St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was established in 1992 as part of the diocesan reorganization and revitalization project. The parish was formed by the merger of six existing parishes: St. Luke, St. Joseph, Immaculate Conception, St. Ignatius de Loyola and Holy Souls in Carnegie and St. Vincent de Paul in Walkers Mill. Of the six churches, three ― St. Joseph, Immaculate Conception and St. Vincent de Paul ― were closed. St. Joseph Church was razed and Immaculate Conception and St. Vincent de Paul were sold. After the merger, the other three churches, Holy Souls, St. Ignatius de Loyola and St. Luke, remained open and continued to serve the new parish.
This situation changed on September 17, 2004 when heavy rains caused by Hurricane Ivan caused severe flooding in Carnegie. The flooding struck two of the three churches of the parish, Holy Souls and St. Luke, causing them to be closed and leaving St. Ignatius Church as the only usable church. Rather than immediately beginning repair work on the two churches, the parish decided to study their situation and determine how many church buildings they needed to serve the congregation. The first decision made was to not reopen Holy Souls Church. On December 30, 2005, the parish formally petitioned the diocese for permission to close the church and put it up for sale. This permission was granted on February 27, 2006 and the building was sold on September 13, 2006 to the Carnegie Community Development Corporation. The parish later decided that it only needed one church, but that a renovated and repaired St. Luke Church was the building they needed. Renovation on St. Luke began on October 16, 2010. The interior of the church was turned around 180 degrees and completely renovated. Only three walls, the roof and stained glass windows of the original architecture of the church were preserved. The renovated church was dedicated on November 20, 2011 as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. The parish then suspended Masses at St. Ignatius Church on November 26, 2011. The parish then began making plans to sell the closed St. Ignatius Church which took place in 2014
With the turn of the century, trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh began to reveal a decline in Mass attendance and sacramental participation. At the same time, the number of priests available for parish ministry also began to decline.
To address these challenges, Bishop David Zubik announced on April 12, 2015 a new diocesan initiative, On Mission for The Church Alive!, a consultative strategic planning process designed to foster viable, sustainable and vibrant parishes. As part of this process, the Bishop, in consultation with the faithful, began to consider new models of parish life based on pastoral needs, financial and temporal resources and available clergy.
In 2018, following the period of consultation, parishes were grouped together and served by a single clergy team to eventually form one new parish.
During this transition period, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parishes. This ended on January 4, 2021 when St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish merged with Ss. Simon and Jude Parish, Scott Township and St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, Greentree to form the new St. Raphael the Archangel Parish. As part of the merger St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church (the former St. Luke Church) remained open as part of the new parish.
With the turn of the century, trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh began to reveal a decline in Mass attendance and sacramental participation. At the same time, the number of priests available for parish ministry also began to decline.
To address these challenges, Bishop David Zubik announced on April 12, 2015 a new diocesan initiative, On Mission for The Church Alive!, a consultative strategic planning process designed to foster viable, sustainable and vibrant parishes. As part of this process, the Bishop, in consultation with the faithful, began to consider new models of parish life based on pastoral needs, financial and temporal resources and available clergy.
In 2018, following the period of consultation, parishes were grouped together and served by a single clergy team to eventually form one new parish.
During this transition period, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parishes. This ended on January 4, 2021 when St. Elizabetth Ann Seton Parish merged with Ss. Simon and Jude Parish, Scott Township and St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, Greentree to form the new St. Raphael the Archangel Parish. As part of the merger St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church (the former St. Luke Church) remained open as part of the new parish.
