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During the summer of 1912, Archbishop Prendergast appointed Father William P. Maguire as the founding pastor of St. Anastasia Parish in Newtown Square. At that time, there were only thirty Catholic families living within the territorial limits of the newly established parish.
When the parish was founded, Father Maguire took up residence at the rectory of the Nativity B.V.M. Parish in Media. On Sundays, he would travel on horseback to the home of Patrick and Margaret Hurley in Newtown Square to celebrate Mass for his parishioners. He chose the name of St. Anastasia for the new parish in memory of his own mother, Anastasia Maguire. (St. Anastasia was a Roman noblewoman who is remembered for her care of the poor; she suffered martyrdom at the beginning of the fourth century.)
In 1930, a combination school and church building was constructed at the present parish site. In the fall of that year, this new school opened with an enrollment of 50 students. In the beginning, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (“the Immaculate Heart Sisters”) provided administrative and teaching staff for the school and continued to be an important presence in the parish for the next sixty years.
The growth of the Catholic population in St. Anastasia Parish was relatively slow until the end of the Second World War. After the war, the Catholic population grew rapidly throughout many parts of Delaware County. This rapid growth in the Catholic population prompted the expansion of school facilities in many existing parishes as well as the founding of new parishes in Drexel Hill, Springfield, Secane, Broomall, and Wallingford. In 1945, there were only 150 students enrolled in the parish school; however, twelve years later, the enrollment in St. Anastasia School had risen to 800 students. When Father Joseph T. Kane was appointed pastor in 1952, there were only 850 Catholic families living in the parish. By the time of his death in 1973, there were 2,350 registered Catholic families.
Much new construction took place at St. Anastasia Parish during the twenty-one years that Father Joseph T. Kane served here as pastor. In 1954, Father Kane directed the construction of a yellow brick school building that provided the school with twelve additional classrooms. In 1956, he oversaw the construction of the present colonial style church building.
Following the death of Father Kane, Monsignor Richard J. Simons was appointed pastor of St. Anastasia Parish. During the fifteen years that he served as pastor of the parish, he directed the building of the present rectory and the renovation of the original school building (“the upper school”).
When Monsignor Simons retired, Father John Shellem was appointed pastor of St. Anastasia Parish. Father Shellem successfully completed the payments due on the parish debt service, enriched the church as a place of worship, increased enrollment in the parish school and created a parish school endowment fund.
In 1994, the Sisters of St. Joseph replaced the Immaculate Heart Sisters as the religious community residing in the parish convent. Today, some of these sisters are engaged in pastoral ministries in neighboring parishes. Several members of this local community of sisters serve St. Anastasia Parish by providing counseling for students, by assisting in the administration of the parish school, planning R.C.I.A. activities, and by directing a pastoral outreach program for homebound parishioners and residents of nursing homes.
In 2001, upon reaching the canonical age for retirement from the administration of a parish, Father Shellem retired and Monsignor Philip J. Cribben was appointed pastor of St. Anastasia Parish. Immediately, a need for expanding the parish school facilities was recognized. A new school building with classrooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria, faculty dining room, library, and science and computer labs was designed by architect, Patrick Szustak. Constructed at a cost of $6,000,000 this new facility was opened in September, 2004. A new school building with classrooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria, faculty dining room, library and science computer labs was designed by architect, Patrick Szustak. Constructed at a cost of $6,000,000 this new facility was opened in September 2004.
Monsignor Cribben retired in July, 2012, at that time Father Michael A. Colagreco was appointed pastor of St. Anastasia.