St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church at 6199 Fayetteville Road, Raeford, NC 28376 US - Home

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in Raeford, NC was established as a parish in 1959.  It is the only Catholic Church serving the needs of Hoke County.

Four Catholic women, Genevieve Carter, Sue Gorman, Marian D'Agostino and Teresa Conlin from Bronx, NY, contacted Bishop Waters wanting to provide the funds to establish a church in a mission territory in the Raleigh Diocese.  Bishop Waters accepted their generous gift of $20,000 and a piece of property in Raeford was purchased for $6,000.  Father James Keaney was appointed pastor of St Elizabeth and was sent to Raeford to gather the Catholic Community of 14 families and to build a Church and rectory.  The parish has had resident priests sporadically from its dedication in 1959 through 1984 when the first Pastoral Administrator of the Diocese, Sister Dolores Glick, MHSH, was appointed by the Bishop at the invitation of Fr John Carcich, pastor of Hope Mills and St. Elizabeth.  Sister Mary Carol Loughney, IHM, succeeded her in 1991.  Sister Jeanne Morgan, SSJ, who arrived in 1999, is the present Pastoral Administrator.

Because of the rapid growth within the community, it was decided in the year 2000 that a bigger church was needed.  In late 2007 ground broke for the present site of the church.  The new Church was dedicated by Bishop Burbidge on August 23, 2008.  Our community consists of a large Hispanic population and many people from a number of European and African countries.

Women have had a significant part in the development of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.  The women from the Bronx provided the finances.  They named the Church after their employer's mother Elizabeth Black.  Mrs. Lee "Alice" O'Briant was the first Catholic of Raeford.  It was she who welcomed and guided the young Catholic families that came here with the military or industry.  It has been under women Pastoral Administrators that noticeable growth has occured from a handful of Catholics in 1984 to 45 families in 1991 to its present status of 340 registered households.

Sister Betty Bullen, IHM is the new Pastoral Administrator after Sister Jeanne Morgan, SSJ, relocated to NJ after 12 years as the leader of St. Elizabeth of Hungary CAtholic Church.