By Christina Leslie | Staff Writer

The importance of family was the theme during the Mass of Installation in St. Clement Church May 22. Father Thomas A. Vala, who had served as the parish administrator since the previous July, stood before his siblings, cousins, friends and parish family during the 11 a.m. Mass where Msgr. Thomas J. Mullelly, diocesan episcopal vicar for clergy and consecrated life, pronounced him the Matawan parish’s fourth pastor.

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Concelebrating with Msgr. Mullelly and Father Vala at the liturgy included St. Clement parochial vicar, Father Philip Ruggiero; Father Mark T. Devlin, pastor of Holy Family Parish, Keyport, and Father John A. Bogacz, parochial vicar in St. Justin Parish, Toms River. They were assisted by St. Clement deacons Mark Micali and Tom Wadolowski.

Father Vala, the youngest of six children of Flavian and Anna Vala, was born Nov. 19, 1963 in Montclair. He graduated from Verona High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Seton Hall University, South Orange, and a master’s degree in computer science from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison. Father Vala worked as a civil servant at Fort Monmouth, Oceanport, for nearly 18 years in the fields of computer programming and database administration.

In 1987, he moved to Point Pleasant and became a member of the town’s St. Martha Parish, serving as its head usher and religious education teacher. Heeding the call to the priesthood, the future Father Vala entered Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in the fall of 2004. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Trenton May 30, 2009, by Bishop John M. Smith in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

Father Vala served as parochial vicar in Christ the King Parish, Long Branch, while serving as a chaplain in that shore town’s Monmouth Medical Center, then as parochial vicar in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square, before being appointed as administrator of St. Clement Parish in July, 2015.

“The parish really welcomed him with open arms,” stated Tom Constantino, a member of the St. Clement finance council. “We at St. Clement’s are very fortunate to have had such long-term, caring priests as pastors.”

Father Vala’s plans in shepherding the parish, not surprisingly, also center upon family life. “I most enjoy the interaction with the community and trying to be the presence of God to people,” he reflected, “and plan to do more social outreach, [including] working with surrounding parishes.”

St. Clement Parish, the first and only Catholic parish in Matawan, was established June 3, 1965, by Bishop George W. Ahr, and held its first Masses in Matawan Grammar School. The current church, a 20-sided structure, was completed in the spring of 1971. St. Clement Parish has 3,222 registered families.