POWER OF ATTORNEY


     I hereby appoint Kenneth J. Wagner,  John F. Kuntz, John J. Gorman, Marc P.
Levy or  Edward  A.  Quint to act as my true and  lawful  attorney-in-fact  with
authority  to execute on my behalf any Form 3, 4 or 5 or any  amendment  thereto
required  to be filed by the  undersigned  under  Section  16 of the  Securities
Exchange  Act of 1934,  as amended,  and the rules and  regulations  promulgated
thereunder,  with the  appropriate  regulatory  authorities and to do all things
incident and necessary to that end, until such time as I notify Mr. Wagner,  Mr.
Kuntz,  Mr. Gorman,  Mr. Levy, or Mr. Quint in writing that his authority to act
on my behalf in this manner has been withdrawn.

     I have signed this power of  attorney on  December 24,  2002.
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                                           by  /s/ Kevin J. Ward
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                                               Kevin J. Ward


                               In presence of  /s/ John F. Kuntz
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                                           at   Jersey City          New Jersey
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                                                City                 State