We, the faith-filled Eucharistic community of Saint Richard Catholic Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, seek to build the kingdom of God by witnessing to the Good News of Jesus Christ. As the Body of Christ, we joyfully celebrate the Sacraments, the Word of God and our Catholic tradition. We strive to strengthen our parish family through spiritual devotion and faith formation. Impassioned by our love for Christ, we reach out and serve the needs of the entire community.
Bishop Donald W. Wuerl established St. Richard Parish on November 1, 1992, the feast of All Saints. The parish would cover the borders of Richland Township and would draw parishioners from St. Catherine of Sweden in Wildwood, Holy Sepulcher in Middlesex and St. Kilian in Mars. The original parish census statistics showed a potential of 600 families, but only 425 families joined the parish at that time.
The parish family worshiped at the chapel at St. Barnabas Nursing Home for the first three years of existence. Faith Formation classes were held in the homes of parishioners and the church office was located at the off-site rectory. Due to the generosity of the congregation, our beautiful church building on the hill was built and dedicated on December 17, 1995 with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Donald Wuerl. Shortly after the dedication of the church building, our founding pastor, Father Theodore Zabowski took a sabbatical and Father Philip Pribonic was appointed as temporary administrator. Father Pribonic stayed for six months. Father Kenneth Oldenski was assigned to St. Richard parish on July 8, 1996 and served until his retirement on June 30, 2010. Our current pastor, Father Thomas Sparacino began his assignment at our parish on July 6, 2010.
We hope and pray that this booklet will give you a bit of knowledge about our friendly and active parish. We are always looking for new ideas and gifts to build the Body of Christ and we encourage you to become involved and share your gifts with our parish family. In the Eucharist, we are united as sisters and brothers vitally interested in worshiping our God and caring for one another. Our goal as Catholic Christians is to unite by working together to respond to the joys and challenges of the Gospel and we welcome the involvement of everyone.