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.