Parishes of the Paterson Diocese

• 1765 Saint Joseph, West Milford parish status in 1945
• 1805 Saint Vincent Martyr, Madison parish status in 1825
• 1814 Saint John the Baptist, Paterson parish status in 1820; cathedral status in 1937
• 1845 Saint Mary, Dover parish status in 1848
• 1847 Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Boonton parish status in 1860
• 1848 Assumption, Morristown parish status in 1860
• 1853 Saint Joseph, Mendham parish status in 1874
• 1854 Our Lady of Mercy, Whippany parish status in 1882 and 1909
• 1854 Saint Joseph, Newton
• 1859 Saint Boniface, Paterson closed in 1976
• 1861 Saint Bernard, Mount Hope parish status in 1875
• 1865 Saint Patrick, Hibernia parish status in 1881; closed in 1928
• 1867 Immaculate Conception, Franklin parish status in 1881
• 1867 Saint Joseph, Paterson parish status in 1875
• 1868 Saint Nicholas, Passaic merged with Our Lady of Fatima 2022
• 1869 Saint Cecilia, Rockaway parish status in 1881
• 1873 Saint Mary Help of Christians, Paterson parish status in 1880
• 1873 Saint Michael, Netcong parish status in 1880
• 1874 Saint Patrick, Chatham parish status in 1887
• 1875 Saint Charles, Hurdtown mission closed in 1911
• 1876 Saint Bonaventure, Paterson parish status in 1877
• 1878 Saint Anthony of Padua, Butler
• 1881 Saint George, Pompton (Riverdale) mission closed in 1908
• 1881 Saint Monica, Sussex parish status in 1940
• 1881 Saint Thomas of Aquin, Ogdensburg parish status in 1940
• 1881 Saint Virgil, Morris Plains parish status in 1882
• 1882 Our Lady of Lourdes, Paterson
• 1883 Our Lady of the Holy Angels, Little Falls parish status in 1945
• 1883 Our Lady of Victories, Paterson
• 1883 Saint Agnes, Paterson
• 1885 Saint Margaret, Morristown parish status in 1930
• 1886 Saint Vincent de Paul, Stirling parish status in 1920
• 1888 Our Lady of the Lake, Mount Arlington originally named Saint Matthew; name changed in 1888; parish status in 1938
• 1892 Saint Joseph, Passaic
• 1892 Saint Mary of the Assumption, Passaic
• 1897 Sacred Heart, Clifton
• 1897 Saint George, Paterson merged with Saint Brendan in 2011; church taken over by Saint George Syro-Malabar Parish
• 1900 Holy Trinity, Passaic
• 1902 Saint Stephen, Passaic
• 1903 Saint Michael, Paterson
• 1903 Saint Stephen, Paterson
• 1904 Sacred Heart, Dover merged with Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Dover in 2018
• 1905 Holy Cross, Wayne parish status in 1945
• 1905 Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Passaic parish status in 1922
• 1905 Saint Francis of Assisi, Haskell parish status in 1945
• 1906 Saint Mary, Pompton Lakes parish status in 1945
• 1907 Our Lady of the Lake, Culvers Lake mission of Our Lady Queen of Peace; closed in 1970
• 1907 Our Lady of the Lake, Greenwood Lake mission of Our Lady Queen of Peace; closed in 1974
• 1907 Saints Cyril and Methodius, Boonton
• 1908 Saint Anthony, Hawthorne
• 1909 Saint Anthony of Padua, Paterson parish status in 1911
• 1910 Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Netcong closed in 1915
• 1910 Our Lady Star of the Sea, Lake Hopatcong parish status in 1971
• 1911 Blessed Sacrament, Paterson
• 1911 Saint Casimir, Paterson closed in 2018
• 1912 Saint Clare, Clifton parish status in 1941
• 1912 Saint Hubertus, Kinnelon mission abandoned in 1916
• 1912 Saint Paul, Clifton parish status in 1914
• 1913 Saints Cyril and Methodius, Clifton
• 1915 Saint Mary, Lincoln Park mission closed in 1916
• 1915 Saint Mary Queen of the Rosary, Ringwood named changed in 1917; see Saint Catherine of Bologna
• 1916 Our Lady of Pompei, Paterson
• 1917 Holy Rosary, Passaic
• 1917 Notre Dame of Mount Carmel, Cedar Knolls parish status in 1926
• 1917 Saint Anthony of Padua, Passaic left Catholic Union in 1918; returned to Catholic Union in 1925; parish status in 1948
• 1917 Saint Catherine of Bologna, Ringwood see Saint Mary, Ringwood 1915; parish status in 1945
• 1921 Saint Catherine of Sienna, Greenwood Lake parish status in 1945; name change to Our Lady Queen of Peace in 1950
• 1922 Saint Joseph, Lincoln Park parish status in 1945
• 1923 Sacred Heart, Rockaway
• 1924 Saint James of the Marches, Totowa parish status in 1945
• 1924 Saint Joseph, Hopatcong church colapsed and mission closed in 1947; See Saint Jude, Hopatcong
• 1924 Saint Paul, Prospect Park parish status in 1925
• 1926 Saint Mary, Denville parish status in 1941
• 1926 Saint Therese, Paterson
