The New York Province of the Society of Jesus staffs several parishes in New York and New Jersey: St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius in Manhattan; St. Aedan’s in Jersey City; St. Michael’s in Buffalo; St. Anthony’s in Oceanside; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Benedicta in Staten Island, and St. Mary of the Assumption in Staten Island. In our ongoing exploration of other Jesuit apostolates, we focus today on St. Ignatius Loyola Parish. In the weeks ahead we will conclude our Jesuit apostolate series by highlighting the other parishes staffed by the Society.

St. Ignatius Loyola Church (located at 980 Park Avenue) stands on the site of the former St. Lawrence O’Toole Church, founded in 1851 and named for the twelfth-century bishop of Dublin by the parish’s first pastor, the Rev. Eugene O’Reilly from Ireland.

The parish was entrusted to the care of the Society of Jesus in 1866. The thirty year period from 1885 to 1915 saw the construction of six buildings that have served the parish ever since. Buildings for the church, rectory, grammar school, day nursery, Loyola School, and Regis High School were all constructed within this brief interval. When the new majestic church was constructed in 1898, the Jesuits petitioned to have their founder, Saint Ignatius Loyola, added as a co-patron of the parish. This grand limestone edifice stands as testimony to both the growing affluence and confidence of the Catholic community on New York’s Upper East Side near the start of the 20th century, as well as the ambitious determination of Fr. Neil McKinnon, S.J., pastor of the parish from 1893-1907.

The church was the site of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's funeral in May 1994, and the funerals of the singer Aaliyah in August 2001 and Lena Horne in 2010. The church was declared a New York City Landmark in March 1969.

Operating within the framework of Ignatian spirituality and the Jesuit tradition, the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola offers a wide range of ministries and outreach programs. Meeting Christ in Prayer is an interactive 8 week guided prayer experience for small groups. Based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, it introduces participants to various ways of praying and provides an opportunity to support one another through faith sharing. The St. Lawrence O’Toole Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVdP) is one of the oldest SVdP Conferences in the United States. The parish Conference has been active since it was formed in December of 1865 (only thirty-two years after the original Society of Saint Vincent de Paul was founded in France). SVdP coordinates a women’s shelter for the homeless from November through April and sponsors a monthly dinner for families at the Ronald McDonald House. Other projects include food, toy and blood drives.

Additional ministries include Ignatian Social Justice, which is sponsoring The Faith that Does Justice lecture series this spring, Ignatian Young Adults (for those in their 20s and 30s), Ignatian 40s, and Boomers and Beyond (for couples and singles 50+). The Ranger Rosary Ministry, which began meeting at St. Ignatius in 2009, makes rosaries that are blessed and sent to chaplains who distribute them to soldiers, sailors, Marines and Air Force personnel. Recently the Rangers celebrated the making of their 10,000th rosary!

The parish has long been noted for its outstanding music program, including the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series, now celebrating its 25th season. The choral art is also well-represented, as evidenced by the Children’s Choirs, Parish Community Choir, Wallace Hall Choir (and orchestra) and Canticum Sacrum, which ministers weekly at the 7:30 PM Sunday evening Mass.

There are currently more than 4400 parishioner households and 14,000 individual Catholics registered at St. Ignatius Loyola Church. Six Masses are celebrated each Sunday, including a Solemn Mass, Family Mass and Young Adult Mass. The parish Grammar School has 545 students enrolled. The day nursery has an enrollment of 134 students. The Interparish Religious Education Program (CCD) has 627 students enrolled. Fr. George Witt, S.J. currently serves as pastor of St. Ignatius. More information on St. Ignatius is available online.

This is part of a series on Jesuits Apostolates: The Other Works of the Society of Jesus. For other Apostolates in the series, click the following links...
Cristo Rey New York
Canisius and McQuaid
St. Peter's Prep and Loyola
Fordham Prep and Regis
The Jesuit Collaborative
Loyola House of Retreats
Manresa and Inisfada Retreat Houses
America Magazine
Centro Altagracia de Fe y Justicia
St. Peter's University
Fordham University
Le Moyne College