In the early months of 2009, Bishop Paul Bootkoski announced the beginning of a special Diocesan study for the four Western Rite Catholic Parishes in Carteret. The formal name of this study was “Renewing the Church in Carteret”. Mr. Jeffrey Korgen, the Bishop’s representative, oversaw the dynamics of this study. At the start, Father James McGuffey was serving as the Pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish and St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish; Father Edmund Shallow was Pastor of Holy Family Parish and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish. Both pastors appointed members from their respective parishes to be a part of the discernment process for the future of these parishes. After many meetings and discussion, it was decided to recommend to the Bishop that the three ethnic parishes (Holy Family {Polish}, Sacred Heart of Jesus {Slovak} and St. Elizabeth of Hungary {Hungarian}) be joined together to form a new parish with each church serving as a place of worship. St. Joseph’s Parish would continue as it was with a special Apostolate to the Spanish community in Carteret. The next important step was the choosing of a name for this new parish community.

The committee members from the three parishes that were joining together initially desired to be named after the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. Unfortunately, Pope John Paul II had not yet been beatified (this was scheduled to take place in October of 2010). Thus, Father Shallow and the committee were instructed to consider another name for their new parish. After much discussion, it was decided to request that the new parish receive the name of Divine Mercy. The people felt that there was a strong connection between the Image and Message of Divine Mercy and the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. Before his election, Cardinal Wojtyla had been instrumental in validating the message of Sister Faustina Kowalska and removing opposition to the devotion of Divine Mercy. As Pope he presided over both the Beatification and Canonization of Sister Faustina and had established that the Second Sunday of Easter was to be celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday throughout the universal Church. His death in 2005 had taken place on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday.

After considering the recommendation of Fr. Shallow and the committee, Bishop Paul Bootkoski issued a decree on May 13, 2010, establishing from the three former parishes the new parish of Divine Mercy. That day, May 13th, was very significant. First, it was the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension. It was also the anniversary of the appearance of Our Blessed Mother to the children of Fatima in 1917, the anniversary of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981 and the Fifth Anniversary of the opening of the Cause for the eventual Canonization of Pope John Paul II. July 1, 2010 would be the “first day” when the new parish would make its public appearance in the Borough of Carteret. It was also the day on which Father Edmund Shallow would be installed as the first Pastor of Divine Mercy Parish by Msgr. Robert J. Zamorski, Episcopal Vicar of Middlesex County.

The first six months of the new parish were challenging. Because each of the former parishes already had Mass intentions scheduled for the year and in order to make the transition to the new parish easier for the people, the Transition Committee had recommended the current weekend Mass schedule be maintained until the beginning of 2011. This meant that there were 10 Masses which needed to be celebrated each weekend. In addition to Father Ed, Fr. John Stec, Fr. Gerald Browne and Fr. Raymond Dolan assisted in providing pastoral ministry in the new parish. Hence it was possible to maintain the schedule through the end of 2010. The schedule would be changed in 2011 with a reduction in Masses from 10 to 6 with 3 at Holy Family, 2 at Sacred Heart and 1 at St. Elizabeth’s. Also, new Pastoral and Financial Councils with membership from all of the former parishes needed to be established. Each parish had an Altar Rosary Society so it was necessary to establish a new Society under Divine Mercy that would include all the ladies from the former parish groups. This was slowly phased in over the first couple of years. Since at the time of the consolidation there was only one Holy Name Society and Seniors Group, located in the former Holy Family Parish, these groups only needed to undergo a name change. Great effort was made to make all feel welcome and part of this new parish community. Right from the inception of the new parish, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament took place every Monday with special closing devotions beginning at 7 PM followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

In late 2011 Fr. Browne was no longer able to assist on weekends due to advancing illness. In 2013, Fr. Stec was given a new assignment. Despite these changes, the schedule of six weekend Masses was maintained. We were fortunate to acquire additional weekend help from Fr. Sean Winters who was in residence at St. Joseph’s Parish. On August 23, 2013, Fr. Browne was called to his eternal rest by the Lord. His wake and funeral took place in his beloved Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. In November of 2013, with only two Sisters remaining in the convent, the Bernardine Sisters chose to withdraw from the parish. They had been with us in Carteret for 90 years. 

During the year of 2014, the Bishop reviewed the progress of our new parish. Meetings were conducted with members of the Pastoral and Financial Councils. Bishop Bootkoski decided that, beginning with January of 2015, weekend Masses would be reduced from six to three and would all be celebrated in Holy Family Church. Funerals could take place in Sacred Heart and St. Elizabeth and Baptisms and Marriages if requested. And due to the aging and illness of its members, the Holy Name Society chose to disband, conducting its final meeting in February of 2015. The same decision was made by the Seniors in 2016; they conducted their final meeting in June of that year. The Altar Rosary Society continues to be active through its meetings and activities. 

In 2016, after consultation with the Councils of the parish, Fr. Ed submitted petitions to Bishop Bootkoski requesting that he issue Decrees of Closure for the two churches. This was a sad but necessary decision. But because of Bishop Bootkoski’s retirement and the advent of our new Ordinary, Bishop James Checchio, the issuing of these Decrees was put on hold. In early 2017, Eastern Rite Catholics of the Malabar Rite requested to purchase Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. Bishop Checchio granted permission for this sale which was finalized on May 30, 2018. In May of 2017, the Borough of Carteret purchased the Holy Family school, parish center and convent for future educational use. On June 30, 2017, Father Raymond Dolan, who had served as a weekend assistant for many years in Sacred Heart Parish, was called to his eternal rest. A Decree of Closure was issued by Bishop Checchio in April of 2018 for St. Elizabeth of Hungry Church and, after being relegated to profane but not sordid use, was sold the Borough of Carteret in September, 2018.

Divine Mercy Parish continues to look to the future. Attention is fixed on providing sacramental service to many of our homebound members. Our Councils continue to offer help and guidance and our Altar Rosary Society continues to offer spiritual support for our community. Using the words of Sister Faustina, we continue to pray, “Jesus, I Trust in You” and to place our parish’s future in His strong and guiding Hands.