Josephite Father Richard Wagner dies at 91 May 2, 2024By Catholic Review Staff Catholic Review Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Obituaries An 11 a.m. funeral Mass for Josephite Father Richard F. Wagner will be offered May 3 at Church of the Incarnation in Washington, D.C. Father Wagner died April 26. He was 91. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Father Wagner was ordained a Josephite priest in 1959. He served as pastor of St. Veronica in Cherry Hill from 1968 to 1973, where he was involved in getting a Head Start program launched. Elsewhere, he ministered in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. In a 2023 interview with The Josephite Harvest, Father Wagner said he became a Josephite because the Baltimore-based religious society’s apostolate was the Black community. “I wanted to serve the Black community because of what I had seen, what I grew up with in the age of segregation,” he said. “Things were not as they should be. The church was not committing itself as they should be. Now there is more of a need for the Josephites in the Black community than ever before.” More obituaries Jesuit Father Vincent de Paul Alagia dies at 99 Sister Sigrid Simlik, former teacher in Baltimore, dies at 97 A silent life behind three popes: Farewell to Angelo Gugel, the iconic papal butler John L. Allen Jr.: A Man for All Seasons, at a Roman Table Crux editor, veteran Vatican journalist John Allen loses battle with cancer Father Zanardini, top missionary anthropologist among Indigenous groups, dies in Paraguay at 83 Copyright © 2024 Catholic Review Media Print
