HOLY FAMILY ROMAN CATHOLIC

HOLY FAMILY CHURCH was solemnly blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Thomas Joseph Walsh on July 4, 1938. It is the second church building to house the religious services of the parish.

The parish of the Holy Family was established in the year 1909 by the Reverend Alphonso de Santola, who was also at the time the rector of the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Lyndhurst. A news item in The Nutley Sun of that year gives the following information:

“The corner stone of the new Italian Roman Catholic Church on Harrison Street, between Franklin and Passaic Avenues, will be laid tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 o’clock. The ceremony of laying the stone will be performed by the Reverend James P. Smith of Belleville. The rector of the new church, Reverend Alphonso de Santola, will have charge of the affair.

“The new edifice will be known as the Church of the Holy Family. It stands on a plot 30 x 100 feet and will have a frontage of twenty feet by fifty feet deep. The basement or cellar of the building is of cement and is nine feet high.”

The present structure is located a short distance from the old building on Brookline Avenue. It is of yellow face brick construction throughout and can accommodate 600 people. It connects with a companion building, the rectory, which is of the same construction. The original cost of the structures was approximately $132,000.

Since the new church was opened, many improvements have been made. Through the kindness of parishioners, a new marble main altar with altar railing and bronze gates was installed in 1945. The entire church was painted and decorated a few years back and the auditorium was painted at a later date.

Since the church’s founding in 1909 several other priests have succeeded Father De Santola as pastors. They were Father Michael Leggiri, Father Joseph Monastero, Father Salvatore Midaglia.

Monsignor Di Luca has been pastor for the last twenty-seven years, and it has been during his term that the parish has witnessed its greatest growth.

The Rectory for Holy Family Church was built in 1937 with an addition in 1959.

The School was built in 1950 with a combined auditorium and gymnasium. The addition was completed in 1958.

The Convent was completed in 1951 with an addition being built in 1960.

The new C.Y.O. building is on the church grounds. The second floor is used as the School Library.

The Holy Family Day Nursery is also conducted at 174 Franklin Avenue.

The present pastors are: Monsignor Anthony Di Luca, Reverend Francis J. Blake, Reverend Henry M. Naddeo, Reverend Salvatore T. Malagna, Reverend Michael A. Saltarelli.