Background
Checchio was born in 1966 in Camden, where he attended Paul VI High School in Haddon Township, graduating in 1984.
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Education
Afterward he went on to study at the University of Scranton, where he finished his bachelor"s degree in 1988. He finished his studies there with a licentiate in Canon Law in 1993.
Career
Monsignor Checchio served as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 2005 until 2016. On March 8, 2016, Pope Francis named him Bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen to succeed Bishop Paul Bootkoski. He subsequently entered seminary and was sent to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, on June 20, 1992.
After completing his studies in Rome, Checchio returned to the Diocese of Camden, where he served as secretary to Bishop James T. McHugh, as well as vice chancellor of the diocese, director of communications, moderator of the diocesan curia, and episcopal vicar for administration of the diocese. He also served in the diocesan tribunal.
He served as administrator of Holy Spirit Parish in Atlantic City, parochial vicar at Saint Agnes Parish in Blackwood, and summer parochial vicar at Saint Peter Parish in Merchantville and Saint Peter Celestine Parish in Cherry Hill. Checchio is an alumnus of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, where he earned a doctorate in canon law in 1998.
His dissertation was entitled An Examination of General Absolution Using the Criteria of a Juridic Acting.
In 2004, he also earned a master"s degree in business administration from Louisiana Salle University in Philadelphia. In 2000, Checchio was appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness by Pope John Paul II, which granted him the title of monsignor. He was appointed an honorary prelate by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.
Prior to his assignment as rector of the North American College, Checchio served as vice rector there for three years.
He was appointed rector on December 12, 2005 by the college"s board of governors. His term as rector began on January 16, 2006.
On November 23, 2015 it was announced that Checchio would be succeeded as rector by Father Peter C. Harman. Checchio"s term as rector ended February 1, 2016, at which time he returned for service in his home diocese of Camden.
On March 8, 2016, Checchio was nominated to succeed to Bishop Paul Bootkoski as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen in New Jersey.
