Columbian and four Filipino priests filed a joint immigration case with the D.N.J.

[27] In 1985, Mark Serrano reported to the Diocese of Paterson that he was sexually abused as a child by James Hanley, a pastor of St. Joseph's Parish.

[28] Timothy J. Brennan pleaded guilty to 1987 to aggravated sexual contact in 1984 with a 15-year-old student while teaching at Delbarton High School in Morris County.

[29][30] The Diocese of Paterson in May 1987 received allegations of sexual abuse against Jose Alonso, rector of St. Joseph Cathedral.

The diocese sent Alonso to the Servants of the Paraclete facility in New Mexico for treatment and immediately notified local authorities.

After receiving reports supporting Alonso from two priests who worked with him, Bishop Rodimer had dismissed the accusations.

[33][34] In February 2019, the diocese released the names of 28 clergy with credible accusations of sexually abusing children since 1940.

[38] On August 10, 2020, former Bishop of Paterson Frank Rodimer's decision to approve of the Vatican naming Archdiocese of Newark Auxiliary Bishop Arthur Serratelli as his successor came under criticism, due to revelations that he had learned about sex abuse allegations facing Serratelli's former Newark superior, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

Our Lady of Fatima Traditional Latin Mass Chapel, located in Pequannock, is not considered a parish of the Diocese of Paterson.