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A township since the beginning of the 19th century, the city of Orange counts today over 32,000 people. Just before the turn of the 20th century large numbers of Italian immigrants settled in the area, giving the city the nick-name "Little Italy".
In 1897 Rev. Msgr. D'Aquila, then pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Newark, built the first chapel in Orange for Italian Catholics. Originally dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, this chapel still stands on Matthew Street, just blocks from our present church. In 1902, Rev. Fr. Vittorio Romanelli had a larger church built on South Center Street dedicated to the Most Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel. Fr. Romanelli also purchased adjacent property on which he built the first Catholic hospital in the area, called St. Mary's. A parochial school soon followed.
In 1926 Archbishop John O'Connor entrusted the pastoral care of the Italian-American community to the Capuchin Franciscan Friars. These religious men, inspired by the "Poverello" of Assisi, faithfully served Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Orange for 77 years, until their departure in 2003. The last Capuchin pastor of the parish was the beloved Fr. Achilles Cassieri, who served OLMC from 1982-85 and 1990-2003. Mille Grazie!
The new, brick church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which we still use to this day, was completed and dedicated on December 8, 1933. Its 160 foot tall, golden bell-tower overlooks the area and illuminates the night skyline. The interior of the Church was modelled after a few Franciscan Churches in Italy, featuring both paintings and stained-glass of various Franciscan saints.
In 1937 the teachings Sisters Fillipini were called to Orange to work with children and eventually staff the new parochial school built in 1939. The first year enrollment was 375 children. The existing convent building, situated between the school and the parish church, was built for the sisters in 1957. The Fillipini Sisters served the parish and school until 2002.
In 1973 work was completed on Interstate Highway 280 which cuts just along the north face of the church. Due to the construction, about 800 parish families lost their property or moved to other areas of Orange and West Orange. The 1970's and 80's witnessed other changes in the neighborhood, as older Italian families began to move to other suburbs such as East Hanover and Livingston, while the Oranges were populated by newer immigrant groups from Africa, the Caribbean Islands, and Latin America.
As the area's population has changed, so too has Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish. Today, the parish welcomes an average of 500 parishioners every Sunday, about 10% Italian, 70% Hispanic, and 10% Haitian, among other ethnic groups. In 2006, Archbishop John Myers called a new community of religious men to serve as pastors of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish and ministers at Seton Hall University. The Community of Saint John has maintained a stable presence of 6 religious brothers ever since, sharing with us their dedicated prayer life and warm fraternal charity. The brothers have worked hard to build a unified family spirit, amidst the growing ethnic diversity of the parish. In recent years, the parish youth program has been reborn, counting over 200 children in Religious Education every year and over 50 teens in our weekend youth group.