MANCHESTER – The 50th anniversary of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church was recognized at a recent Township Council meeting.
Mayor Joseph Hankins presented a proclamation to Reverend Evarist Kabagambe. The mayor’s proclamation covered some of the church’s half century history. The Roman Catholic parish is located in Whiting, within the Diocese of Trenton.
Starting in 1965, the first Catholics who moved into the Whiting section of Manchester, primarily adult villages, attended Mass at St. John’s in Lakehurst. In the middle of 1975, Reverend Philip T. Matera, pastor of Saint John’s, met with the residents of Whiting and all agreed on the need for the formation of a new Whiting-based parish. A fund drive was initiated and shortly afterward, on February 11, 1975, the first five acres of the present 10-acre parcel of land was purchased.
Reverend John J. McGovern was appointed as the church’s first pastor on December 3, 1976 and the newly established parish was named in honor of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was canonized a saint on September 14, 1975.
Ground was broken on September 25, 1977, for the construction of the parish complex to include a parish center, church, and rectory. Mass was celebrated in the Parish Center on June 24, 1978, and in the Church on March 25, 1979. Bishop Ahr laid the cornerstone and blessed the completed church on June 10, 1979 and Reverend John C. Reiss dedicated the church and burned the mortgage on June 12, 1983.
Father Pasquale A. Papalia was installed as pastor on November 23, 2008 and after faithfully serving the parish for 14 years, retired on June 30, 2022. Father Evarist Kabagambe was assigned to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish on July 1, 2018, serving as parochial vicar until being appointed pastor on July 1, 2022.
Councilwoman Sandy Drake said she is a member of the church and noted its many community-oriented programs to help residents of the township including recently allowing their facility to be used as a warming center during a power outage during a brutally cold evening in Whiting. “They hold soup dinners for lent and they are a very active church.”
“They provide faith-based help and we thank you for your dedicated service,” Police Chief Antonio Ellis told Father Kabagambe.
Father Kabagambe expressed to the mayor and council, “we reach out to you for so many things. We will continue to serve the community. Whatever we can do to cooperate and help, we will do.”
