One of only eight Oratorian houses in the United States, the New Brunswick Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri was canonically erected by the Servant of God Pope John Paul II on September 8, 1998.  However, the beginnings of the New Brunswick Oratory go back to 1986, when a group of clerics and laymen began praying together to discern a vocation to community life. In June of 1993, three priests and two seminarians, with the approval of Bishop Edward T. Hughes, began to live the Oratorian life at St. Bartholomew Church in East Brunswick, NJ.

In July of 1998, the members of the Oratory established their own house on the property of the Consolata Missionaries in Somerset, NJ., and the community was subsequently established as a Congregation of the Oratory of Pontifical Right by Pope John Paul II. Fr. Peter Cebulka was the founding Provost, a position he has held ever since, having been re-elected four times. In 2001, at the invitation of the late Bishop Vincent DePaul Breen, the Oratory took on the pastoral responsibility for the Catholic campus ministry apostolate at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, where Fr. Peter still serves as Chaplain.

Pictured (L-R):
Rev. Jeffrey M. Calia, C.O., Secretary
Rev. Thomas A. Odorizzi, C.O., Vicar
V. Rev. Edoardo Cerrato, C.O., Procurator General
V. Rev. Peter R. Cebulka, C.O., Provost
Rev. Kevin P. Kelly, C.O.