The official history of Seton Catholic High School in Pittston, PA has been wiped off the internet by the Diocese of Scranton. Sadly, we did not copy this before it was deleted.
The Diocese of Scranton may think that a Catholic school with such a long and wonderful history is not worth saving, but we do and always will. If anyone has a copy of the history of this school, please e-mail us: webmaster@leavenocatholicstudentbehind.com
The following is the story which Mr. Richard Cosgrove wrote about the closing of our beloved Seton Catholic/St. John the Evangelist/Pittston Central Catholic, etc....
The 143-year tenure of parochial high school education in the Greater Pittston community came to a formal close Wednesday night at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church with the celebration of a closing Mass for Seton Catholic High School.
Seton’s final graduation of 44 students was held last Sunday in the same church.
The Rev. Thomas J. Maloney, president of the Board of Pastors, was principal celebrant of the Mass. He was joined by 16 other priests and two deacons.
“The temple of God is built of living statues. This school is like that temple,” said Maloney, in thanking the sisters, pastors, alumni and families for their support of the school.
Several of the priests participating are graduates of the school.
Maloney presented a check to the I.H.M. Sisters for their service to the school through the years. Sister M. Daniela McCarthy, I.H.M., a former faculty member and a 1939 graduate of St. John’s, accepted the check on behalf of the nuns.
James Redington, principal of Seton Catholic, offered remarks at the conclusion of the Mass and referred to the sign on the school’s gym — “The Love of the Lord never ceases” — and added, “We have celebrated all those years with dignity.”
Seton Catholic is the final name assigned to the school, which opened in September 1864 as St. John’s Academy, the first of four names the Catholic high school would be identified as during its history.
In 1976, the name was changed to Seton Catholic High School when it was officially incorporated as a Diocese of Scranton high school.
While the IHM Sisters have continued a presence at the school since its inception almost a century and a half ago, gradually lay personnel joined the staff, and in recent times, the school has been headed by Redington as principal. Maloney has been serving as president of the Board of Pastors, the church’s counterpart to the public school system’s school board.
The future use of the Seton building is uncertain. It has reverted back to the founding parish, St. John the Evangelist, of which Monsignor John J. Bendik is pastor.
Mass signals closing of Seton Catholic
BY RICHARD COSGROVE