(Records 1839)

(Church 1910)

(Postcard 1905)

(Records 1839-1861)


(Christmas Eve 1963)


(Wedding 1952)

St. Peter's Parish, New Brighton, was established by Bishop Dubios in March 1839. A Spanish Priest, Reverend Madrano was visiting New York and was persuaded by the Bishop to remain and take charge of the new parish which was to include not only Staten Island but also part of New Jersey. In addition, the Bishop wished the Pastor "to keep an eye on Princeton." Before the opening of St. Peter's, Mass was occasionally said on Staten Island, but the people went regularly to St. Peter's, Barclay Street and occasionally to St. James, Brooklyn. 

  Father Madrano came to Staten Island March 28th, 1839 and found accomodations at a house in New Brighton which he used as a church and residence. He gathered together over 100 Catholics and rented an old gun factory which the men repaired and made suitable for church purposes. Here he remained until a church could be built. 

  The New Brighton Realty Company deeded a plot of ground onCarroll Place overlooking the upper bay as a site for the church. Work began at once but progress was slow. However, it was sufficiently completed to allow Father Madrano to celebrate Mass on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, 1844 and was dedicated by Bishop Hughes the following September. He also built a frame church in Perth Amboy as a mission. It was completed in November 1845. 

  Worn out by his labors and home-sick for his native land, Father Madrano resigned his charge and returned to Spain. 

  Father Shanahan, an assistant at St. Patrick's Cathedral inMott Street, was appointed as the second pastor. He remained only six months when he was transferred to Paterson, New Jerseyto take charge of all the Catholics in the northern part of that state. He was succeeded by the Reverend James Roosevelt Bayley. He had been pastor of an Episcopalian Church in Harlem. He resigned his pastorate and became a Catholic. Bishop Hughes sent him to St. Sulpice Seminary in Paris. After two years, he returned to New York and was ordained a priest by Bishop Hughes on March 2nd, 1844. He became the Vice President of St. John's College Fordham. When the Jesuit Fathers took charge in June 1846, Father Bayley was appointed pastor of St. Peter's, Staten Island. He labored very zealously and visited all parts of theIsland. We have records of his baptizing children and officiating at marriages. In 1872, he became the Archbishop of Baltimore. 

  Next came Reverend Patrick Murphy. He was born in Ireland in 1819 and came to America in 1840. He visited all parts of Staten Island and established a mission at Rossville. In 1847, thousands of emigrants came to New York. Many of them contracted Asiatic Cholera or ship fever. They were placed in quarantine at Tompkinsville. Nearly all were Catholics and Father Murphy prepared them for death and administered to them the last rights of the Church. He himself became a victim of the dreaded disease and died on February 11, 1848. Father Mark Murphy, his brother, succeeded as pastor in March 1488. His first work was to build a church at Rossville which he named St. Joseph. In the fall of the same year, he brought ground in which to bury Catholics and it was called St. Peter's Cemetery. In 1852, the parish was divided and a new one was established at Clifton to which was attached the mission at Rossville, called St. Mary of the Assumption. Father Murphy transferred out in 1862. 

  Reverend James L. Conran became pastor in 1862. He was born inNew York City, educated at Holy Cross College and ordained inSt. Joseph's Seminary in 1858. He was an assistant in the Cathedral and St. Andrew's Church before he came to New Brighton. His first work was to build a rectory adjoining the Church. Next to it he built a convent and an academy with a hall nearby where a small school was established. In 1864, he purchased the ground on the corner of Castelton and Roe Streets, Factoryville, now called West Brighton, and he built a church which he named it St. Rose of Lima. In 1899, a new church was built, and the name changed to Sacred Heart. In 1870 his assistant was Reverend John M. Farley who later on was Cardinal Archbishop of New York. In 1875, the mission at Factoryville was detached from St. Peter's and became a separate parish. Father Conran died in 1877. 

  Reverend John Barry was made pastor in 1878. He had been pastor of St. Joseph's, Rossville for 19 years. His great work was the erection of St. Peter's Parochial School in 1889. he died in 1890 a few weeks before the new school was opened. 

  Reverend Daniel Corkery became pastor in October 1890, but died in April of the following year. 
  Reverend Terence Earley became pastor in 1891. He was pastor of St. Mary's, Poughkeepsie. He soon paid the debt of the parish and bought acres of land adjoining St. Peter's Cemetery for future burials. In 1899, the Eastern and Southern portions of the parish were detached to become a new parish under the name of Our Lady of Good Counsel. 

  A fire struck the old church in the late 1890s, doing extensive damage. It was clear that a new church would be needed. The construction work on St. Peter's began in earnest with the laying of the cornerstone by Bishop Farley on October 10th, 1900. This program would continue even after Father Earley left, tired and discouraged in December 1902. Father Earley felt that the parish should face St. Mark's Place instead of Carroll Place. He chose to reverse the layout of the then existing 1844 church, making the balcony of the old church the first floor of the new church and expanding its length both toward Carroll and St. Mark's Place. While the new church was being constructed above, services continued in the old repaired edifice. By December 1902, when Father Earley was succeeded by Father Charles A. Cassidy, a former assistant at St. Peter's, the new building had walls and a roof, but no windows or pews. 

