We are pleased to announce that on July 8, 2020 Fr. Ashley Harrington, O.Carm. was appointed Temporary Administrator of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Tenafly by Cardinal Joseph Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark. We welcome Fr. Ashley as he ministers to the parish community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Fr. Ashley Harrington, O.Carm.
Father Ashley Harrington grew up on Hudson Avenue in Englewood and attended St. Cecilia’s grammar school. He spent his high school years at the Carmelite Junior Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts, finished his Carmelite novitiate in New Baltimore, Pennsylvania, and took his First Vows in 1961.
Fr. Ashley attended college at Mount Carmel Seminary in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and at St. Bonaventure in Olean, New York. His four years of theology took place at Whitefriars Hall in Washington, D.C. and he earned a Master’s Degree in English at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
Ordained a priest at St. Cecilia Church on May 30, 1967, his first assignment was to Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, Illinois where he was the English Department Chairman. While in Chicago, Fr. Ashley was heavily involved with the community, working on housing in the inner city neighborhood known as Woodlawn.
In 1975, Fr. Ashley was appointed rector of the Junior Prep Seminary at Niagara Falls. His next assignment was teacher and prior at Carmel School for Boys in Mundelein, Illinois.
In 1980, Fr. Ashley returned to New Jersey as co-pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Leonia and in 1981 he was elected to be the first Commissary Provincial for the Eastern Region of the Carmelite Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary. After two terms, Fr. Ashley became pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Norwood before moving to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Tenafly.
Fr. Ashley spent sixteen years in Tenafly, twelve of which he served as pastor. After a sabbatical spent in Manhattan, Fr. Ashley now lives near OLMC in Tenafly and is actively engaged in hosting retreats and days of reflection. Fr. Ashley also co-founded the Carmelite Spiritual Center, a unique opportunity for adult education and spirituality to be located at the former convent in Englewood.
Fr. Ashley still enjoys giving private tours of New York City.