St. Francis of Assisi Parish

Pastor's Message

             As the second Vincentian Pastor in the Parish’s history, I arrived in September 2007, to find a warm welcome and a loving community of Faith.  While our numbers have grown small with the passage of time and the mobility of people, there remains a core group of people whose generosity and dedication is without question.  We have just completed an extended Parish Renewal of seven weeks in which we have emphasized our goals of greater participation on the part of all, evangelization and outreach into the neighborhood, and the involvement of children and youth in the life of the Church.  We have an inter-parochial school named in home of St. Martin De Porres located next door but supported by St. Vincent’s as well as St. Francis.  The school’s emphasis is Christian, Vincentian, and highly academic.  An after-school Beacon program enables our students to meet with tutors, to complete their assignments, and to learn any number of arts and crafts.

             We have an annual Reunion of the first Sunday of October, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, at which we have a celebration of the Eucharist as well as fellowship with food and music.  We always enjoy meeting old friends of the Parish who have returned to the Church of their first Sacraments.  At the entrance inside the church we have displays of memories from the past.

             We are looking forward to our Christmas Midnight Mass which filled the Church last year.  The candle aria on path outside lest you into a beautifully decorated Church – a perfect setting to celebrate the Birth of Christ.  We even had people of other churches come to join us.

             We have a practice of welcoming visitors and celebrating birthdays and anniversaries of one another.  Visitors have commented of the friendliness of the people as well as the spirit of celebration, often reflected in the music of both our choirs.

             We have often said, with humility of heart, that we are blessed and that we have a treasure here in our Faith and in our Church.  We are learning to share what we have from God with one another as well as with those outside.

             If you have not yet been invited by a member of our family, please accept my invitation to come join us.  Consider us as a church home if you do not already have one.  If you’d like to learn more about our Catholic Faith and Church and the possibility of membership, please let us know.  In any case, please come and make yourself at home.

                                                    May God bless you!

                                                                                          

                                                    Fr. Gene Sheridan, C.M.

                                                    Pastor

A Brief History

             On October 7, 1899, Archbishop Patrick J. Ryan announced that a new parish was to be created in the northwest section of Philadelphia, in the area that had been until the 1850s the city of Germantown.  Germantown itself was over 200 years old in 1899.  The new parish was being founded in a sparsely populated section that was expected to grow due to the new manufacturing jobs available.  The new parish was placed under the patronage of St. Francis of Assisi.  The priest chosen to be the founding pastor was Father Jeremiah Nevin, an immigrant from Ireland.

The pastors were:

Rev. Jeremiah Nevin, 1899-1926

Monsignor Peter McGarrity, 1926-1968

Rev. William Maloney,1968-1969

Rev. Martin OHara, 1970-1979

Rev. Francis Menna, 1979-1986

Rev. William McGeown, 1986-1993

Rev. William Harrison, 1993-2000

Rev. Richard J. Rock, C.M., 2000-2007

Rev. Eugene Sheridan, C.M., 2007- present

             The intersection of Greene and Logan Streets was chosen as the site for the church building.  The basement chapel was completed in 1911 – until that time, Mass was celebrated in a variety of places, including Taylor Hall on Manheim Street.

             The 1920s saw the completion of the upper church.  Edwin J. Sharkey of the D’Ascenzo Studios crafted windows with images of Irish saints and saints with ties to the Franciscan charism (works of art so fine that architectural groups still regularly visit the church to view them.)  He also painted the Stations of the Cross, the Apostles on the ceiling, and the arc showing St. Francis and St. Clare.

             In the 1960s the original school building was demolished, and a new school erected.  Completed in 1967, it is still in use as St. Martin de Porres Interparochial School, shared by St. Francis and St. Vincent parishes.

             What began as a predominantly Irish parish is now a blend of European ethnic groups, African-Americans, Africans and Asians.  Praise be to God, who loves wondrous diversity!