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Reverend Monsignor Paul J. Langsfeld, 14th Rector/President of the Pontifical College Josephinum, passed away July 9th at the Saint Jeanne Jugan Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, DC. 

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The Vigil with Monsignor Langsfeld’s cremains will be on Friday, August 20, 2021, at Saint Joseph Parish on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, from 3:00 pm-7:00 pm, with the Vigil Mass at 7:30 pm, celebrated by Archbishop Timothy Broglio, JCD, Archbishop for the Military Services USA.

 

Wilton Cardinal Gregory will celebrate the Funeral Mass at Saint Joseph Parish on Capitol Hill at 10:30 am, on Saturday, August 21, 2021. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

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Read Monsignor's full obituary

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Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Monsignor Langsfeld was an avid scholar throughout his life and priestly ministry. He studied at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, the Pontifical North American College, and The Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. He spent seven years in parish work after his ordination for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC in 1977, then returned to Rome to serve with the Congregation for the Clergy. While there, he completed his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University, after which he joined the faculty and administration of Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD.

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The Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education appointed Monsignor Langsfeld as Rector/President of the Josephinum on June 6, 2003. There were many significant events that occurred during Msgr. Langsfeld’s five-year tenure. In 2005, the Josephinum was granted affiliation with the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and began offering the pontifical degree Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology. In 2007, the A.T. Wehrle Memorial Library became a member of Ohio Private Academic Libraries, providing seminarians with access to more than 85 libraries statewide. In 2008, the Wacek Family Memorial Organ in Saint Turibius Chapel was installed and dedicated.

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At the time of his appointment, Monsignor Langsfeld said that he preferred thinking of a rector as a pastor. “A pastor is far more than an administrator,” he said. “A pastor is responsible for the care of people and for their spiritual welfare. He is a teacher of the faith and celebrant of the sacraments, in addition to being an administrator of the Church's goods. I hope to be what the Second Vatican Council said all priests should be: ‘true shepherds of souls after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, teacher, priest, and shepherd’” (Optatam Totius 4).

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We give thanks to God for the life of Monsignor Paul Langsfeld – for the gift of his priesthood and for the many years he was teacher, priest, and shepherd at the Josephinum.

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Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.