Posted September 18, 2008





Father George Majoros is installed as vicar and pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Secane.

By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T

SECANE – Father George A. Majoros received an enthusiastic reception Sept. 13 as Cardinal Justin Rigali installed him as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Secane and at the same time as vicar for Delaware County.

“He is coming here to serve the people of the parish and also in a special role of service to his brother priests and the people in this vicariate,” the Cardinal said.

The impressive ceremony, made more splendid by the blood-red vestments of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, drew five bishops and scores of priests from around Delaware County. Also in attendance were friends and classmates of Father Majoros, who until his recent appointment was pastor of Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia.

Before the Mass Cardinal Rigali handed the keys of the parish to Father Majoros. “I entrust to you this parish church,” the Cardinal said. “Dedicated under the title of Our Lady of Fatima, this church is above all a house of prayer, a temple of worship, a home in which the faithful are nourished by the Word of God and the sacraments of the Church. It is the dwelling place of God on earth, a temple built on living stones, founded on the Apostles with Jesus as a cornerstone.”

Bishops present included Auxiliary Bishops of Philadelphia Robert P. Maginnis, Joseph R. Cistone, and Daniel E. Thomas, newly appointed Bishop of the Virgin Islands Herbert Bevard, and Retired Bishop of Metuchen Edward T. Hughes, himself a former pastor of Our Lady of Fatima.

Other former pastors of the parish at the ceremony were Msgr. Robert T. McManus and Father Engelbert G. Michel.

In mentioning the former pastors, Father Majoros took special note of Bishop Hughes, who ordained his class to the diaconate 30 years ago and who invited them to Our Lady of Fatima before that ceremony.

“Now I find myself in the very rooms you lived in,” Father Majoros said. “I breathe in your spirit, I ask you for your prayers and I ask you to commend me to Mary.”

During the reception which followed in the parish hall, Cardinal Rigali and Father Majoros greeted the many well-wishers who attended the liturgy.

“I love him already. I think he’s a fine man and a very religious man,” parish pastoral council member Bob Marsh said of his new pastor. “It’s also wonderful to see Bishop Hughes again – he’s a wonderful man and the closest thing to a saint I’ve ever met.”

Joan Piazza-Mazzeo, born and raised in the parish, said, “This is the first time I’ve met our new pastor. He seems motivated and with a lot of gusto. He seems like the perfect man for the job because we have a lot of activities in our parish.”

Among those who came from other areas for the ceremony was Trish Duffy, who knew Father Majoros as a newly ordained priest at Our Lady of Calvary Church in the far Northeast. ; “He was wonderful and we wish the best for him,” she said.

Steve Schiavone, CFO of Aid for Friends, the outreach program that provides meals for the homebound, was there as a way of thanking Father Majoros for service on the board of that organization, a position he has just relinquished because of his new duties.

“I told the Cardinal he picked a good man for this job,” Schiavone said.

Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.