Fr Joe Nangle, RIP

Dec 15th, 2024

Father Joe Nangle

Source: Pax Christi USA

Pax Christi USA writes:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6

With heavy hearts, Pax Christi USA announces the passing of Fr Joe Nangle, OFM, our 2023 Teacher of Peace, Ambassador of Peace, and longtime beloved friend, who died on December 14 at the age of 92.

"Father Joe Nangle was the 'real deal' as a follower of Francis of Assisi," said Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv, bishop president of Pax Christi USA.

"He lived the spirit of Franciscan peacemaking, was ever expanding his world view to include more and more people and cultures, and was truly a 'friar minor' - a lesser brother in his own estimation, but a giant in the Franciscan family. His direct ministry will be missed, his sense of mission on the global scale will be missed, and his sharp commentary applying Franciscan gospel values to current events will be missed by many. I rejoice that he now knows the fullness of peace he worked to share with so many."

Fr Joe served in mission in Bolivia and Peru in the 1960s and 1970s (where he participated in study circles with Fr Gustavo Gutierrez, OP as Gutierrez was formulating the concept of liberation theology). His experience in Latin America deeply affected him and shaped the course of the rest of his life.

In the mid-1980s, he and three others founded the Assisi community, an intentional community of peace and justice advocates based in the Petworth neighbourhood in Washington DC. During his years in DC, he worked for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, on the staff of Sojourners magazine, and for 12 years as co-director of Franciscan Mission Service. He served on his religious community's provincial leadership team, and helped found the Franciscan Action Network. For the past 34 years, he served as the pastor of the Spanish-speaking community of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington VA. He has also celebrated Mass on a regular basis with lay-led intentional Eucharistic communities such as the Nova community, the PAX community, and the Caldwell Hall community.

"Joe's experience in mission in Bolivia and Peru shaped his faith, his worldview, his spirituality, his theology, and who he would become as a Franciscan," shared Marie Dennis, senior director of Pax Christi International's Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and Pax Christi USA's 2022 Teacher of Peace. "Integrity and humility marked his ministry, his public witness, and his private life in Assisi Community. He never backed away from speaking truth to power, but he did so always with love. He was a pastor who saw the dignity and gift of every person he met and he loved us all. I have been blessed beyond measure to call Joe Nangle my dearest friend."

A prolific writer and speaker, he was the author of Birth of a Church and Engaged Spirituality: The Life in the Heart of the Empire, and co-author of Saint Francis and the Foolishness of God and Say to this Mountain.

For several years, Fr Joe contributed weekly reflections to Pax Christi USA, which were widely shared and admired. Use this link to read his reflections from 2023 and 2024.

"I join the Pax Christi community in mourning the loss of our beloved Fr Joe Nangle," said Pax Christi USA Executive Director Charlene Howard. "His love of, advocacy for and pastoral care to those who have immigrated from Latin America is unmatched. He will be greatly missed by his Our Lady Queen of Peace, Assisi community and Pax Christi families. Presente!"

Fr Joe had a strong commitment to justice and affection for those who are poor, a profound insight and intelligence grounded in a lifetime of simplicity and solidarity, and an extraordinary friendliness, open-heartedness, coupled with warm humour, humility, and optimism. He would happily discuss theology, politics, or baseball with anyone, often over a pitcher of beer.

In the past few weeks as his body slowed and word spread that he was preparing for death, the outpouring of loving messages made it clear that hundreds of people consider him a close friend and mentor and have been affected by his significant contributions to the Catholic-Christian peace community.

"In his eulogy for Archbishop (Saint) Oscar Romero, Ignacio Ellacuria, SJ, said that with Romero, God passed through El Salvador. Surely we can say the same for Fr Joe Nangle's presence among us, for he was a Christ figure in every way, to every person he touched, in every word he uttered," said Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team member (and former Pax Christi USA staff member) Jean Stokan and Scott Wright, who is currently serving as an Ignatian Volunteer with Pax Christi USA. (Jean and Scott are both Pax Christi USA Ambassadors of Peace.) "Living each day deeply rooted in his vocation as a follower of St Francis, Joe was formed also by Gustavo Gutierrez and the people of Peru, able not only to read the 'signs of the times' but to proclaim it and speak truth to the powers in this US empire. He was pure gift to Pax Christi, to the Assisi community of which we are a part, and a beloved friend to and inspiring model for us all. His last words to us, and we would say for each one of us, were, 'Carry on. I love you.'"

Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced soon.

A reflection on Francis of Assisi and his relevance for today, written by Fr. Joe for Education for Justice, 2014.

A Friar Life: Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM, a video produced in 2017.