Our History



The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus of Nazareth two thousand years ago while he yet walked the earth.  During that time he promised that his Church - his body of believers - would be built upon the rock of his Apostle Peter, and on the eve of his death for the sake of the world, he prayed that his Church would be perfectly united, in order that the love of God for the world might be fully known.

For a thousand years, the Catholic Church remained essentially undivided, with its bishops and people around the world united with the successors of St. Peter, the Bishops of Rome. But sadly, though founded by Jesus, the Church is nevertheless governed and populated by broken and sinful people, and this unity was not to last forever. A Great Schism between East and West occurred in 1054, with another major splintering occurring at the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.  

One of the Christian bodies produced by that split was the Anglican Church, founded in England by King Henry VIII when the Pope would not grant him a divorce. Britain's penchant for Colonialism in subsequent centuries saw the spread of Anglican Christianity throughout the world, and its adherents now number in excess of 85 million. Anglicanism has nurtured a beautiful liturgical tradition as enshrined in The Book of Common Prayer, and an exceptional musical tradition that encompasses the great English hymns and the superb choral tradition exemplified in the English Cathedrals to this day.

Throughout the twentieth century, various quarters of Anglicanism began to reject universal historic Christian teaching and practice in areas such as contraception, divorce, ordination, abortion, and the historic Book of Common Prayer, leading some entire Anglican parishes and their clergy to perceive a call to be reunited with the Catholic Church from which their denomination had split over 400 years prior. Responding to these requests, in 1980 Pope (now Saint) John Paul II issued the Pastoral Provision, allowing married Anglican clergy to be ordained Catholic Priests, and for their parishes to retain significant portions of their beautiful liturgical and musical heritage that are consistent with Catholic faith and practice.

For various reasons, the Pastoral Provision took place on a limited scale. Happily, one place where it was implemented was the Diocese of Scranton, where Anglican clergyman Fr. Eric Bergman approached Bishop Joseph Martino in 2004 to discuss the possibility of founding a Pastoral Provision parish. (Fr. Bergman had discerned a call to be reconciled to the Catholic Church, and half of his parishioners at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd had approached him about coming with him.)

So it was that the St. Thomas More Society was founded in 2005, with Fr. Bergman (by that time a layman) as its Executive Director, under the Pastoral oversight of Msgr. William Feldcamp at nearby St. Clare Church. The newly formed congregation underwent nine months of catechesis, and were received into the Catholic Church on the eve of All Saints, October 31, 2005. For two years, several priests celebrated the specially approved "Anglican Use" liturgy for the congregation as Fr. Bergman pursued studies for the Catholic Priesthood, culminating in his ordination in 2007.

With Fr. Bergman now its Chaplain, the St. Thomas More Society increasingly functioned as a freestanding congregation, though still under the watchful eye of Msgr. Feldcamp. The congregation underwent significant growth, both in former Anglicans reconciled to the Catholic Church, and in others of a variety of backgrounds who found themselves attracted to our worship and ministries. For several years the congregation led a nomadic existence, worshiping in rented Catholic churches at odd times of day.

Then, in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued a historic Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus ("groups of Anglicans"), establishing a new worldwide structure for Anglican clergy and congregations to be reconciled to the Catholic Church, worshiping in their beloved liturgical and musical traditions and under their own leadership. Nationwide dioceses called "Ordinariates" were erected in Great Britain, Australia, and North America, each encompassing former Anglican parishes now reconciled to the Catholic Church, overseen by an Ordinary or Bishop of the Pope's choosing.

On May 8, 2012, The St. Thomas More Society became St. Thomas More Catholic Church, the first Parish of the U.S. Ordinariate, with Fr. Bergman as its first Priest. Finally ending our nomadic existence, on the same day we purchased the St. Joseph's Church property in the Providence neighborhood of Scranton. We are continually renovating the campus, making it ever more suitable to our worship and ministries.

We look forward to an exciting future as we continue to fulfill our mission of reconciling people of all walks of life to the Catholic Church through beautiful worship, authentic community, robust teaching, compassionate outreach, and joy in sharing Good News; and we are humbled to have been used by God as an instrument for attaining some small measure of the Christian unity for which our Lord prayed those two thousand years ago.