Sulpician Father William E. Hartgen Jr., member of St. Mary’s Seminary faculty, dies at 89 

A funeral Mass will be offered Sept. 7 for Suplician Father William E. Hartgen at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The former St. Mary’s Seminary and University faculty member died Aug. 12, just weeks before his 90th birthday, in Washington after an extended illness.

The Washington native, born Sept. 26, 1934, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore  April 30, 1976. He joined the Society of St. Sulpice in 1982.

Prior to entering the seminary, Father Hartgen worked as a lay catechist and liturgy expert in various parishes and dioceses, though most of his church ministry was spent in Washington. 

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg in 1957 and a master’s degree in religious studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington in 1967, Father Hartgen became well known throughout the United States for his liturgical expertise. He teamed often with Sulpician Father Eugene Walsh, a renowned pastoral liturgist who oriented him toward priestly ministry with the Sulpicians. Both authored books, articles and tapes on the liturgical renewal that followed the Second Vatican Council. 

According to a Catholic Review article about his ordination, he served as a member of the St. Mary’s Seminary faculty for 15 years before becoming a priest. Prior to serving at St. Mary’s, he was a legislative assistant to Senate minority leader Thomas Kuchel of California and the organist and choir director at St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Bethesda. 

In 1967, he taught religion, music and typing at St. Paul Latin High School in Baltimore. 

From 1974 to 1978, Father Hartgen served on the faculty of St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park, and then at Theological College in Washington from 1981 to 1986. 

At St. Mary’s Seminary, his duties included serving as co-director of its pastoral department, director of recruitment, faculty coordinator for spiritual direction and the developer of pastoral institute programs. He also taught pastoral liturgy and contemporary religious education.

In 1997, ill health forced him to retire, and he lived out his remaining days at his home in Washington. 

Burial will follow at a later date in the family plot at Gethsemane Cemetery in Reading, Pa.

This story was updated Aug. 27, 2024.

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