Pope Francis has canonically established the Oratory of St. Philip Neri at Red Bank’s Church of St. Anthony of Padua, parish pastor Father Alberto Tamayo announced Saturday.
The Oratory is “a place of prayer,” a community of priests and brothers who live, pray and work in the spirit and rule of St. Philip Neri and the first Oratorians in Rome, Tamayo told Trenton Monitor, the newspaper of the Diocese of Trenton.
The papal endorsement means the Oratory, which has been sought since 2015, “now has the stability to continue to forge ahead into the future to do all that God desires of the community here in Red Bank, with the Holy Father’s blessing,” Tamayo told the publication.
Here’s a FAQ on the work of the Oratorians.