St. Francis Xavier's Church

The Church of St. Francis Xavier is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Archdiocese of New York, located at 1703 Lurting Avenue, Morris Park, in the Bronx. The parish has a church and school, both of which were founded by the Rev. James Edward Kearney (1884–1977), later the Bishop of Salt Lake City and Bishop of Rochester.ParishThe parish was established in 1928 and dedicated in honor of St. Francis Xavier (1506–1552), the Spanish-born Jesuit missionary to India and Japan, who died en route to China. The first pastor was the Rev. James Edward Kearney (1884–1977), who served St. Francis Xavier from 1928 until 1932, when he became Bishop of Salt Lake City. He later was to become Bishop of Rochester. John M. J. Quinn (1886–1955) was pastor from 1951 until his death in 1955, and headed a Catholic War Veterans organization.Fr. Kearney had been influential spreading Catholicism in the Bronx, founding this parish first "using two portable structures as a temporary church and auditorium." During his pastorate, he also served as professor of religion at Good Counsel College in White Plains and as superintendent of parochial schools in the Bronx. In 2016 the traditional Corpus Christi procession was being held after Sunday Mass of this feast in June, under Frs. Robert Verrigni pastor and Matthew Reiman parochial vicar.