{"id":1913,"date":"2020-07-21T00:59:16","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T00:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bi3a.com\/Catholics\/?p=1913"},"modified":"2023-08-22T19:54:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T19:54:38","slug":"world-wide-monasteries-scranton-pa-st-joseph-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/world-wide-monasteries-scranton-pa-st-joseph-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Scranton, PA- St. Joseph Church"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Saint Joseph Melkite Greek-Catholic Church,\u00a0<\/strong><em><strong>Scranton, PA,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>is a local parish of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.melkite.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Melkite Eparchy of Newton.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>St. Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church traces its origin to the mid 1890\u2019s when the<br \/>\nfirst immigrants, primarily from the regions of Zahle and Ableh, in present day Lebanon, settled<br \/>\nin Scranton. Among them were the Abda, Abdo, Abood, Ahee, Ash, Assaf, Basila, Betress,<br \/>\nBolus, Bomrad, Carker, Chally, Coury, Fayad, Ferris, Haddad, Hibye, Jacobs, Josephs, Shehadi,<br \/>\nShimally, Simon, Sirgany, Zabady, and Zaydon families. They were the foundation of the rock<br \/>\non which St. Joseph was built, and of which many still worship here today.<br \/>\nFor the first few years the Melkite Catholics had no Church of their own. Occasionally, a<br \/>\nMelkite Catholic Priest would visit the community and offer the Divine Liturgy in a home or<br \/>\nvacant store. In 1897, Father Joseph Simon, B.S., the first pastor of St. Joseph Melkite Greek<br \/>\nCatholic Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts began to regularly visit Scranton to serve the<br \/>\nspiritual needs of its growing Melkite Catholic population. Soon thereafter the Melkite Catholic<br \/>\ncommunity purchased a house on Chestnut Street on the city\u2019s West Side, close to where most of<br \/>\nthem resided, this the present site of St. Joseph. It is also noteworthy that Chestnut Street has<br \/>\nsince been renamed \u201cSaint Frances Cabrini Avenue,\u201d in honor of the \u201cpatron saint of<br \/>\nimmigrants.\u201d Saint Cabrini walked the streets and personally founded a school and a convent in<br \/>\nthe same block as St. Joseph. It is also believed that Mother Cabrini worshiped with the original<br \/>\nfounding members.<br \/>\nAt this site Father Simon established a permanent mission for the Melkite Catholics of<br \/>\nScranton under the patronage of Saint Joseph, the Betrothed of the Mother of God, which he<br \/>\nserved for eleven years. For a short time in the early 1900\u2019s, the mission also hosted Scranton\u2019s<br \/>\nMaronite Catholic community and its first pastor, Father Anthony Zogby.<br \/>\nIn 1908, the mission community was officially established as a parish with the<br \/>\nappointment of Father Thomas Fayad, B.C., the first resident pastor of St. Joseph Church. Under<br \/>\nthe direction of Father Fayad, the house originally purchased by the parishioners was razed and a<br \/>\nnew church and rectory were constructed on the site and furnished at the cost of twenty thousand<br \/>\ndollars.<br \/>\nFather Fayad remained at St. Joseph Church until 1924, when he was succeeded by<br \/>\nFather Athanasius Simon. Father Simon\u2019s pastorate was marked by the Great Depression, which<br \/>\nproved to be a difficult time for the parish. By soliciting funds door to door from parishioners<br \/>\nand friends, the church was able to remain open.<br \/>\nFather Simon fell asleep in the Lord in February, 1935, and was succeeded by Father<br \/>\nPaul Sion, B.S., who remained at the parish for only three years. The parishioners were<br \/>\nunsuccessful in their attempt to secure another Melkite Catholic priest for St. Joseph Church and<br \/>\nFather James Riley, a Roman Catholic priest was appointed administrator of the parish by the<br \/>\nBishop of Scranton in 1938. At this time, the practices of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church<br \/>\nwere replaced by those of the Roman Catholic Church.<br \/>\nSt. Joseph has many ties to the religious history of Scranton. The priestly order of the<br \/>\nPassionist Fathers of St. Ann\u2019s Basilica, also in the city\u2019s West Side, lent us the services of two<br \/>\npriests, Father Conrad Aleckna, C.P., from 1939-1942, and Father Nilus McAndrew, C.P., from<br \/>\n1942-1943. Following the Passionist fathers, St. Joseph was served by Father Salvatore Florey<br \/>\nin 1943, Father Joseph McGowan from 1944 through 1951, and Father William Egan, from<br \/>\n1951-1971.