By David Kilby|Correspondent

For Father Anthony Carotenuto, former pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Red Bank, retirement in the traditional sense will be anything but certain.

“I guess I will be semi-retired, in a sense,” said the priest, adding that he plans to celebrate Mass for The Good Shepherd Sisters living in Wickatunk, continue his support for a school for at-risk youth and assist in parishes and with retreats when needed.

But that’s not all.

“Hopefully, if my back holds up…I like to do home repairs,” he said. “I would like to get involved with Habitat for Humanity.”

Ordained May 25, 1968, in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, by Bishop George W. Ahr, Father Carotenuto culminated his studies as a seminarian in St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore.

He began his life as a priest as parochial vicar in St. James Parish, Pennington, a time during which he was active in Pennington Families for Peace and served as a founding member of COPE (Christians of Pennington Ecumenical) to promote interchurch dialogue and cooperation.

Later, as parochial vicar of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel, he coordinated Bread for the World action alerts and was instrumental in persuading the ShopRite Corporation to support the efforts of the United Farm Workers to organize farm labor.

“That was a really formative period of my life,” he reflected when discussing the early days of his parish ministries.

His first pastorate came when he was assigned to serve Assumption Parish, New Egypt, and later when he transitioned into what would be his last assignment in Red Bank.

In his years serving his last parish, Father Carotenuto encouraged the growth of the parish’s social ministries, namely in expanding outreach to the community’s growing Hispanic immigrant population. The parish offers English as a Second Language classes, tutoring, a food pantry and assistance with rent and documentation needs.

“I thought I would be a good bridge between the old Italian immigrants, since my mother and brother were born in Italy, and the new immigrants – mainly Hispanic immigrants,” he said. Immigration has become an issue Father Carotenuto has become passionate about, and he hopes to continue his work in the area.

Father Carotenuto has been involved in the community- at-large as a long-time advisor to Love, Inc., a Christian clearinghouse for the underserved and as a founding member of New Creations for Christ, a coalition of churches that advocate for affordable housing in Monmouth County. He has also served on the Access to Health Care Task Force of the Community Advisory Council at Riverview Medical Center and the Juvenile Justice Task Force of Red Bank.

As for his recent retirement, the sense of his growing freedom has not set in yet, he says.

For one, he has a long to-do list he has been long waiting to tackle – which includes a number of books he has always wanted to read. There is always plenty of learning to do, he acknowledged, not to mention cleaning and organzing.

“I will also have to retool myself for the digital age, and that will be a major venture for me,” he said, chuckling. Members of his family have given him some gift cards to invest in new technology, and he seems excited to take on the new challenge.

“I saved all my homilies, just about all the homilies I gave through 45 years,” he said. “Yet, I have rarely gone back to look. I will really have to do some uncluttering.”

A recent conversation with The Monitor provided Father Carotenuto with the chance to reflect on the infancy of his vocation, when he first discovered that he was being called to become a priest.

“As I look back at my call, I had a wonderful parochial experience both at the parish and parish school,” he said, adding that the clergy and religious he interacted with as young man were especially formative. “I would have to say it was the example of my parents (that) was really the impulse for me to become a priest.”

He recalled his mother initially being against his vocation, as she had believed the priesthood would send him into solitude and isolate him from his family.

“I remember coming home from church, all excited I was going to be an altar boy,” he said, adding that his mother promptly threw her hands to her head and muttered, in Italian, “Oh, it is starting.”

But the example his parents set was one he has never lost sight of. One of six children, he recalls vividly a service his parents gave to the old county jail in Freehold, which at the time was across the street from their home.

“Every Sunday my mother would make extra spaghetti and the children would have to take turns bringing a plate of spaghetti to the jail.

“Anyone without visitors on the weekend would receive a plate,” he said.

Reflecting on the role of the priest in society, Father Carotenuto said that the mission is all too important in today’s world.

“God so loved the world that he sent his son, and Jesus loved God’s people so much that he sends us to heal a wounded world,” he said, “and to be bridge builders.”

As he embarks upon the next phase of his ministry, Father Carotenuto said he hopes to continue his involvement in the aspects of ministry he has came to love so much as a priest.

“I see myself being able to step away from administration, but yet to continue priestly ministry,” he said.