The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in a New Jersey suburb was found slain in the rectory kitchen Friday morning.

A deacon went to search for the Rev. Edward Hinds, 61, when he failed to appear for the 8 a.m. mass at St. Patrick's Church in Chatham, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported. The priest's body was on the floor in the kitchen.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said at an afternoon news conference that the death was a homicide. He did not say how Hinds was killed.

Monsignor Kenneth Lasch, a retired priest, told the Star-Ledger he was called soon after the body was found. Hinds had left instructions that Lasch would give the eulogy at his funeral.

"The parish called me and said they found him in the kitchen on the floor," Lasch said. "He had his dog with him and apparently he was making a cup of coffee."

Hinds was born in Chatham and spent his life as a priest in the diocese of Paterson, including a stint as vice-chancellor and as secretary to former Bishop Frank Rodimer, Lasch said. Between 1991 and 2003, he was pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Boonton.