visiting lecturer in theology at Princeton Theological Seminary (1974), Immaculate Conception Seminary (1976–81), and American College of Louvain in Belgium (1976). He became director of the Diocesan Development Program for Natural Family Planning in 1981. From 1978 to 1981, he studied moral theology with a concentration in medical ethics at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome where he earned a doctorate in theology. He then served as a visiting lecturer at the Pontifical Lateran University in 1982. He served as special assistant at the World Synod of Bishops on "The Christian Family in the Contemporary World" in 1980, and was appointed to the delegation of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in 1983. He was appointed archdiocesan vicar for Parish and Family Life in 1986. Auxiliary Bishop of Newark On November 20, 1987, McHugh was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Newark and titular bishop of Morosbisdus by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1988 from Archbishop Theodore Edgar McCarrick, with Archbishop Peter Leo Gerety and Bishop Walter William Curtis serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. He selected as his episcopal motto: Quid retribuam Domino, meaning, "What shall I return to the Lord" (). Bishop of Camden Following the retirement of Bishop George Guilfoyle, McHugh was named the fifth Bishop of Camden on May 13, 1989 by John Paul II. His installation took place at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on June 20, 1989. During his nine-year tenure, he undertook a major reorganization of the diocese's administrative structure and authorized the relocation of the diocesan headquarters to downtown Camden. He presided over a diocesan synod in September 1992. Highly dedicated to the cause of Catholic education, he created a $63 million Catholic Education Endowment Fund for schools and religious education programs, a five-point plan to reinvigorate Catholic high schools, and led a grassroots effort to support school choice legislation in the state legislature. A strong opponent of abortion rights for women, McHugh was a leading member of the National Conference of Bishops' Pro-Life Committee, and was known as the "father of the pro-life movement in America." He served as a delegate at United Nations-sponsored conferences on the environment (1992 in Rio de Janeiro) and on population and development (1994 in Cairo). Bishop of Rockville Centre McHugh was appointed coadjutor