• 1927 Saint Hyacinth, Paterson parish status in 1940; closed in 1980
• 1927 Saint Joseph, Drakestown mission closed in 1957
• 1931 Saint Joseph, Northwood mission closed in 1976
• 1933 Saint John Kanty, Clifton parish status in 1935
• 1933 Saint Cecilia, Upper Greenwood Lake mission closed in 1983
• 1935 Our Lady of the Lake, Sparta parish status in 1949
• 1938 Saint Peter the Apostle, Parsippany
• 1938 Saint Andrew the Apostle, Clifton
• 1939 Immaculate Conception, Paterson mission of Our Lady of Lourdes; closed in 1972
• 1939 Saint Christopher, Parsippany parish status in 1960
• 1941 Saint Peter Claver, Paterson mission merged into Our Lady of Victories in 1965
• 1942 Saint Matthew, Walpack mission of Montague; closed in 1972
• 1942 Saint Simon the Apostle, Green Pond parish status in 1946; mission status in 1966; parish status in 1981
• 1943 Saint James the Greater, Montague parish status in 1945
• 1943 Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, Lafayette mission closed in 1951
• 1943 Saint Patrick, Marcella mission of Rockaway closed in 1946
• 1943 Saint Philip the Apostle, Clifton parish status in 1944
• 1943 Saint Thomas the Apostle, Sandyston parish status in 1987
• 1945 Saint Brendan, Clifton merged with Saint George in 2011
• 1945 Saint Michael, Middleville mission of Newton closed in 1950
• 1946 Holy Spirit, Pequannock parish status in 1949
• 1946 Saint Jude, Budd Lake parish status in 1967
• 1949 Our Lady of Fatima, Highland Lakes parish status in 1965
• 1949 Saint Thomas the Apostle, Milton parish status in 1966
• 1950 Saint Lawrence the Martyr, Chester parish status in 1957
• 1951 Holy Family, Florham Park parish status in 1954
• 1951 Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Swartswood parish status in 1970
• 1951 Our Lady Queen of Peace, Branchville
• 1951 Our Lady Queen of Peace, West Milford see Saint Catherine of Sienna, Greenwood Lake
• 1954 Our Lady of Fatima, Passaic parish status in 1972; merged with Saint Nicholas, Passaic in 2022
• 1954 Our Lady of the Mountain, Schooleys Mountain parish status in 1969
• 1954 Our Lady of Providence, Paterson mission merged into Our Lady of Victories in 1965
• 1956 Christ the King, New Vernon parish status in 1957
• 1956 Immaculate Heart of Mary, Wayne parish status in 1960
• 1956 Saint Catherine of Siena, Mountain Lakes parish status in 1957
• 1957 Saint Rose of Lima, East Hanover parish status in 1959
• 1957 Saint Therese, Succasunna parish status in 1959;
• 1958 Saint John Vianney, Stockholm parish status in 1961
• 1958 Saint Jude, Hopatcong see Saint Joseph’s, Hopatcong; parish status in 1966
• 1959 Saint John the Baptist, Dover name changed to Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in the same year
• 1959 Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Dover parish status in 1984; merged with Sacred Heart in 2018
• 1959 Saint Pius X, Montville parish status in 1960
• 1960 Our Lady of the Valley, Wayne parish status in 1961
• 1961 Annunciation, Rockaway Township abandoned 1962 in favor of Saint Clement
• 1962 Our Lady of the Magnificat, Kinnelon parish status in 1962
• 1962 Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pompton Plains parish status in 1963
• 1962 Saint Gerard Majella, Paterson parish status in 1965
• 1963 Annunciation, Wayne
• 1963 Our Lady of Consolation, Wayne
• 1963 Saint Francis de Sales, McAfee parish status in 1979
• 1964 Saint Clement Pope and Martyr, Rockaway Twp.
• 1966 Corpus Christi, Chatham Township
• 1966 Our Lady of Blue Mountain, Sandyston mission of Saint James closed in 1970
• 1966 Saint Jude the Apostle, Hardyston parish status in 1981
• 1966 Saint Thomas More, Convent Station
• 1976 Our Lady of Tranquility, Green Township parish status and name change to Good Shepherd in 1979
• 1979 Good Shepherd, Andover see Our Lady of Tranquility 1976
• 1982 Saint Ann, Parsippany parish status in 1983
• 1982 Saint Luke, Long Valley
• 1985 Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Flanders
• 1986 Saint Mark the Evangelist, Long Valley parish status in 1991
• 1996 Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Sparta
• 1996 Saint Matthew the Apostle, Randolph
• 2011 Saint Brendan and Saint George, Clifton merger of two parishes in Paterson and Clifton
• 2018 Sacred Heart and Our Lady of the Rosary, Dover merger of two parishes in Dover
• 2022 Our Lady of Fatima and Saint Nicholas, Passaic merger of two parishes in Passaic

