From the Observer-Reporter: Sacred Heart church installs pastor

Phillip M. Lavery recently was installed as pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Polish National Catholic Church in Canonsburg.

Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church presided at the installation, and auxiliary Bishop John Mack of Holy Trinity PNCC, Washington, assisted.

Lavery was ordained a priest in 1988 after studying at the Vatican for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, and his first full-time assignment began in July 1989, when he was named parish assistant at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Canonsburg.

He served in Canonsburg for several years, and one of the highlights of his service there was the establishment of an annual Italian Mass and Procession on the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Lavery also was actively involved in the Canonsburg-Houston Ministerium.

Lavery and his wife, Heather, joined the Polish National Catholic Church soon after their marriage in 1997, and they were active at Holy Family Church in McKeesport.

Lavery began doing hospice ministry in 2001 with Odyssey Healthcare, and in 2004, he was named director of Bereavement and Spiritual Care Services for Harmony Hospice and Palliative Care.

He has served many years as a replacement priest for parishes in the Southern Deanery of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese and along with his wife established Father Lavery Ministries, a worldwide Web ministry.