Msgr. Godfrey Mosley, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington for more than four decades and who served for the past five years as the pastor of Epiphany Parish in Washington, D.C., died March 16 at Capital Care Hospice of the Providence Health System. He was 67.
Msgr. Mosley had served as pastor, parochial vicar, vicar general, vice chancellor and in a variety of other posts throughout his 42 years as a priest.
“When you are ordained, you are ordained to do for others. I simply want to be a man who serves the Church and the people of the Church,” he said in a 2019 interview with the Catholic Standard at the time he marked the 40th anniversary of his ordination.
Father Anthony Lickteig, the archdiocesan vicar for clergy, announced Msgr. Mosley’s death on March 18. “This is a sad day for all who loved him,” Father Lickteig said, “but we take comfort in our faith, knowing that he is now with the Lord.”
Godfrey Thomas Mosley was born Aug. 8, 1953 in Washington, the son of Hermitt and Thelma Mosley. He grew up in St. Gabriel’s Parish in Northwest Washington, D.C.
“My decision (to become a priest) came about after reflecting on the lives of the priests at St. Gabriel’s and the Sisters of the Holy Name who served there,” he told the Catholic Standard in that 2019 interview.
The future priest graduated from the now-closed Mackin High School in Washington and the University of Scranton. He then attended Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg. Upon his ordination in 1979, Msgr. Mosley served at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Seat Pleasant, Maryland. The following year, he was assigned to be associate pastor at Holy Spirit Parish in Forestville, Maryland, and assistant to the director of the archdiocesan liturgy office.
From 1981 until 1984, he served as priest secretary to then-Archbishop James Hickey of Washington. Archbishop Hickey assigned then-Father Mosley to complete his graduate studies at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome from which he graduated in 1987 with a doctorate in canon law. That year, he served as parochial administrator pro-tem at St. James Parish in Mount Rainier, Maryland and then served until 1990 as vice-chancellor of the archdiocese. From 1990-92, he served as archdiocesan secretary for Parish Life and Worship.
Msgr. Mosley also served for a time as an assistant judicial vicar and as an adjutant judicial vicar in the archdiocesan Tribunal.
In 1992, Msgr. Mosley was named director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship. In 1993, he served as parochial administrator pro-tem at Holy Redeemer Parish in Kensington, Maryland, and later the same year was appointed pastor of St. Columba Parish in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
He served at St. Columba until 2001, and during that time he was named a prelate of honor with the title monsignor.
In 2001, Msgr. Mosley was named vicar general for apostolates for the Archdiocese of Washington, supervising apostolic works such as education, parish life and worship, social concerns and outreach to Hispanic and African-American Catholics.
He served in that capacity until 2006, when he was named pastor of St. Ann Parish in Washington. In 2016, he was appointed pastor of Epiphany Parish, also in Washington, a post he held until he entered hospice care.
“I always knew I wanted to be a priest. Being a priest makes me happy,” Msgr. Mosley said in his 2019 interview with the Catholic Standard. “I am happiest doing what a priest does – helping people from birth to death.”
In addition to his other duties, Msgr. Mosley served as ecclesiastical notary, on the Priest Council and as a priest consultor. He was also a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and was a member of the Canon Law Society of America, and the Eastern Region Canon Law Society.
A vigil for Msgr. Mosley will be held Wednesday, March 24, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Gabriel Church, 26 Grant Circle, N.W., Washington. A vigil Mass will be offered at 7:30 p.m. that evening. Cardinal Wilton Gregory will offer a funeral Mass for Msgr. Mosley on Thursday, March 25, at 11 a.m. at St. Gabriel Church. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland.