<\/p>\n<p>Father Egan\u2019s arrival at St. Joseph Church heralded a reawakening of parish life with the<br \/>\nreorganization of the choir, alter servers, and religious education programs. Many improvements<br \/>\nto the structure of the Church were made under his direction, including the construction of a new<br \/>\nsacristy, installation of stained glass windows, and a refurnished sanctuary. In 1966, when the<br \/>\nMelkite Greek Catholic Exarchate for the United States was established, Father Egan offered to<br \/>\nremain at St. Joseph Church. Under the direction of the Most Reverend Justin Najmy, the first<br \/>\nMelkite Catholic Exarch, Father Egan worked diligently toward restoration of the practices of the<br \/>\nMelkite Greek Catholic Church. The first Melkite Divine Liturgy since 1938 was served by<br \/>\nFather Egan on January 15, 1967. In October 1967, approximately thirty children of the parish,<br \/>\nwho had not been chrismated at the time of their Baptism, were brought into the Melkite Church<br \/>\nfor Chrismation.<br \/>\nIn 1968-69, Father Egan undertook the remodeling of the Church. The exterior was<br \/>\nrenewed and the interior redesigned to conform with Byzantine liturgical requirements. Father<br \/>\nEgan remained at Saint Joseph until 1971, when he was succeeded by Father Badie Essa. On<br \/>\nSeptember 26, 1971 a farewell testimonial was held at the Hotel Jermyn for Father Egan by the<br \/>\nparishioners of St. Joseph Church for his many years of devoted service. Later, Father Egan was<br \/>\nhonored by Archbishop Joseph Tawil with the appointment to the ecclessial rank of<br \/>\n\u201cArchimandrite\u201d for his dedication to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.<br \/>\nFather Essa\u2019s tenure at St. Joseph was brief and he was succeeded by Father Seraphim<br \/>\nMichalenko, M.I.C., in August 1972. The following year Sisters Victoris Michalenko, Sophia<br \/>\nMichalenko, and Mary Ann Socha began to assist Father Seraphim in his ministry at St. Joseph.<br \/>\nThe Sisters first resided at the Mother Cabrini Convent and later at St. Ann Monastery while also<br \/>\nmaintaining teaching positions at their parochial schools. Father Seraphim labored to further<br \/>\nreorganize the parish according to the traditions of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and to<br \/>\nencourage a committed Christian lifestyle among members of the community. The sisters<br \/>\ndeveloped an Eastern Christian Formation Program for the youth of the parish. In 1974, Father<br \/>\nDeacon Roman Obrycki, M.I.C., was assigned to St. Joseph Church and on November 3 of that<br \/>\nyear was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Archbishop Tawil at our parish. Less than two<br \/>\nyears later, on February 29, 1976, Archbishop Joseph Tawil ordained to the priesthood one of St.<br \/>\nJoseph\u2019s own sons, Rev. Father Frank Milienewicz of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.<br \/>\nIn December, 1976, the Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Dimitri Hatoum, B.C., was assigned as<br \/>\npastor of St. Joseph Church. During his tenure at the parish, renovation of the interior of the<br \/>\nrectory was completed through the generous efforts of the parishioners, as well as the installation<br \/>\nof a new roof for the rectory and Church. Archimandrite Hatoum served as pastor of the parish<br \/>\nuntil July, 1984, when he retired from the active ministry after fifty years of priestly service in<br \/>\nthe Melkite faith.<br \/>\nFather Kenneth Sherman was named administrator of St. Joseph Church by Archbishop<br \/>\nJoseph Tawil upon the retirement of Archimandrite Hatoum. Father Ken continued the process<br \/>\nof bringing a greater appreciation of the richness of the traditions of the Melkite Rite to the<br \/>\nparish, venturing into cooperative efforts with the other Eastern Catholic Churches of the city<br \/>\nincluding an annual Lenten Mission and adult enrichment programs. Father Ken initiated the<br \/>\ndesign and construction of new icons and iconostasis for the church interior in order to conform<br \/>\nwith Melkite tradition.<\/p>\n<p>On June 17, 1986, St. Joseph Church was blessed by the visit of His Beatitude Maximos<br \/>\nV Hakim, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and<br \/>\nJerusalem. The program for the patriarchial visit included Vespers and a reception in the parish<br \/>\nhall attended by local Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant hierarchs and clergy in addition to many<br \/>\nparishioners and friends.<br \/>\nOn November 1, 1987, a Divine Liturgy concelebrated by Archbishop Joseph Tawil,<br \/>\nFather Ken and visiting clergy commemorated the 90 th anniversary of the founding of St. Joseph.<br \/>\nThe Divine Liturgy was followed by a grand reception attended by over 250 people.