Msgr. Paul Langsfeld, who helped train future priests as a seminary rector and professor and who said he later got to put his teachings into practice by returning to the Archdiocese of Washington and serving as a pastor at three parishes, died on July 9 at the age of 71. He had been living at the Jeanne Jugan Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington.
A native of Denver, he grew up in Georgia, where his father worked as an FBI agent. “We considered Washington a second home,” he said.
In a 2017 interview for an article marking his 40th anniversary as a priest, Msgr. Langsfeld said he knew when he was young that he wanted to be a priest, after being inspired by their lives of service and by the good moral and spiritual example they offered to people.
As a seminarian, he participated in the Basselin Scholars Program at Theological College in Washington.
“It was a great experience, just living together in community at an exciting time of the Church,” he said, noting that he was studying alongside seminarians from across the United States, at a time when the teachings of the Second Vatican Council were being implemented, opening up ministries to lay people, renewing the liturgy and emphasizing the social mission of the Church.
Then-Father Paul Langsfeld was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1977 by Cardinal William Baum at St. Matthew’s Cathedral. His first assignment was as a parochial vicar at St Mary of the Mills Parish in Laurel, and he later served in that role at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Washington, and he was a teacher in the Diaconate Formation Program for the archdiocese.
Over the years, he earned a licentiate in philosophy from the American College at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, a licentiate in sacred theology from The Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he had studied at the North American College.
“Those years in Rome were an extraordinary opportunity to learn so much about the Church, our world and our faith,” he said.
From 1985-91, he worked as an official in the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy, serving as a go-between between the Roman Curia and American bishops and priests. Msgr. Langsfeld said it was inspiring to serve in Rome then and witness firsthand the papacy of St. John Paul II, a dynamic leader known for his personal holiness, his breadth of teaching, and for his travels bringing the Gospel to the world.
“He was such an impressive figure on many levels – pastoral, theological and spiritual,” the priest said. “I thought it was a privilege to serve under him.”
Saint John Paul II, he added, “really shaped and summed up the Vatican II church.”
Msgr. Langsfeld returned to the United States to serve as a theology professor and vice rector at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg from 1991 to 2003, and then he served for the next six years as the rector of Pontifical College Josephinum, a seminary in Columbus, Ohio.
His work there revolved around the formation of future priests, intellectually, pastorally and spiritually. The goal, he said, was to form them to be “good, holy, effective priests” at parishes.
Eventually Msgr. Langsfeld requested that he be allowed to come home to the Archdiocese of Washington. “I felt it was time, after 25 years of seminary work, to practice the pastoral work I was teaching students,” he said.
From 2010-12, he served as pastor of St. Stephen Martyr Parish in Washington, where one of his highlights was leading the effort to install new oak doors to the church, with dramatic bronze panels illustrating the life of St. Stephen, one of the first deacons and the first Christian martyr, who is shown preaching the Gospel, serving the poor and giving his life for the faith.
When the doors were dedicated in 2011, the pastor said he hoped they would help evangelize passers-by on Pennsylvania Avenue, demonstrating that today’s Christians are also called to be witnesses of Christ.
Msgr. Langsfeld served as pastor of St. Rose of Lima in Gaithersburg, a large suburban parish, from 2012-14, and then served for two years as pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish on Capitol Hill, which serves many government workers.
After his service at St. Joseph Parish, the priest lived at the Jeanne Jugan Residence operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington. In his room, he had a sign taped on the wall above his computer that read, “JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU.”
“That’s just to remind myself that no matter how hard things can be, with illness or other challenges of living, if you put your trust in Him, all will be well,” he said.
Reflecting on his 40 years as a priest, Msgr. Langsfeld said he felt gratitude about that milestone, knowing how God’s grace had sustained his ministry over the years.
“I’m so grateful I had the opportunity for such a rich and varied ministry in the Church,” he said.
Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory will celebrate the Funeral Mass for Msgr. Langsfeld on Aug. 21 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Church on Capitol Hill. A vigil with the priest’s cremains will be held on Aug. 20 at St. Joseph Church from 3-7 p.m. After the Funeral Mass, interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring.