  Father Cassidy began his pastorate in a parish staggering under what was then an enormous debt of $200,000. Construction continued in spite of this through the faithfulness and generosity of the parishioners. Because of the necessity to build the church up to the level of St. Mark's Place, construction costs were very high. 

  The new building was finally dedicated by Archbishop Farley on Thanksgiving Day, 1903. The new front, now facing south, includes a fine decorative porch, a large rose window, and a pediment to match. Its vaulted ceilings are supported by the sidewalls so that there are no interior pillars and therefore no obstructed views in the sanctuary. In 1913, its interior was described as follows: 

       Brackets and consoles supporting statues at appropriate points, windows in the clerestory, with stained glass pictures of the twelve Apostle, extension of the recess of the side altars so as to broaden and beautify the sanctuary, a cupola over the apse whose lighted parts shine like a halo and whose presence as a dome is the glory of a crown... 

  Many of the stained glass windows came from Munich, Germany. The onyx altar rail was imported from Italy, and the Stations of the Cross from France. 

  In 1912, Father Cassidy was able to build the present Rectory. Afterwards, Father Cassidy built the 150ft bell tower. In 1914, the tower was blessed by John Cardinal Farley, the former Archbishop, and it was called the Cardinal's Tower. The Cardinal's coat-of-arms, with the 15 tassels of his office, can still be seen on the exterior of the tower. 

  In 1926, the western part of the parish was detached from St. Peter's and became a separate parish under the name of St. Paul. He died in May 1930. 

  Father Cassidy was succeeded by Fr. Joseph A. Farrell who had served as a curate at St. Peter's from 1900 to 1917. Father Farrell became Dean of Richmond in 1933 and a Monsignor in 1935. He bought the Brothers' House on St. Mark's Place for the Brothers in the Boys' High School, and in 1935, the property on Clinton and Henderson Avenues on which a Junior College was built in 1936. It became the Senior Boys' High School in 1941. Monsignor Farrell died on June 13, 1960 shortly after reaching his Diamond Jubilee in the priesthood. He spent the entire sixty years on Staten Island. 

  On July 9, 1960, Monsignor Gustav J. Schultheiss became the Pastor of St. Peter's Parish. Serving from 1960 to 1963, Monsignor Schultheiss continued the construction efforts of the parish, building a new convent at 200 Richmond Terrace, and planning the renovation of the church and rectory. At the conclusion of his pastorate at St. Peter's, the new convent was dedicated by Francis Cardinal Spellman. 

  The years 1963-1966 were ones of tremendous change for both St. Peter's and the Church as a whole. Under the direction of the Reverend Monsignor John M. McClafferty, who has served for years as Dean of the School of Social Work at CatholicUniversity, the renovation work continued. With the changes in church liturgy brought about by the Second Vatican Council, the old altar, with the sacristy behind it, was replaced with the new altar and the sacristy moved to the east side of the church in 1964. 

  From 1966 to 1968, when he was appointed Bishop of Camden, Bishop George Guilfoyle, Archdiocesan Director of Catholic Charities, served as St. Peter's pastor. During his tenure, the renovation of the church complex was completed. 

  In 1968, Father John Reilly became pastor, after having served as assistant to St. Peter's for 22 years. During his prolonged illness, Father Joseph Collins was appointed administrator for the parish, a position he held until October 1983, when Father James Dorney, now Monsignor James Dorney, was named administrator. Monsignor Dorney.  

  At the retirement of Father Reilly at age 75 in July 1986, Monsignor Dorney became the pastor of St. Peter's. Monsignor Dorney was born and raised in the Bronx. He attended St. John’sElementary School, the Bronx; Cathedral College Prep School,Manhattan; and graduated from St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers in 1958. Monsignor Dorney's previous assignments includes associate, Our Savior Church, the Bronx, Associate, St. Agnes Church, Manhattan, Associate, St. Elizabeth's Church, Washington Heights, Associate Pastor, St. Paul's Church, Congers, and Associate Pastor, St. Margaret Mary's Church, Staten Island. On October 27, 1998, Monsignor Dorney was named Regional Vicar of Staten Island. Monsignor Dorney presently serves as Chaplain, NYC Police Department, Patrol Borough Staten Island, and as Catholic Chaplain, U.S. Coast Guard Activities New York, FortWadsworth, Staten Island. He is also Chaplain of Richmond Division Holy Name Society; Knights of Columbus; Member of Ancient Order of Hibernians; and Honorary Member of Notre Dame Club of Staten Island.  

  In September 2011, Father Glendino Ragsag was appointed the Parochial Vicar of Saint Peter's. Father Glendino was born and raised in the Philippine Islands, and he came to America in 2011.

  


Monsignor James Dorney
(Pastor of Saint Peter's 1986-2016)



Father John J. Reilly
(Former Pastor of Saint Peter's 1968 - 1986)



Monsignor John M. McClafferty
Former Pastor of Saint Peter's 1966 - 1968)