History of Tradition: An Interview with Fr. H. Todd Carter

     Almost two months ago, I had the privilege of interviewing the Reverend H. Todd Carter, Pastor of Holy Innocents Parish, Neptune. I interviewed him on his conversion story, his vocation, and the history of the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass) in the Diocese of Trenton. In this post, I incorporated the historical aspects into a timeline of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Trenton as well as the state of New Jersey.

            

     I first asked Father, of his conversion story. Looking back on it, Fr. Carter described his conversion as “everything fitting together.” For those who don’t know, Fr. Carter was born and raised a Lutheran. By the time he was enrolled at The College of New Jersey, Fr. Carter said that he was involved in a Presbyterian youth group and prayed but wasn’t practicing in the traditional Christian sense (regular Sunday attendance). Following exposure to new ideas in college, Fr. Carter concluded that he needed to seek truth and grow in his faith. By his sophomore year, he was attending the local Baptist church and was a member of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and attended a Bible study. Through his devout roommate, Fr. Carter attended Catholic meetings as well, though with no intention of converting. However, when Fr. Carter wanted to prove another student wrong, he ended up learning more about the Catholic faith. After much prayer and discussion, he converted. Also noteworthy, he even “gave the rosary a shot” because Martin Luther prayed it with a great devotion to the Blessed Mother. Fr. Carter summarized his conversion as a combination of Catholic friends, intellectual aspects, and the rosary.

            

     I then asked Father, “Who or what influenced your vocation?” Fr. Carter then proceeded to tell me about the pastor of his new summer parish, Fr. Daniel C. Hesko. Having gone to Saint Catherine Laboure in Middletown on occasion, I was all too familiar with the first priest to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form after the 1984 indult. After seeing Fr. Hesko’s caring example, this gained Fr. Carter respect for the clergy. Fr. Carter also cited the priests on EWTN as an inspiration to his vocation. Fr. Carte met Fr. Mitch Pacwa SJ on campus, which gave him an appreciation of the intellectual aspect of Catholicism.

            

     Fr. Carter was initially exposed to the Latin Mass when he found out that his pastor Fr. Hesko was saying the Traditional Latin Mass through a friend. As he went to the Traditional Mass, he began to appreciate it and what good it was for the Church. When I asked why there was a surge in Latin Mass activity after 2011, Father attributed this to Bishop O’Connell. Bishop O’Connell for those who have never been to his liturgies before, he does a very traditional Novus Ordo. Fr. Carter even told me that as a Vincentian, Bishop O’Connell was one of the few men to wear a cassock in his order. When I went to the Chrism Mass (and subsequently ran into Fr. Carter), Bishop O’Connell had the Sanctus sung in Latin and almost every hymn was accompanied by an organ. Upon the arrival of my traditional minded bishop, Fr. Carter told me that he heeded the call of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum to have the Latin Mass freely accessible. In 2011, he appointed Fr. Brian Woodrow, another good priest whom I have interviewed in this series, Liaison to the Extraordinary Form, and the parish that Fr. Woodrow made use of also happened to be the newly ordained Fr. Carter’s first assignment, a decision of which Fr. Carter says he had a say in. After a year and a half at Saint Anthony’s the time was right for a move to a more permanent parish, and Fr. Woodrow’s new pastorate in Allentown paved the way for that wish to be fulfilled.

            

     I asked Father about “behind the scenes” at the 2012 Pontifical Mass. for the readers outside of the Latin Mass who know of my blog, the 2012 Pontifical was a big deal. At Fr. Woodrow’s request, Bishop O’Connell agreed to celebrate a Solemn Pontifical High Mass, the most ritualistic form of the Latin Mass, second to only that of a Papal High Mass (the Papal ceremonial used until the pontificate of Paul VI). The Pontifical was meant to celebrate the anniversary of the Latin Mass in the diocese, and it was held at Saint Hedwig’s in Trenton, a majestic Polish parish worthy of rivaling Chicago’s Saint John Cantius. Against all odds (Bishop O’Connell just walked out of surgery at the time and it was right before his leg amputation), His Excellency still showed up and the event ended up being on EWTN, with Saint John’s very own Dorothy Conway as a commentator. Father said that that was one of the toughest Masses the Traditional Latin Mass community has ever pulled off. they had to call upon a variety of musicians, one of which is my good friend Peter Carter, music director at Saint John’s. Fr. Woodrow was a chief organizer, and Fr. Kevin Kimtis, a priest now in Rome studying for the Holy See’s Diplomatic Corps, was the Master of Ceremonies who crossed out things that didn’t belong in the rubrics for the given day. Dorothy Conway took care of the altar servers and managed the media coverage and as stated before, the commentary. Father also mentioned donors who funded the EWTN media coverage. Father told me that as subdeacon he only followed the rubrics and wasn’t an organizer, but hey, when he sang that Epistle, he may as well have stolen the show.

            

     When I asked about the diocesan Latin Mass’ greatest breakthrough, Fr. Carter told me that it hasn’t come yet. He told me that all four Masses are only in Monmouth County and that there still is resistance from priests and laity alike. He claims that resistance is not bad intentioned, but a more a misunderstanding of why young people would want to revive something they were taught was gone and done away with (it wasn’t actually). When I asked about resistance that had a change of heart, Father did tell them that there were some at his parish who would come to appreciate him doing the Sanctus or the Angus Dei in Latin. There were also parents who would come to like the Latin Mass because of the altar boys and the discipline in it. However, Father told me that he hasn’t yet ran into people who were deadset against the Traditional Mass and eventually warmed up to it, but I guess it varies. After all, Fr. Woodrow told me stories of changes of heart. When I asked Father about future plans for the Latin Mass community, he deferred me to Fr. Woodrow, which is covered in his interview.

            

     It was great to interview Fr. Carter. If anyone ever wants to visit, his parish is in Neptune. A little fun fact: Fr. Carter’s monthly Low Mass at Holy Innocents was the first ever Mass I have ever altar served in. Right now due to graduation season I’m on a hiatus, but whenever Father sees fit to bring back the monthly Low mass, you may catch me up at the altar with him. And for any of the Latin Mass community reading this, you will be glad to know that effective July 1^st, Fr. Michael Desaye is transferring to Neptune as a parochial vicar and hospital chaplain. From attending his High Mass in Allentown, it’s safe to say that Fr. Carter just got a good parochial vicar, and the future of Holy innocents is looking bright.