Newark's Longest-Serving Priest Celebrated With Special Mass Ahead Of Retirement
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – The longest-service Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Newark is retiring.
Parishioners marked the end of an era in a special way Sunday.
Rev. James Pagnotta, 75, is a part of the fabric of St. Joseph's Church in Jersey City, spending 47 of his 50 years as a priest at the parish. He retires at the end of the month, so this Sunday they celebrated with a mass of Thanksgiving.
"St. Joseph's needs somebody younger, and hopefully they'll move on and do bigger and better things," Pagnotta told CBS2.
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The sanctuary was filled with the faithful who have known Pagnotta for most, if not all, of their lives. A sign of adoration and gratitude for his years of dedication.
"Father Pagnotta obviously has been certainly a big fixture for our family," said Mimi McDonald-Hartnett, a lifelong member of St. Joseph's Church.
Pagnotta was praised for embracing the growing immigrant community that has joined the church and credited for raising funds to help save the parish grammar school.
"It's very humbling, it's a humbling experience, but it's time for me to go too," "I hope they'll continue my school. My school has been my life. So, there's a lot of things. It's a good day though."
"I think he has left his mark on every single thing here in this parish. So it'll be a long time before he's ever forgotten about," McDonald-Hartnett said.
Although he's retiring from the church, Pagnotta will remain chaplain of the Jersey City Fire Department.