Saint Robert Bellarmine Parish History


St. Robert Bellarmine Parish was founded on Friday May 31, 1968. It was formed entirely from St. Joseph Parish, Warrington. The founding pastor, Father Michael Marley had a fifteen acre plot of land at Euclid Avenue and Carriage Way, two streets which were not even connected at the time.

     The first Masses were held in St. Joseph's Church. The first Sunday Masses held outside St. Joseph's were held in the Barn Cinema Movie complex, on July 7, 1968 on Route 611, Doylestown.

     Ground breaking Ceremonies for the new Church/Hall took place on July 27, 1969. The structure was dedicated on December 5, 1970.

     The current Church was built under the leadership of Father James Cassidy. It was dedicated on October 31,1982. The old Church/Hall was converted into a larger hall and four classrooms were built for the Religious Education classes.

     St. Robert's congregation has grown from slightly more than 300 families to over 2,200. We have experienced an average net increase of 75 families per year. Most of the new families are young with children. Over 75 infant Baptisms take place each year.

    Our Parish Religious Education program now has over 600 children, with over 270 children in our consolidated St. Joseph/St. Robert school.  In the late 1990's our pastor at that time, Msgr.  Joseph Kane, was the guiding force behind our $3 million Capital Campaign to create better facilities for our Parish Religious Education, the school and various parish organizations. Our Parish Education Center was dedicated on September 11, 1999.

     On June 26, 2005, Msgr. James D. Beisel was installed by Cardinal Justin Rigali as the fourth Pastor of St Robert's parish.

     The History of our Parish is much more than dates and numbers. The History of the Parish is the living Faith of its parishioners. The on-going journey of the faithful to reach the promises of Christ.