Father Joseph Wenderoth, a leader in correctional ministry, dies at 90

Father Joseph R. Wenderoth, who devoted most of his priesthood to ministering to incarcerated persons, died July 5. He was 90.

For more than four decades, Father Wenderoth dedicated himself to prisoner reintegration in Baltimore City, becoming one of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s leading voices for restorative justice. Through a variety of ministries and leadership roles, he worked to help incarcerated men and women rebuild their lives after release.

Believing that successful rehabilitation depended on community support, Father Wenderoth championed community corrections as an alternative to incarceration. He argued that addressing overcrowded prisons and limited resources required communities to share responsibility for helping former inmates reintegrate into society. He warned that society risked creating a system in which men would feel more comfortable returning to jail because it was the only place where they believed they could succeed rather than finding the same opportunity outside.

“We have the resources and technology, but we confuse knowledge with action,” said Father Wenderoth in a 1974 interview with the Catholic Review. “It’s a highly emotional problem, but we have to make people believe in the human value of community corrections. We have to make people aware of criminal justice problems.”

Monsignor George Moeller met Father Wenderoth while they were students at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park. They were ordained together May 26, 1962, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.

Monsignor Moeller remembered his classmate as a fierce handball competitor who also had a compassionate heart.

“He was very much interested in people being treated justly,” Monsignor Moeller said. “He was really an advocate for peace.”

A native Baltimorean, Father Wenderoth served as associate pastor of St. William of York in Baltimore, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Middle River, St. Mary of the Assumption in Govans and St. Vincent de Paul Church in Baltimore.

His ministry with Catholic Charities of Baltimore included serving as advocacy chaplain at the Baltimore City Jails, head of Prisoners’ Aid of Maryland, working on community corrections legislation in the Maryland General Assembly and serving as staff coordinator for its corrections unit.

In 1975, Father Wenderoth helped establish a community corrections center in the former convent at St. Ambrose in Park Heights, the first community corrections center for women in Maryland. He also served as executive director of two Dismas House locations in Baltimore. The centers helped former inmates adjust to life after incarceration by providing temporary housing, assisting them in finding work and offering counseling and guidance.

Father Neil McLaughlin met Father Wenderoth in seminary, and the two remained close friends throughout their lives. They shared many experiences, including participation in the Civil Rights movement, the anti-war movement and voting rights efforts of the 1960s and early 1970s. They also worked together at Catholic Charities of Baltimore.

“He was certainly a good and friendly person,” Father McLaughlin said. “He was a holy man in many ways. He had a great deal of talent to be able to relate to people.”

Fathers Wenderoth and McLaughlin attracted national attention in the early 1970s as members of the “Harrisburg Seven,” a group of religious anti-war activists charged in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. A jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in their 1972 trial.

After retiring in 1997, Father Wenderoth embraced a quiet life in Monkton, where he lived on seven acres of land. He enjoyed the solitude of tending tomatoes, corn and lettuce while continuing to celebrate Mass at St. Joseph in Cockeysville.

His final years were spent at Mercy Ridge Retirement Community, where he helped administer the sacraments. He also celebrated Mass every Sunday for the Sisters of Mercy at Springwell, a retirement home for religious sisters just north of Baltimore.

“He was considerate, he listened to them and he cared about their concerns,” Father McLaughlin said. “He was very good at remembering names and people’s backgrounds.”

In 2022, Father Wenderoth celebrated 60 years of priestly ministry. Reflecting on those decades of service, he said, “I’ve enjoyed the people of God treating me so beautifully.”

A funeral Mass will be offered at 10:30 a.m. on July 23 at Our Lady of Grace in Parkton. It will be preceded by a viewing beginning at 9:30 a.m. 

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