Father Charles Whelan

Reverend Charles Whelan, an Irish Capuchin, named first pastor of newly incorporated Catholic Church. Thus, he became the first resident priest in New York. Services are held in private homes and in the home of the Spanish ambassador.

1786 - Saint Peter's Church dedicated and opened with Father Whelan as first pastor. Reverend Andrew Nugent named assistant to Father Whelan and later in the year named pastor.

Finally, an Irish Capuchin, Father Charles Whelan, who had served as a chaplain to the Portuguese consul-general, Don Jose Roiz Silva, took up also the care of this scattered flock, which numbered less than two hundred, and only about forty of them practical in the observances of their faith.
...
The first resident pastor was Father Whelan, who, however, was forced to retire owing to the hostility of the trustees and of another Capuchin, the Rev. Andrew Nugent, before the Church was opened.

Father Charles Whelan, the first pastor of Saint Peter's, was sent to New York by Bishop Carroll in 1785 to found a church for Manhatan's 200 Catholics.An Irishman and a member of the Franciscan Capuchin Order, he had served as a chaplain in the French fleet during the Revolutionary War.

Father Whelan and the laymen who incorportated "The Roman Catholic Church in the City of New York" in 1785 were helped in their work by members of the diplomatic community that was based in what was then the nation's capital.

Father Charles Whelan, the first pastor of Saint Peter's Church, was sent to New York by Bishop Carroll in 1785 to found a church for Manhattan's 200 Catholics.
...
Father Whelan and the laymen who incorporated "The Roman Catholic Church in the City of New York" in 1785 were helped in their work by members of the diplomatic community that was based in what was then the nation's capital.

The other was Charles Whelan, an Irish Capuchin, who founded the first Catholic Church in New York City, and who served for many years as pastor of St. Mary's, Mill Creek, in New Castle County, Delaware.

Chuck Zammit Joe Whelan