The Church of St. Joseph of the Parish of St. Joseph-St. Thomas, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City and the count ...

, and the oldest extant Roman Catholic church on Staten Island. The nearby cemetery is the second-oldest Roman Catholic cemetery on the island.Forgotten NY - Cemeteries - Burial Grounds of Richmond
/ref> The church is located on Poplar Avenue in

Rossville, Staten Island Rossville is a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York (state), New York, on the island's South Shore, Staten Island, South Shore. It is located to the north of Woodrow, Staten Island, Woodrow, to the west of Arden Heights, Staten Island, Arden He ...

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, New York.

Parish history

St. Joseph's was established in 1848 as a mission of St. Peter's Church by that church's pastor, the Rev. Mark Murphy. Fr. Murphy celebrated the first Mass on July 2, 1848 for 58 Catholics in a house on Rossville Avenue. In 1851 a small chapel dedicated to St. Joseph was completed on Poplar Avenue. The mission was upgraded to parish status in 1855 and thereby the chapel upgraded to church status with Rev. Francis DeCaro, O.F.M., being appointed as first pastor. With its 1855 establishment, St. Joseph's is the third oldest of Staten Island's 36 parishes after St. Peter's and St. Mary's. During the tenure of Father John Barry, a mission, St. Patrick's, was established at Richmond around 1860. St. Mary of the Assumption in Graniteville, originally established in 1853 as a mission of St. Peter's Church, became a mission church of St. Joseph's. The parish of St. Joseph merged with St. Thomas the Apostle in 1959 to become the Parish of St. Joseph-St. Thomas, with two churches administered out of St. Thomas. St. Joseph's Church was substantially renovated in 1998. Originally founded for an Irish congregation, the parish reflects a number of ethnicities. A Mass in Italian is celebrated on the Feast of St Joseph.

Pastors of St. Joseph's

*Rev. Mark Murphy (1848-1855), pastor of St. Peter's Church, in charge of the mission of St. Joseph *Rev. Francis DeCaro, O.F.M. (1855-1857) *Rev. Bernard McCrossan (1857-1859)Clute, J.J., ''Annals of Staten Island, from Its Discovery to the Present Time'', Vol. 2, Press of C. Vogt, 1877 - Staten Island (New York, N.Y.) p. 300
/ref> *Rev. John Barry (1859 - 1877) *Rev. C. Rigney, (?-1892), transferred to become pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy (Bronx, New York) *Rev. Peter J. Harold

St. Joseph's Cemetery

Located at the end of Barry Street, St. Joseph's Cemetery dates from 1848, and is the second-oldest Roman Catholic cemetery on the island.

St. Thomas the Apostle

The Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, in the Pleasant Plains section, opened with Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 1938. The church was destroyed by arson on Palm Sunday 1983, but a new Church of St. Thomas the Apostle opened on Christmas Eve 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Church, Staten Island, New York Religious organizations established in 1848 Religious organizations established in 1855 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1851 Roman Catholic churches in Staten Island Roman Catholic cemeteries in New York (state) Cemeteries in Staten Island 1848 establishments in New York (state) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Rossville, Staten Island