Holy Cross Church Welcomes New Pastor
By Tony Senk

Rumson – If Father Michael Manning, the new pastor at Holy Cross Church, here, ever has time to sit and write a book based on his life and times, it’s sure to appeal to at least three groups right off the bat: those in the medical field, those in the clergy, and career counselors who say that changing a career mid-life is good for you. He can relate directly to all three groups, as well as to the hundreds of congregants who worship at the beautiful Holy Cross Church.

Twelve years ago, Father Michael Manning was Doctor Michael Manning. At age 40, as a gastroenterologist specializing in internal medicine, he felt that he had already achieved a number of his career goals, and says he had long since started asking himself what he called “the bigger questions.”

“I found that I was less fascinated with the technical end of medicine and more intent on what I could do to help people. I know that had a lot to do with my eventual change in careers,” he said. “I’d really not thought about the priesthood since I was an altar server in high school, but in my work as a doctor, I’d see a lot of people suffering and dying. Physicians and members of the clergy see that a lot and I’m sure that people in both professions, at one time or another, have probably asked themselves all the same questions that I was asking myself.”

“There is no doubt,” says Father Manning with a smile, “that so far, my life – and my years as a priest – has been quite an interesting journey.”

That “journey” started in 1992 when he entered St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. After being ordained a priest in 1997, the journey continued with his first assignment as an associate pastor at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Hamilton Square, followed by another assignment at St. Martha’s Church in Point Pleasant. Two and one-half years later, he was assigned as pastor at St. William the Abbot Church in Howell. Then, another two and one-half years later, Father Manning got a phone call from Bishop John Smith, of the Diocese of Trenton, asking him to come and see him.

“The Bishop,” he said, “started by asking me, ‘Can you do me a favor? Then, he asked me if I’d take over for Father Hughes here at Holy Cross.”

Father Hughes had been removed from his duties by the Diocese of Trenton after being charged by authorities with missing church funds. Those claims have not been proven in a court of law yet, but no matter what the outcome of those charges may be, the parishioners of Holy Cross and Father Manning are not dwelling on the matter, but are instead looking forward to the future of the church and the congregation.

Father Manning said he accepted the position immediately and that his first weeks at Holy Cross Church have been made easier because of the parishioners at the church.

“People here,” he says, “have been very supportive from the first day I arrived. They have offered their best wishes and it seems like everyone in the parish has asked how they can help. Whatever shock or dismay they feel about what happened here has not transmitted to me. They know that a church is not one person or one individual – it’s an institution, and that is bigger than any one person. There is actually a great message of hope in all of that.”

Father Manning also believes that people are so supportive of him, in part, because they so deeply care for Holy Cross Church.

“Many parishioners have told me that they have been coming here since they were kids,” he said. “The church was built back in 1883 and it’s just a beautiful and quaint country church. It’s clear they love it very much. I’m sure I will, too.”

Father Manning grew up in Brooklyn, the oldest of four children. He attended Catholic elementary and high schools and graduated from New York University at Washington Square in 1974. In his leisure time, Father Manning enjoys gardening and all things of a canine nature.

“I did a lot of gardening when I was at St. William the Abbot Church,” he said. “They had a lot of land there and I suspect once I get more settled here, I’ll do the same thing. In fact, I have already scouted out some areas on the grounds where a garden would fit quite nicely. Working in a garden gets you out in the fresh air and is a good way to get some exercise, too. In a way, it’s also a spiritual activity. You know, with the cycle of birth and death.”

As avid a gardener as he is, it’s likely that if a dog dug up all his vegetables and flowers, he’d still just smile and say, “Oh well, dogs will be dogs!”

“I’ve loved dogs since I was a kid,” he said. “When I had my medical practice, I bred Dalmations and I had horses, too. I gave them up when I joined the priesthood, but I just got a puppy, Max. He’s a Vizsla – that’s in the greyhound and whippet family. He’s quite a dog.”

Father Manning is a licensed dog show judge – prominent enough to have judged the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York some years ago. He still judges dog shows when time allows.

In fact, his dog show judging has made him famous – in a sense. “I judged a dog show in Philly some time ago,” he said, “and all the judges had to wear tuxedos. So, I go out and rent one and I’m standing out there in the middle of everything, trying to make a decision on the dogs I was judging. The Animal Planet has run this particular dog show over and over again, and it never fails. Whenever it airs, someone else comes up to me in the next day or so and asks me, ‘Was that you at the dog show in Philly in the tuxedo?’

When Father Manning is not ministering to the 1,700 families at Holy Cross Parish and getting used to his new surroundings, he reflects on the roller coaster ride of his two careers. He says that it’s the little things that people have done for him – in both professions – that he most clearly remembers and treasures.

“I’ve had a lot of great things happen to me over the years,” he said. “I attended a Papal Mass at Camden Yards in Baltimore when I was a seminarian and I’ve met many people, both as a doctor and as a priest, who have deeply touched me. But, I think I most remember little things, like the notes of thanks and gratitude I got from patients and parishioners after I helped them in some way. As a priest and as a doctor, you deal with people at an important time in their lives. It teaches you to be humble.”

And emotional, too. Father Manning was clearly moved when he looked down at his desk at the stacks of cards youngsters from St. William the Abbot Parish had recently written to him to wish him luck in his new assignment. Each card, of course, showed a child’s drawing of a dog. Father Manning looked both sad and happy at the same time.

“You get attached to people wherever you go,” he said. “But, you know, you just do the best you can, accept your new challenge and do your best there, too.”

Father Manning talked about a picture he ordered for his office that he feels will help him remember the wisdom of not getting too settled in one place.

“It’s a picture of El Greco’s ‘Portrait of Peter and Paul,’” he said. “Paul is standing in front, looking very evangelical and strong willed, doing some ‘in your face’ preaching. Peter is in the background – almost in Paul’s shadow – looking very gentle. He has keys – the symbol of his authority – resting gently in his hands. He’s not clutching them tightly; they’re just resting softly in his hands, as if to say, ‘These are not yours to keep forever.’ The picture says to me, ‘Hold you authority but understand that everything changes.’ Like I said, with the clergy, it’s not about one priest or where they are – it’s about the ministry of the entire church.”

“I like it here already,” he said. “The people in the parish are warm and welcoming, and you can’t ask for more than that.”

The above article has been reprinted, with permission from The Monmouth Journal.

The Holy Cross Development Office would like to thank everyone at The Monmouth Journal.