Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., of Trenton has been released from a Rome hospital and will return to New Jersey soon, the Trenton Monitor reported Tuesday.

The Diocese of Trenton’s official news website showed the bishop with Monsignor Thomas N. Gervasio, the diocese’s vicar general, Father Jean Felicien, and Monsignor Sam Sirianni at their hotel in Rome following his release. Bishop O’Connell plans to return with the group to Trenton at the end of their pilgrimage on January 12.

Bishop O’Connell suffered a heart attack and underwent emergency surgery on January 4, shortly after arriving for an eight-day pilgrimage to Rome for Diocese of Trenton priests and staff. The pilgrimage continued despite the bishop’s hospitalization.

The scheduled itinerary for the group included Mass with Pope Francis on Epiphany, Jan. 6, and a visit to Assisi, Italy, and the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. The pilgrims also planned to be in St. Peter’s Square on January 10 for Pope Francis’ general audience.

A native of Philadelphia and a priest of the Eastern province of the Congregation of the Mission, also known as the Vincentian order, Bishop O’Connell is the 10th bishop of Trenton. He was president of The Catholic University of America in Washington from 1998 until the end of the 2009-2010 school year. On June 4, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed then-Father O’Connell as coadjutor bishop of Trenton and he was ordained to the episcopacy by Bishop John M. Smith in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in Trenton on July 30, 2010.

When Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Bishop Smith on December 1, 2010, Bishop O’Connell automatically succeeded him as the 10th Bishop of Trenton.

— Our Sunday Visitor contributed to this report.