Parishes in italics have either been closed or merged.

When determining the “founding date” of a parish, there are a number of different dates that might be utilized, and different people, for one reason or another, will opt for a different set of dates. For example, is the “founding date” the year in which the church was built, or the year when Mass began to be celebrated, or the year when the parish (vs. the church) was canonically erected, or the year when the civil incorporation took place, or the year when the first priest was assigned, or when the name was assigned? There are a lot of options!

In the above list I have almost always opted for the year when organized worship began. Thus, in the case of Saint Joseph’s, West Milford and Saint Vincent Martyr, Madison I have opted for two fairly early years (in both cases before a church was built) because those years mark the beginning of regular parish life with regular worship and, in the case of Saint Joseph’s, parish sacramental records. Because of the varying ways in which our parishes were founded, almost any other effort to produce a consistent founding date will yield, I think, a lot of frustration. (For an example of this complexity view the very fine historical video on the parish website of Saint Jude’s Church, Hopatcong which details the confusing history of the four [now three] Catholic churches around Lake Hopatcong).

In the nineteenth century, a church achieved “parish” status when a permanent pastor was assigned. The earliest parish for which we have a formal canonical decree of erection with delineated boundaries is Saint Margaret’s, Morristown which Bishop Thomas J. Walsh of Newark formally separated from Assumption in 1930. A surprising number of our current parishes got their start as “Mass stations” (Saint Michael’s, Netcong) or “summer missions” (Saint Christopher’s, Parsippany started as a summer mission of Notre Dame, Cedar Knolls, which itself also started as a summer mission). Bishop James A. McNulty (1953-1963) was fond of creating “exploratory missions” to test the waters. Thus Father Joseph Meyer was sent to form an exploratory mission in the Towaco area in June 1959. A year later the mission was raised to formal parish status as Saint Pius X, Montville Township.

The twelve current parishes which trace themselves back to the Holy Name Province of the Franciscans are a whole separate story. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a zealous Franciscan friar, Father Francis Koch, O.F.M. was moved to raise funds for the building of churches in many small rural communities of northern New Jersey. Ultimately the Franciscans were operating more than twenty churches in Passaic and Bergen Counties. All of these churches were run as “missions” out of the two large Franciscan monasteries at Paterson and Butler. While many of these churches had a stable priest for years at a time, they were not canonically the pastor. For example, the Franciscan historian, Father Berard Vogt, O.F.M. served as “pastor” of Saint Joseph’s West Milford for over thirty years – but he never actually lived in West Milford; he commuted from Butler as needed. It was not until 1945, when Paterson’s first Bishop, Thomas H. McLaughlin (1937-1947) forced the issue with the Franciscans that this situation was changed. At that time the Franciscans gave up several “missions” (e.g. Holy Cross, Wayne, Saint James, Totowa) and assigned resident pastors to the others.

Another confusing issue is that of the names of the parishes and even the names of the places in which they are located. Several parishes have been more commonly known by different parts of their full name, and, as geographical designations have developed over the last century, the common location name has also changed. For example, the name of the parish in Little Falls Township today is commonly referred to as “Holy Angels, Little Falls.” But, the actual title of the parish is “Our Lady of the Holy Angels,” named after the Franciscan mother church in Assisi. In the nineteenth century the church was often referred to as “Saint Mary’s, Singac,” the neighborhood of Little Falls in which the church was built. In Western Morris County, Saint Mary’s church property is partially in Dover and partially in Wharton Boro, and is commonly referred to in records by both places, e.g. St. Mary’s, Dover, and Saint Mary’s, Wharton. In recent years, as some of the rural townships have grown in population, or as postal designations have changed, so have parish designations. Thus, Saint Thomas, Hainesville is now known as Saint Thomas, Sandyston, and Saint Jude’s, Hamburg is now known as Saint Jude’s, Hardyston.