<br \/>\nDuring the fall of 1989 Father Ken was reassigned and Father Basil Parent was named<br \/>\nadministrator of St. Joseph by Archbishop Tawil. Father Basil continued the work of his<br \/>\npredecessors in the instruction of the Melkite tradition, introducing a Bible Study group,<br \/>\nexpanding the Youth group Sunday School, as well as being actively involved in the West Side<br \/>\nMinisterium of clergy from various denominations and the continuation of the Lenten Mission of<br \/>\nthe local Greek Catholic Churches. Under Father Basil\u2019s direction the new icons and iconostasis<br \/>\nwere completed and installed. On September 14, 1991, Archbishop Ignatias Ghattas visited our<br \/>\nparish and concelebrated the Divine Liturgy prior to dedicating the splendid icons and<br \/>\niconostasis in glorification of our Divine Lord and the Mother of God.<br \/>\nIn November 1995 Father Basil was reassigned and Father Philip Azoon was named<br \/>\nAdministrator of St. Joseph by Sayedna John A. Elya. Sayedna celebrated Vespers and Divine<br \/>\nLiturgy here on the Theophany, January 6, 1996, and remained snowbound in Scranton for three<br \/>\nextra days. Father Philip, a former lay teacher of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey and<br \/>\nteacher of theology for 25 years, continued his life of instruction by educating his parishioners,<br \/>\nnot only of the origins of the Melkite Church in the Middle East and the beauty of our Liturgy,<br \/>\nbut also the very foundation of the Catholic Church itself that traces its roots to the Middle East<br \/>\nfrom Jesus Christ.<br \/>\nFather Philip\u2019s two years, thus far, at St. Joseph have been very busy. In addition to his<br \/>\nspiritual teaching he directed a major capital campaign to remodel our Church and rectory. The<br \/>\nnewly refinished belltower was dedicated on June 8, 1997. He reestablished a major<br \/>\ncommitment to our youth. Through his efforts St. Joseph has enjoyed major growth in Sunday<br \/>\nSchool attendance, Altar Server participation, and youth activities. His stewardship is<br \/>\nexemplary. Father Philip is committed to the sick and infirmed of our Parish Community.<br \/>\nFather Philip\u2019s efforts have generated a great awakening among past and present Melkites as<br \/>\nwell as members of the Roman Catholic Church. He has worked diligently to strengthen our ties<br \/>\nwith St. Ann\u2019s Maronite Church, Scranton. Our Father Philip also assisted Father Philip<br \/>\nAltavilla (Director of Ecumenism and Inter-faith Affairs for the Diocese of Scranton) in the<br \/>\nprocess and acceptance of becoming a biritual priest serving both Byzantine and Latin rites.<br \/>\nA Centennial Committee was established in mid 1996 by the Parish Council to remember<br \/>\nthe numerous sacrifices of our forefathers. A Centennial Anniversary Divine Liturgy and Dinner<br \/>\nwere celebrated on October 26, 1997.<\/p>\n<p>CELEBRATING\u00a0<strong>126 YEARS<\/strong>\u00a0IN SCRANTON in 2023. \u00a0\u00a0 We are one of the three oldest churches in our Eparchy .<\/p>\n<p>Founded by Lebanese immigrants in the late 1890s, we are a faith community that has withstood many trials and tribulations. Today we continue to witness to the Gospel of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania: concentrated in the Lackawanna Valley.\u00a0 Our faithful parishioners and friends hail from Albany to Philadelphia and areas surrounding.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgc-lb.org\/home\" rel=\"nofollow\">Patriarchate of Antioch<\/a>. Catholic but not Roman, Byzantine in Tradition, brothers and sisters of the Orthodox East.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>St. Joseph Church<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Address : 130 St. Frances Cabrini Avenue<\/p>\n<p>Scranton, PA 18504<\/p>\n<p>Website : www.melkitescranton.org<\/p>\n<p>E-mail : <a href=\"mailto:scrantonmelkite@comcast.com\">scrantonmelkite@comcast.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Phone :\u00a0 570-343-6092<\/p>\n<p>Mobile : 570-468-4854<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rev. Fr. Christopher Manuele<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saint Joseph Melkite Greek-Catholic Church,\u00a0Scranton, PA,\u00a0is a local parish of the\u00a0Melkite Eparchy of Newton. St. Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church traces its origin to the mid 1890\u2019s when the first immigrants, primarily from the regions of Zahle and Ableh, in present day Lebanon, settled in Scranton. Among them were the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3673,"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions\/3673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melkitecouncil.com\/Catholics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}